The “Ten Words” are distinguished from all other lessons of the Torah
both on account of their intrinsic value and on account of the
extraordinary manner in which they have been revealed by the Almighty
on Mount Sinai. They form the contents of “the covenant which God made
with us” (Deut. v. 3).
But it must not be forgotten that they are not the only Divine
commandments. When, therefore, Moses repeated them before his brethren
in the plain of Moab, he prefaced it by the exhortation: “Hear, O
Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak unto you to-day,
and learn them and keep them to do them” (ibid. 1); and after he had
finished reciting them he reminded the Israelites how they received the
Ten Commandments from the midst of the fire, and how they prayed that
further commandments should be given to them through Moses; adding that
the Almighty, in compliance with their petition, said to him: “Stand
thou here with me, and I will tell thee the whole commandment, both the
statutes and the judgments which thou shalt teach them” (ibid. 28).
“And God spake all these words, saying:”