The nature of the material

• As has been noted, this material contains the covenant agreement with Moses on behalf of Israel and is of central importance to Israelite history and identity. Therefore, according to biblical scholars, it has been edited thoroughly by those who compiled the Torah. So in order to make sense of it, it is vital to appreciate that the original record has been worked over by later editors, details altered and passages inserted.
  
  
• Once this background is recognised, it becomes possible to understand why it reads as it does and why similar material appears elsewhere. It is also important to accept that scholars still do not always agree about solutions, as the evidence is not always conclusive.
  
  
• At the same time, it has to be accepted that within both Judaism and Christianity, there are different interpretations of the Torah. There are those who have a literal interpretation of biblical material and hold that Moses himself wrote this down receiving it directly from God. On the other hand, there are those who take recent biblical criticism seriously and recognise the material can only be interpreted in a more liberal fashion which takes account of the several strands of tradition, the various compilations and the editing. Increased knowledge of Hebrew has aided scholarship on the Bible.
  
  
• It is important for the modern reader to be aware that the meaning of terms has changed with time. It is easy to misunderstand the original by applying the modern interpretation of the word, for example, the biblical terms translated by 'jealous', 'swearing' and 'murder' have different connotations from the modern usage (See section on 'Text').

The Covenant

• The covenant bond between God and Israel was established by God's compassion for the afflicted tribes in Egypt. The immediate outcome of the deliverance was the establishment of a covenant between YHWH and Israel. God had revealed himself in delivering her and now was to self-reveal in the laws.
  
  
• The covenant was accomplished through the grace of God and the Israelite response was one of gratitude and obedience to her new responsibilities. It was more than a mere compact or contract. It was to share a common life. God offered to be Israel's God and look after her, if she would agree to live as he wanted her to, as his people. In order to help Israel to fulfil her side of the promise, God gave her the Torah (a set of Laws) so she would know what God expected of her.
  
  
• The institution of the covenant created a religious community that marked out Israel as God's chosen people. Israel's unity was based on her covenant relationship with God. The true bond of Israel's common life was not race but community.
  
  
• Moses was Israel's mediator in establishing this relationship with God, although the covenant had started to take shape with God's promises to the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
  
  
• Initially the responsibility for maintaining the covenant was seen in community terms. Only later was it understood that it was every individual's responsibility to keep faithful to the covenant promise.

The Law

• Later tradition associated Moses with a substantial corpus of law. Much of this must be of a later origin and it is difficult to determine which of the laws and rites may be attributed to the Exodus period. The Ritual Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22- 23:33) reflect conditions of agricultural life and are more appropriate to post-Conquest times. The Decalogue's substance may well be very early.
  
  
• The laws were God's covenant link to Israel and produced a relationship with God. They were seen as coming directly from God, as opposed to being common law for the benefit of society. They enshrined God's will for people. They were not to be kept in order to avoid punishment, as no punishments were included, but because that was what God wanted of his people. The purpose of the laws was to shape the life of the people of God in preparation for God's purposes being fulfilled at the end of time.
  
  
• The laws set the scene for a way of life that would keep Israel in covenant with God. If Israel neglected the laws, the harmony and relationship would be broken. These laws introduced a new understanding of sin. In the past sin resulted from a neglect of appropriate rituals. Here, sin becomes linked to moral life.
  
  
• The fact that these laws were directed to the individual implies that they were directly responsible for keeping them. Initially however, the community as a whole was seen as having the responsibility for keeping them, rather than the individual directly. It was later with the prophet Jeremiah, that emphasis was placed on each person having the covenant 'written on their hearts' Jeremiah 31:31-34.
  
  
• The Ten Commandments were the heart of the Jewish Torah and became important in Christianity too. These ancient laws form the bedrock of modern western law.

Ritual

• Along with the moral laws in Israel there were many ritual laws relating to the organisation of the shrines, Temple, sacrifices, priests, feasts etc.. It is believed that ritual laws relate to the time when Israel was settled in Canaan. But, some scholars argue ritual laws precede moral laws. Exodus 34:10-28 contains what is known as the Ritual Decalogue.
  
  
• In origin, the pattern of activities called rituals was believed to control the environment and secure the prosperity of the community. While almost all situations in life might call for some kind of ritual, the great ritual occasions coincided with the great turning points of the agricultural year, so served to ensure the fertility of the crops and the fertility of herds and flocks. Ritual consisted of spoken words and actions. Ritual had power to maintain a situation in being.
  
