Analysis of the Ten Commandments - Book Report/Review Example

Running head: Analysis of The Moses and the Ten Commandments by The Torah Analysis of Moses and The Ten Commandments By the Torah AcademiaResearch Writer _________ Introduction The Ten Commandments, often referred to as "Decalogue", is a list of ten vital instructions written down by God in the right and moral benefit of mankind, which acts as an impeccable testament for the mankind to follow and to lead life accordingly. The background behind the advent of the laws of the Torah elucidates the holding of overall 613 commandments, out of which the most popular ones are the ones, which are to be followed as "Ten Commandments". These Ten Commandments are called by Jews as Aseres Hadibros, which means "Ten Statements". How amazing it looks that within these ten statements are enclosed the fourteen commandments, which are remembered by the people as "Ten Commandments". These commandments are actually all the laws, which puts light to all aspects of Jewish life and if studied in detail explains right from the forefathers to laws pertaining to the observance of Jewish holidays and worship, and while studying the "old testament", one is confronted by the fact of repeated arrivals by the Prophets of Israel. The first commandment elucidates the revelation of God upon Moses, at the time when there was no law and order, and everyone was in chaos state under the then reign of Pharaoh, God communicated with Moses along with the revelation of the Ten Commandments and other miraculous gifts, which later became the rudimentary features for Moses in convincing his followers towards righteousness and humanity. By giving some of the miracles to Moses the God revealed upon him His truth in the form of commandments, clearly posed to worship the one and only Lord, and clarifies upon Moses that it is the Lord who possessed the power and freed mankind from slavery under the reign of Egypt. That clearly indicates that all freedom that was granted to the then mankind was granted only because of God's will. The second Commandment elaborates the oneness of God and explains that there was no God before Him, and there would be no God after Him. One possess no right to etch any figure of God, or to worship any materialistic creature carved out of stone or to worship any man made sculpture. One should not, in any case bow down to any materialistic thing. That means the approach is austere towards worshipping the one and only God, and not anyone else. Further more it states that God love those who love him and obey what is written in the Commandments, what is told to them and those who keep themselves aloof from activities which are kept forbidden for them. However, it is in their own interest to do so, as each and every commandment possessed certain logic within it. The third commandment, however seems to be a little complicated to understand but it logically imposes the condition for those who take the name of the God, for no good use or those who use the name of the God in the benefit of their own. Such people often impose upon the world that they are religious or only they are the ones who love God akin to the statement that they are very near and dear ones in the eyes of the Lord. In order to get into the good books of others, they often take assistance of lie that they worship God, infact they are the ones who do not possess any kind of love for the God. The fourth Commandment implies that one should enjoy and relax one day in a weak, i.e., Saturday, after working regularly for six days, the seventh day should be the Sabbath day. On this day one should not continue with the work of any kind. The reason given is that it is on this sixth day that the God blessed humanity (although the humanity was created after the creation of the universe) with the creation of Heaven, Earth and Sea and He clearly elucidates that after making the whole world from the utmost of Heaven to the deepest of Earths, He rested the seventh day. So it is clearly mentioned that the seventh day must be holy. The fifth Commandment, a vital one to follow is the obedience of one's mother and father in any case irrespective of what might be the circumstances. A command which is concerned with a reasonable logic behind it in the sense that it is obvious that every individual who comes in this world has to be the part and parcel of that certain cycle, that God has chosen for the survival of entire humanity. That cycle consists of a number of phases that includes birth, childhood, youth, elderly and death. The contribution of parents is rudimentary, features right from giving birth to a child to the day when he gets independent. If one feels unable to love or obey his parents, he has no right to think that when he gets aged his children will love him. The sixth Commandment is a restriction upon murder, as it is strictly forbidden. The seventh and eighth is a restriction upon adultery issues and stealing. According to the Rabbi law: "Neither a man nor a woman should not have any promiscuous relations outside of marriage" ("Code of Jewish Law - Rma" E.H. 26:1; based on Deuteronomy 23:18) "If the woman is married, it is considered a more severe transgression" (ibid 22:22). This is a restriction related to the fact that according to the Torah, a man may have more than one wife, while a woman is bound to one husband. In the case of rape Torah states, "The rapist is no different from a man who rises up against his neighbor and murders him" (Deut. 22:26). The ninth is very logical if one attempts to think, as it restricts oneself to bear any false witness against neighbour. First it shows that witness must not be false, and one should not be mean in witnessing false statements. Secondly, it reveals the importance of neighbour, which in today's world has lost its moral values. The new era has almost forgotten what is said with respect to neighbours. It is very amazing to see that the tenth and the last Commandment also reflects the importance of neighbourhood, but in detail imposing certain restrictions such as the prohibition of yearning for any neighbour property, wife, servant or any other proprietary thing. Further more, the commandment also restricts a person for making any kind of interruption into the internal or external affairs of the neighbour. This commandment assumes to be a simple one but encloses a great depth within it. Before the arrival of Moses, corruption and dishonesty was on its peak, either in the form of social conflicts or legal issues, it was hard for the law and order to sustain in such an environment, which was an impeccable issue, devoid of humanity. Conclusion The Ten Commandments are the least rudiment features, designed by God to implement upon the mankind to learn the morals of ethical behaviour in this world. The essence behind all the commandments leads to the thresholds of morality, which devoid in the then nations. The Ten Commandments akin to all the Biblical Texts, presents an unsceptical challenge in the today's world to follow, where the application of The Ten Commandments are limited by the boundaries of theoretical opinions. But when it comes to apply the rules, the task becomes the most difficult to follow. Reference Jacobus, A. Lee, A World of Ideas, Essential Readings for College Writers. 7th edition. Read More