Although Origen was acquainted with the differ ing 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 prohibi tion 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 follows 'Thou shalt not make an idol.' These together are thought by some to make one commandment, but in this case the number ten will not be complete—where 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 evident. The first command ment 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. Origen pro ceeds to make a distinction between gods, idols, and likenesses. Of gods, he says, It is written there are gods many and lords many' (1 Cor. viii. 5) ; but of idols, an idol is nothing ;' an image, he says, of a quadruped, serpent, or bird, in metal, wood, or stone, set up to be worshipped is not an idol, but a likeness. A picture made with the same view comes under the same denomination. But an . idol is a representation of what does not exist, such as the figure of a man with two faces, or with the head of a dog, etc. The likeness must be of something exisiting in heaven, or in earth, or in the water. It is not easy to decide on the meaning of things in heaven,' unless it refers to the sun, moon, or stars. The design of Moses he conceives to have been to forbid Egyptian idolatry, such as that of Hecate or other fancied demons.—Opera, vol. ii. p. 156, De la Rue's ed.
The Pseudo-A thanasius, or the author of the Synopsis Scripture, who is the oracle of the Greek church, divides the commandments in the same manner. (Athanasii, Opera, fol. Paris, 1698.) Gregory Nazianzen, in one of his poems, in scribed The Decalogue of Moses,' adopts the same division. (Opera, ed. Caillaud, Paris, 1840).
Jerome took the same view with Origen ; see his Commentary on Ephesians vi. (Hieronymi, Opera, vol. iv. Paris, 1693.) The Pseudo-Ambrose also writes to the same effect in his Commentary on Ephesians. (Am. brosii, Opera, vol. ii. Paris edition ; Append. pp. 248, 249.) To these testimonies from the fathers may be added that of Clemens Alexandrinus (Stronzata, vi. p. 809) ; but this writer is so confused and contra dictory in reference to the subject, that some have supposed the text to have been corrupted.
But the strongest evidence in favour of the Origenian division is that of the learned Jews Philo and Josephus, who speak of it as the re ceived division of the Jewish Church. Philo, after mentioning the division into two pentads already referred to, proceeds The first pentad is of a higher character than the second ; it treats of the monarchy whereby the whole world is go verned, of statues and images (Eocipwp Kai dyaX Adrwv), and of all corrupt representations in gene ral ; of not taking the name of God in vain ; of the religious observance of the seventh day as a day of holy rest ; of honouring both parents. So that one table begins with God the
father and ruler of all things, and ends with parents who emulate him in perpetuating the hu man race. But the other pentad contains those commandments which forbid adultery, murder, theft, false-witness, concupiscence' (De Decalogo, lib. i.) The first precept, he afterwards observes, enjoins the belief and reverent worship of one supreme God, in opposition to those who worship the sun and moon, etc. And after condemning the arts of sculpture and painting, as taking off the mind from admiring the natural beauty of the universe, he adds : As I have said a good deal of the second commandment, I shall now proceed to the next, Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain.' . . . . The fourth commandment re spects the sabbath day, to be devoted to rest, the study of wisdom, and the contemplation of nature, with a revision of our lives during the past week, in order to the correction of our transgressions : the fifth speaks of honouring parents. Here ends the first, or more divine pentad. The second pentad begins with the precept respecting adul tery ; its second precept is against murder ; its third against stealing, the next against false-wit ness, the last against coveting ' (lib. ii.) This division seems to have been followed by 1 renceus : In quinque libris, etc., tabula quam accepit a Deo prmcepta hahet quinque.' And Josephus is, if possible, still more clear than Philo. The first commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that we ought to worship him only ; the second commands us not to make the image of any living creature, to worship it ; the third, that we must not swear by God in a false matter ; the fourth, that we must keep the seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work ; the fifth, that we must honour out parents ; the sixth, that we must abstain from murder ; the seventh, that we must not commit adultery ; the eighth, that we must not he guilty of theft; the ninth, that we must not bear false-witness ; the tenth, that we must not admit the desire of that which is anther's' (An/lg. iii. 5. 5, Whiston's translation).
This division, which appears to have been for gotten in the Western Church, was revived by Calvin in 1536, and is also received by that sec tion of the Lutherans who followed Sneer, called the Tetrapolitans. It is adopted by Calmct (Dic tionary of the bible, French ed., art. Lot.) It is supported by Zonaras, Nicephorus, and Petrus Mogislaus among the Greeks, and is that followed in the present Russian Church, as well as by the Greeks in general (see the catechism published by order of Peter the Great, by Archbishop Resen sky, London, 1753). It is at the same time main tained in this catechism that it is not forbidden to bow before the representations of the saints. This division, which appeared in the Bishops' Book in 1537, was adopted by the Anglican Church at the Reformation (1548), substituting seventh for sab bath day in her formularies. The same division was published with approbation by Bonar in his Homilies in 1555.