  
• So the Israelites adopted the agricultural feasts from the Canaanites and adapted and reinterpreted them in the light of their direct experience of Yahweh's active intervention in their history. Unleavened Bread was linked to Passover recalling and re-enacting their deliverance from Egypt, Weeks was associated with YHWH 's giving of the Law and Tabernacles re-enacted Israel's time in the wilderness. YHWH was not a dying and rising fertility god but the living God revealed in Israel's history and these events needed to be enshrined in Israelite tradition and memory through ritual celebrations.

Sin

• In the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, sin originally resulted from neglecting to carrying out rituals appropriately. But once Israel's covenant relationship with God became expressed through a moral code, a new interpretation was given to sin. It was seen in terms of deviating from the moral obligations expected of God's covenant people. It was failing to do something in relation to God or humankind.
  
  
• Sin could be committed deliberately or unintentionally. The latter could be rectified in some way. But more deeply seated, deliberate sin was seen as spreading like poison. Sin harmed the positive forces which upheld the community too, so it was not just a personal matter but more far-reaching. It violated God because God was at the heart of every Israelite's covenant. Sin meant the dissolution of the soul. An entirely sinful soul was no longer reckoned a human soul. But confession of sin, not only in the cult (through sacrifices) but face to face with God won forgiveness and the soul was restored to wholeness.

Monolatry - Monotheism

• What appears in Exodus 20:3 at this early stage in Israel's history, may be called monolatry (the exclusive worship of one god without excluding the existence of others) rather than monotheism, since other gods, although their existence is admitted, do not come into the question.
  
  
• Some scholars believe that Moses had attained to monotheism. But the formula in Exodus 15:11 ('who is like unto thee among the gods, O YHWH?') is almost identical to that used by polytheists to honour their deities. It is therefore disputed whether there was real monotheism as early as this.
  
  
• God is a jealous God, which sums up his zealous maintenance of his cause and his claim on the undivided allegiance of his people. They must worship him alone. In him alone they must trust. This exclusiveness is an important element in Hebrew monotheism and emphasises its character as practical rather than speculative.
  
  
• Moses' faith is in a God who will have no rivals, who has no partner or consort, before whom the deities worshipped by others are as nothing. Here there is the germ of the developed monotheism of later times. YHWH has sovereign freedom in Egypt or elsewhere. To resort to any other God is to resort to the ineffectual.

No Images!

• In contrast to the other religions Israel's God, YHWH, was not to be reduced to an image. Nothing material could represent God because he was a spiritual being. YHWH manifested himself to Israel through his word and actions in history and could not be tied down to a wooden or metal form. Anything made by humankind and then worshipped as God was mistaken, because the maker of something was always greater than what had been made.
  
  
• Through images, human beings hoped to be able to manipulate their gods, but Israel's God was omnipotent and humans stood no chance of manipulating that! However, people like something concrete to aid their belief and so it was not long before Israel was breaking this commandment. See Exodus 32.
  
  
• Maybe the closest any material form could get to God was that of human beings, who reflected God's image in their very beings. See Genesis 1:26. This meant they could have a relationship with God and shared in his purposes on earth as his agents or representatives on earth. There was no need of artificial images.

Sabbath

• The keeping of the Sabbath Day (from Friday at sunset to Saturday sunset) was one of the features which distinguished Israel from other nations and one which has kept the Jewish people united.
  
  
• It has been noted that two different reasons were given for its observance
  • it should remind Israel of her slavery in Egypt when she was unable to choose when or when not to work;
  • it followed God's example of resting on the seventh day, after completing creation.
  
  
• The observance of the Sabbath is thought to have commenced in Exile when the Jews copied the Babylonians who set aside a day to worship their gods. But some scholars think it was observed much earlier.
  
  
• By ceasing common everyday tasks on the Sabbath, Jews were free to focus on worshipping God and studying their Scriptures. It developed God-consciousness and established a rhythm to the week, building up to the climax on the Sabbath. It also meant that the family gathered together to celebrate the Sabbath together. The Sabbath meal was an important time when, after the destruction of the Temple in 70CE, the Jewish table took the place of the Temple altar and the father of the household took on the priestly role.
  
  
• Far from being seen as a day of deprivation by Jews, it freed them from daily distractions to rejoice in their covenant relation with God.