Ritual Decalogue

English

Proper noun

Ritual Decalogue

1. One of the three lists of religious and moral imperatives called the Ten Commandments which, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. This list includes mostly ritual imperatives, as opposed to the other two, which include both ritual and moral imperatives.
   • 2008, Norman Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible: A Brief Socio-Literary Introduction, page 118:

     The lists of Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 5 are called "ten commandments" in the biblical text [...], and that title, or the equivalent Latin term Decalogue, has traditionally been applied to the list of Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5. Biblical scholars often distinguish the Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5 list from the Exodus 34 list on the basis of content by referring to the former as the Ethical Decalogue and the latter as the Ritual Decalogue.

Synonyms

• ritual Ten Commandments
• cultic decalogue

Antonyms

• Ethical Decalogue