DECALOG1TE (Gr. delcalogos, " ten discourses"), is the term usuallv applied by the Greek fathers to the law of the two "tables of testimony" given by to Moses on Mount Sinai. These tables were made of stone, and the commandments inscribed thereon are said to have been " written by the finger of God." The commandments are. not numerically divided in the Pentateuch, and it has been supposed by some that the number ten was chosen, because ten was considered the most perfect number. As, however, there are ten distinct injunctions, it is superfluous to allege any other reason for the division than the simple fact, that this is the correct enumeration. Philo-Judteus divides them into two pentads, the first ending with "honor thy father and mother," etc. ; but the general opinion among Christians is, that the first table contained those which enjoin upon us our duty to God (comprising the first four), and the second, those which enjoin upon us our duty to our fellow-creatures (comprising the last six). The Talmudists make the introductory words, " I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," to be the first commandment, and in consequence, to keep the number ten, are obliged to run the next two into one. But the words quoted obviously contain no command at all, but merely express the grand general reason why the Israelites should yield implicit obedience to the injunc tions which follow. Hence Origen commences the D. with, "Thou shalt have no other
gods before me." His division is that in use in the Greek, and in all the Protestant churches except the Lutheran; while from the writings of Philo and Josephus, it appears that such was also the received division of the Jewish church. The Nasoretic division is that which is adhered to in the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches. According to it, the first two commandments, that concerning the worship of God, and that con cerning the worship of graven images, constitute but one. The number ten, however, is here also preserved by dividing the tenth into two, the first of which is made to be, " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house," and the second, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant," etc., to the end. There are two versions of the D. in the Pentateuch; the first is contained in Exodus xx., the second in Deute ronomy v. These are substantially and almost verbally the came, except in regard to the fourth commandment, for the observance of which the reason assigned in the former differs entirely from that in the latter.