The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss the question why the Decalogue, in contrast to other legislation in the Sinai narrative in Exodus, is presented as having been spoken directly by God to Israel rather than mediated through Moses. This question has not been ignored in modern critical commentaries, but it may fairly be claimed that in general the reasons adduced for the position of the Decalogue in the narrative have been inadequate and have rarely gone beyond a merely literary critical explanation. The only major exception, as far as I am aware, is B. S. Childs who has dealt with this problem in a perceptive and constructive manner in his commentary on Exodus 1). The main aim of the ensuing discussion is to offer some additional support for his interpretation. The question here posed is further sharpened by the importance placed upon the Decalogue in Deuteronomy iv-v. Here the Decalogue is regarded as having been the sole content of the covenant law at Horeb (iv 13, v 22); the remaining legislation in the book is cast as a later address on the plains of Moab by Moses to whom Yahweh had communicated additional laws long before at Horeb. In addition, Deuteronomy iv-v places considerable theological and apologetical emphasis upon the Decalogue as God's direct address to Israel (see below). What is less obvious is why in Exodus the Decalogue is proclaimed directly to the people by God whilst the remaining laws (the Book of the Covenant), though also written in the first person singular as a speech of God, are transmitted at second hand, so to speak, by Moses. How is this to be explained? Why did the author or redactor give this sequence to the narrative? Had he in mind reasons similar to those contained in Deuteronomy iv-v? It has long been acknowledged that the Decalogue breaks the