Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.

Exodus 20:12-19

We left off last week, still in Midian at the mountain of God. God shouting Mitsvotav (his commandments) from the top of it, and the people are fearful due to the strength of His voice, the fire, and the shaking of the ground.

I have been numbering the commands as they come, not to see if there are really 10 of them, but rather to come up with a total of all of them. I have heard that there are 613 in all of Torah (The Law). We left off with number five last week.
Continuing...

Number six comes with a blessing if you can successfully do it. Long life in the new land is what you get. I can only assume that those who break it get shorter lives. Interesting.
6) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that YHVH your God is giving you."

The next one uses the words lo-Tee r' Tsach (don't murder). A lot of people quote this as "do not kill" but killing is right in self defense and war.
7) "You shall not murder."

8)"You shall not commit adultery."

9) "You shall not steal."

This one could be "don't lie" but it is specific about doing so in testimony. The Hebrew agrees word for word except for the word "shall" and it is because people could be stoned if two or more witnesses establish guilt. I also think this one is why we have perjury charges and swearing on the Bible in our courts.
10) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

This one could be 11 - 17 but I will leave it as one since they are all related to covet type sins.
11) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

We can pause our counting until next week as the people start begging Moshe (Moses) to plead with Elohim, that he stop calling the Mitsvotav down from the mountain. They told Moshe that they would listen to him, but they felt they would die if God kept speaking to them.

Today's Reading

English

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that YHVH your God is giving you.
"You shall not murder. "You shall not commit adultery.
"You shall not steal.
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."

Hebrew

Next week, talking alters and sacrifices...

Info on each letter starting at the beginning

If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or click here

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Thanks for reading.

Shabbat Shalom