August 16, 2026 Exodus 19:1-6; 20:1-2 Ten Words: Guideposts For How to Live Together as Commmunity

Colloquially they are called Ten Commandments, but the biblical text itself describes them as ten words or ten sayings.

In Exodus 34:28, the Hebrew says:

“He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.”

The Hebrew expression is עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים aseret ha-devarim, literally “the ten words” or “the ten sayings.”

The English phrase comes through the ancient Greek and Latin traditions. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible calls them the “ten words” (deka logoi), while the Latin tradition uses Decem Mandata, “ten commands.” From that Latin phrase comes the familiar English “Ten Commandments.”

God tells the people:

“ 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. ”

This is not conditional.  God does not say, "Keep these rules and, if you do, you may become my people. Instead, these become the ten foundational words as to how God's newly liberated family can "walk" and live together.

God doesn't give Israel ten rules to make them religious; God gives them ten words to teach them what freedom looks like. God provides an instruction manual at Sinai for a way of life.

Then God tells them:

“If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples.”
—Exodus 19:5

The Exodus begins as a journey out of Egypt, but at Sinai it becomes a journey toward one another. They are no longer simply a collection of former slaves. They are becoming a covenant community.

The word synod comes from the Greek synodos: meaning syn “together, with” and hodos “way, road, journey.” So synodos literally means “a journey together” or “people traveling the same road.”

I am learning lessons about the syndos being on this congregation's prayer list. There is a tension I am currently uncomfortably navigating. I want to be open and reveal vulnerability without reporting details of my progressive treatment statuses as some poor-poor-pitiful-me updates to garner sympathy. Maybe using the actions of others on the list can help guide this path I am on.

When we walk together generally our perspective may broaden to encompass God's larger vision. When God says "Be fruitful and multiply" in Genesis this blessing goes beyond eating fruit from  the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. It is to invite us to be Trees of Life to others.