60 Fun Facts About Ten Commandments

According to the Hebrew Bible, to whom did God give the Ten Commandments?

Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on the mountain (Exodus 20); Exodus 32 says he smashed the first tablets and later climbed back up for a second pair.

On which mountain were the commandments revealed?

Mount Sinai, also called Horeb in Deuteronomy, is where Exodus 19–20 places the revelation, amid thunder, lightning, smoke and a loud trumpet blast.

What were the Israelites worshipping when Moses came down and smashed the first tablets?

Exodus 32 says the Israelites, fearing Moses was gone, pressed Aaron to make a golden calf from their gold earrings; Moses smashed the tablets when he saw them dancing around it.

Where were the second set of tablets later placed?

Deuteronomy 10:5 says Moses put the second tablets in the Ark of the Covenant, the gold-covered chest carried with the Israelites; 1 Kings 8:9 says only those two tablets were inside it.

What alternative name for the Ten Commandments comes from the Greek for "ten words"?

The Decalogue takes its name from the Greek deka logoi, 'ten words', the phrase the Septuagint uses for the commandments; Clement of Alexandria was among the early writers who used dekalogos as a name.

How long was Moses on the mountain when he received the tablets?

Exodus 24:18 says Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights; the cloud had covered it for six days first, and he was called in on the seventh.

Besides Exodus 20, which book of the Bible contains a second full version of the commandments?

Deuteronomy 5 repeats the commandments in Moses's farewell speeches, with a different reason for the Sabbath: remembering slavery in Egypt rather than God's rest on the seventh day.

Which commandment does Ephesians 6:2 call the first one with a promise attached?

Ephesians 6:2–3 calls 'Honour thy father and mother' the first commandment with promise, quoting Exodus 20:12's pledge that your days may be long in the land.

On which day of the week is the Sabbath commandment observed in Judaism?

Jewish Shabbat is the seventh day, Saturday, kept from Friday dusk to Saturday nightfall; most Christians moved their day of rest to Sunday, the day of the resurrection.

The Samaritan version has a tenth commandment about the sanctity of which mountain?

The Samaritan Pentateuch adds a tenth commandment ordering an altar on Mount Gerizim, near Nablus; Samaritans treat 'I am the Lord your God' as a preface, so the usual list counts as nine.

The Nash Papyrus contains the commandments followed by the opening of which prayer?

The Nash Papyrus, a 2nd-century BC fragment from Egypt, pairs the Decalogue with the opening of the Shema ('Hear, O Israel'); the Mishnah says Temple priests recited both each morning.

During which festival are the commandments read aloud in synagogue, besides the regular Torah cycle?

On Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Sinai, Exodus 19–20 is read aloud, so the commandments are heard three times a year counting the regular Exodus and Deuteronomy readings.

Which Church Father's Ten Commandments numbering, used by Catholics and Lutherans, splits coveting in two?

Augustine of Hippo's numbering merges the bans on other gods and on images into one commandment and splits coveting into two; the Reformed and Orthodox traditions follow Philo and Josephus in keeping images separate.

In which 1980 case did the Supreme Court strike down Kentucky's classroom commandments law?

Stone v. Graham (1980) held that Kentucky's statute requiring the Ten Commandments on every classroom wall had no secular legislative purpose and so failed the Lemon test.

Which state's governor signed a 2024 law mandating the commandments in every public school classroom?

A federal judge called it "unconstitutional on its face"; Texas and Arkansas passed similar laws in 2025.

Which organisation placed thousands of Ten Commandments displays in US courthouses in the 1950s?

The Fraternal Order of Eagles' youth-guidance programme gave out Ten Commandments plaques and granite monuments to courthouses and parks across the US from the 1950s; its Austin monument was upheld in Van Orden v. Perry (2005).

Scholars have compared the structure of the commandments to the treaties of which ancient empire?

George Mendenhall in 1954 likened the Sinai covenant to the treaties of the Hittites, whose suzerainty pacts open by recalling the great king's favours before listing the vassal's duties, as Exodus 20 opens with 'who brought you out of Egypt'.

Jewish tradition counts how many commandments in the Torah in total?

Jewish tradition counts 613 mitzvot in the Torah, 248 positive and 365 negative, a tally the Talmud (Makkot 23b) credits to Rabbi Simlai; Philo treated the Ten as headings for the rest.

Dekalog, a ten-part television series built around the commandments, came from which country?

Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog (1989) was made in Poland for Polish television; its ten hour-long films all unfold in one Warsaw housing estate, each loosely tied to a commandment.

In Matthew 19, after listing five of the commandments, Jesus adds which further command?

In Matthew 19:18–19 Jesus lists five commandments and then adds 'Love thy neighbour as thyself' from Leviticus 19:18; Paul likewise sums up the second-tablet commands with it in Romans 13:9.

According to Exodus 31:18, the tablets were uniquely written with what?

