DECALOGUE (Gr. AfKdXoyos, dek a' og-on.
1. The Nora' Law. Decalogue is the name by which the Greek fathers designated "the Ten Commandments," which were written by God on tables of stone and given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
(1) Name. In Hebrew the name is "ten words" as-eh'reth, Exod. xxxiv:28; Deut. iv:t3; x:4).
(2) Author. The decalogue was written upon two stone slabs (Ex. xxxi :18), which having been broken by Moses (xxxii:19), were renewed by God (xxxiv :1, etc.). They are said (Deut. ix :io) to have been written by the finger of God, an ex pression which always implies an immediate act of the Deity. The decalogue is five times alluded to in the New Testament, there called command ments, but only the latter precepts are specifically cited, which refer to our duties to each other (Matt. v:19; xv:9; xix:17; xxii:4o; Mark x:19; Luke xviii :2o; Rom. xiii:9; vii ;7, 8; Matt. v; t Tim. i :9, to). Jeremy Taylor's Life of Christ, and Ductor Dubitun.; Scholia in Exod.). (See LAw.) 2. Divisions. The circumstance of these precepts being called the ten words has doubtless led to the belief that the two tables contained ten distinct precepts, five in each table; while some have supposed that they were called by this name to denote their perfection, ten being considered the most perfect of numbers (Philo-Judzeus De Deco logo). This distinguished philosopher divides them into two pentads. the first pentad ending with Exod. XX :12, 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' etc., or the filth commandment of the Re formed, and Anglican churches; while the more general opinion among Christians is that the first table contained our duty to God, ending with the law to keep the sabbath holy, and the second, our duty to our neighbor. As they are not numerically divided in the Scriptures, so that we cannot posi tively say which is the first, which the second, etc., it may not prove uninteresting to the student in Biblical literature, if we here give a brief account of the different modes of dividing them which have prevailed among Jews and Christians. These may be classed as the Talmudical, the Origenian, and the two Masoretic divisions.
(1) Talmudienl. According to this division the first commandment consists of the words 'I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage' (Exod. xx :2; Deut. v:6) ; the second (Exod. iii :4), 'Thou shalt have none other Gods beside me: thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image.' etc., to ver. 6; the third, 'Thou shalt riot
take God's name in vain,' etc.; fourth, 'Remem ber to keep holy the sabliath day.' etc.; the fifth, 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' etc.; the sixth, 'Thou shalt not kill ;' the seventh. 'Thou shalt riot commit adultery;' the eighth,' Thou shalt not steal ;' the ninth. 'Thou shalt not bear false wit ness, etc.; and the tenth, 'Thou shalt not covet,' etc.. to the end.
(2) Origenian. The next division is the Origenian, or that approved by Origcn. and is that in use in the Greek and in all the reformed churches, except the Lutheran.
Although Origen was acquainted with the dif fering opinions which existed in his time in regard to this subject, it is evident from his own words that he knew nothing of that division by which the number ten is completed by making the pro hibition against coveting either the house or the wife a distinct commandment. In his eighth Homily on Genesis, after citing the words' I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt,' he adds, 'this is not a part of the commandment.' The first commandment is, 'Thou shalt have no other Gods but me,' and then fol lows, 'Thou shalt not make an idol.' These to gether are thought by some to make one command ment ; but in this case the number ten will not be complete. \Vhere then will be the truth of the Decalogue? But if it be divided as we have done in the last sentence, the full number will be evi dent. The first commandment therefore is, 'Thou shalt have no other Gods but me,' and the second, 'Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor a likeness,' etc. Gregory Nazianzen and Jerome took the same view with Origen. It is also sup ported by the learned Jews Philo and Josephus, who speak of it as the received division of the Jewish Church. This division, which appears to have been forgotten in the Western Church, was revived by Calvin in 1536, and is also received by that section of the Lutherans who followed Bucer, called the Tetrapolitans. It is adopted by Calmet (Dictionary of the Bible, French ed., art. Lai); This division, which appeared in the Bishops' Book in 1537, was adopted by the Anglican Church at the Reformation (154S), substituting seventh for sabbath-day in her formularies. The same division was published with approbation by Bonner in his Homilies in 1555.