On this basis, I will treat the Ten Commandments in Exodus as a unit - ignoring for the time being the judicial and ceremonial laws. I will not be concerned with the historical accuracy of God delivering the laws to Moses. My concern will be with the nature of the tradition. Historical or not, the tradition should reveal much for the understanding of the factors in law-making, not only of the belief of the redactor, but also of the people from whom it derived and for whom it was intended. On this basis I wish to address some of the peculiarities of the Commandments. The relevant passages of Exodus read: IV Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work - you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.62 . . . . . . . . . . 62 Is the omission of the wife significant?
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