Commandments: Two, ten or 613?

Moses &Ten Commandments (Rembrandt)

Because humans get easily confused with too many dos and don'ts, God had the wisdom to make the commandments more user-friendly. 

The 613 Torah commandments were distilled into ten - and were further distilled within the New Testament into these two:  Love God and love one another.

Mendy Hecht of Chabad.org presents a listing of the 613 commandments, along with their biblical sources.  These include the following:  Not to make human forms even for decorative purposes (Exodus 20:20), Men must not shave

their beards with a razor (Leviticus 19:27), He must not eat raisins (Numbers 6:3), and Pay wages on the day they were earned (Deuteronomy 24:15).

These are some milder examples of what following each and every facet of Mosaic Law could mean.  Some more serious examples, such as the following, can be found within The Daily Beast article titled "Christian Sharia Law in America":  If a woman is found not to be a virgin on her wedding night, 'she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death' (Deuteronomy 22:20-21).     

Resources

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/756399/jewish/The-613-Commandments.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/christian-sharia-law-america-104500940--politics.html

Copyright February 19, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved