The Ten Commandments in the Bible - The Truth of the Bible

An article by Marco Del Pasqua takes a look at the ten commandments, topic well-known religious, but it contains some interesting insights. Few people know that although the commandments taught in the Bible are ten, those taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church are actually only nine. The second one, indeed, it was literally erased, and from the tenth they got two “pieces”, to cover the void of the second. So, now the second is actually the third, the third is the fourth, and so on. The fourth commandment, instead, It has been changed.

Let's look at the commandments now according to the Catholic Catechism (from the Catechism of St.. Pio X).

I am the Lord your God:

You will have no other God besides me.
Do not take the name of God in vain.
Remember to keep the holidays holy.
Honor your father and mother.
Do not kill.
Do not commit unclean acts.
Do not steal.
Don't give false testimony.
Do not desire the woman of others.
Do not desire the stuff of others.

Now let's see the ten commandments according to the BIBLE. (Exodus 20:2-17):

I am the Lord, your God, that I brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. Have no other gods besides me.
Don't make yourself sculpture, nor any image of the things that are in heaven above or on earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them and do not serve them, why me, the Sir, your God, I am a jealous God; I punish the iniquity of fathers over their children up to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and I use goodness up to the thousandth generation, towards those who love me and keep my commandments.
Don't say the name of the Lord, Your god, in vain; for the Lord will not hold him innocent who takes his name in vain.
Remember the day of rest to keep it holy. He works six days and ago’ all your work, but the seventh is a day of rest, consecrated to the Lord your God.
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be extended on earth except the Lord, your God, It gives you.
Do not kill.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not attest false against your neighbor.
Do not covet your neighbor's home; do not desire your neighbor's wife, nor his servant, nor his servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything about your neighbor”.

We can therefore note some not inconsiderable differences. We wonder why the Catholic Church has altered the commandments, and canceled the second. Some members of the clergy justify themselves by saying that the second commandment was only for the Jews (which is not true, since together with the other nine commandments, also given to the Jews, it is the Word of God, and it is a command addressed to all men without distinction; furthermore, God very severely condemns any additions or deletions to his word).

The modification of the second commandment is one of the reasons for the strong contrast between Catholicism and Judaism that accuses the former of idolatry. It gave, indeed, condemns both adoration – “don't serve them” – than veneration – “you will not bow down to them” – of alive, dead, objects and images, earthly or divine, good or bad they are. And the Bible says, referring to God: “To Him alone do you render your worship“.

In addition to the second commandment, which is completely lacking in the Catholic Catechism, the fourth has been changed. God was talking about the “Saturday” (Sabbath), which is not our Saturday, but that literally means “Seventh day” (Sunday is our seventh day, because our week starts with Monday).Apart from this, since Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, Christianity has decided from the very beginning to choose this day. The Catholic Church has changed this commandment, which concerned only the Seventh Day, to say instead of sanctifying “the holidays“. That means, the commandment would no longer be limited to the seventh day that God has chosen, but at all Catholic holidays.

Another not insignificant difference concerns the sixth commandment of the Bible: “Do not commit adultery”, which in the catechism becomes "Do not commit unclean acts”. The meaning is completely different. “You will not commit adultery”, the translations say. The Hebrew word na’af has a broader meaning than the betrayal of the fidelity to which the spouses are bound. This sense was therefore preferred by Christianity due to the proliferation of adultery in monogamous marriage. In a polygamous environment, that is, in all of humanity at the time when the Ten Words are proclaimed, na'af not only condemns adultery but any adulteration of the behavior of a man or woman, in their relationships with others or with themselves. In the Middle Ages, the adulterator was the counterfeiter of coins. The nef and the nefet are people who violate the rules not only of marriage, but of every good conduct. The term 'adulterate' must be understood here in its ancient meaning of 'alter purity',‘Counterfeiting’. The nef is therefore an adulterer, and furfante, a scammer, a backslider, a profligate led to all kinds of sexual offenses, any undue or unfair behavior.

God warns us: “You will add nothing to what I command you and you will not take away anything; but you will observe the commands of the Lord your God which I prescribe to you” (Deut. 4:2). According to God's Word, who will persist even in telling a lie, without repenting according to the gospel, he will be sentenced to the second death (the hell), cf.. Apocalypse 21:8, e 22:15.

As we can easily see, the differences between the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are of considerable importance and we leave it to each of us to sum up this comparison, however, it is evident that not all the words that God had left as commandments were given due consideration.