Exodus 31:18 says the two tablets of the testimony were 'written with the finger of God'; that phrase, repeated in Deuteronomy 9:10, and their terse style set them apart from every other law Moses delivered.

Which surah of the Quran describes Moses meeting God on the mountain and receiving the tablets?

Surah Al-A'raf (7:142–145) tells how Moses kept a forty-night appointment with God, asked to see Him, watched the mountain crumble, and was given tablets inscribed with guidance on all things.

Which English Bible established the phrase "ten commandments", later followed by the King James Version?

The Geneva Bible of 1560 rendered Exodus 34:28 as the 'tenne commandements', wording the Bishops' Bible and the 1611 King James Version kept; Tyndale and Coverdale had written 'ten verses'.

In one rabbinic pairing, "I am the Lord thy God" matches which second-tablet commandment?

The Mekhilta pairs the two tablets line by line: 'I am the Lord thy God' with 'Thou shalt not murder', since a murderer destroys the image of God; idolatry pairs with adultery, and misusing God's name with theft.

Which scholar argued that "thou shalt not steal" originally meant "thou shalt not kidnap"?

Albrecht Alt argued in his essay on the Decalogue's theft ban that the eighth commandment originally forbade stealing a free person, i.e. kidnapping; the Talmud (Sanhedrin 86a) likewise reads it as a ban on stealing people.

Who produced, directed and narrated the 1956 film The Ten Commandments?

Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed the film and speaks its on-screen prologue and narration; it was his fourth biblical picture and the last film he directed before his death in 1959.

Who plays Moses in the 1956 film?

Charlton Heston plays Moses, three years after leading the director's circus epic The Greatest Show on Earth (1952); he went on to win the Best Actor Oscar for Ben-Hur (1959).

Who plays Rameses, the Pharaoh who says "So let it be written, so let it be done"?

Yul Brynner plays Rameses II, the Pharaoh whose decrees end 'So let it be written, so let it be done'; the National Board of Review named him Best Actor of 1956 partly for this role.

Who plays the scheming princess Nefretiri?

Anne Baxter, a Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner for The Razor's Edge (1946), plays Nefretiri; the director cast her after screening her 1954 film Carnival Story.

Which blacklisted actor did the director rehire to play the treacherous overseer Dathan?

Edward G. Robinson, greylisted after the HUAC hearings, plays Dathan; in his memoir All My Yesterdays he wrote that the director 'returned me to films' and 'restored my self-respect'.

Which studio released the 1956 film?

One of its executives asked whether it would really keep the title; Adolph Zukor leapt up to insist there would be no other.

Who plays Lilia, the water girl loved by Joshua in the 1956 film?

Debra Paget plays Lilia, the water girl loved by Joshua and coveted by the overseer Dathan; the same year she starred opposite Elvis Presley in his debut film Love Me Tender.

In which widescreen process was the film shot?

The film was shot in VistaVision, the studio's high-resolution process that ran 35mm film horizontally through the camera; it was the director's first widescreen picture, photographed in Technicolor by Loyal Griggs.

Which of its seven Oscar nominations did the film actually win?

Its only win from seven nominations was Best Visual Effects (then called Best Special Effects) for John P. Fulton's team, whose work included parting the Red Sea and the pillar of fire.

Who composed the film's score, after Victor Young declined for health reasons?

Elmer Bernstein was first hired only to write the film's on-screen Egyptian dance music; when Victor Young fell ill he took over the entire score, which runs well over two hours.

Who plays the infant Moses found in the basket?

The lead actor's newborn son, Fraser Heston, born in February 1955, was about three months old when he played the baby Moses; associate producer Henry Wilcoxon suggested it as soon as the pregnancy was announced.

Whose voice, slowed and deepened, speaks for God at the Burning Bush?

Charlton Heston's own voice, slowed and deepened, speaks for God at the burning bush, a choice the director tied to a Midrash that God used the voice of Moses's father so as not to frighten him.

In which country was the 1954 location shoot, including the giant Per-Rameses gate set?

The 1954 location shoot was in Egypt: the Per-Rameses gate set rose at Beni Youssef near Cairo, and a unit camped beside St Catherine's Monastery to film at Mount Sinai itself.

Roughly how much water was released into the studio tank for the parting of the Red Sea?

About 360,000 gallons of water were dumped from tanks on the studio lot into a catch basin; the footage was run in reverse and composited with the walls of water to make the sea part.

Who plays Bithiah, the Pharaoh's daughter who adopts the infant Moses?

Nina Foch plays Bithiah, the Pharaoh's daughter who draws the infant Moses from the Nile and raises him as an Egyptian prince; Martha Scott plays his birth mother Yochabel.

The director cast his Rameses after seeing him in which Broadway musical?

Yul Brynner was playing the King of Siam in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I on Broadway when the director saw him and offered him Rameses; he won the Best Actor Oscar for the musical's 1956 film version.

Which actress did the director want for Nefretiri before deciding her figure would not fill the gowns?

Audrey Hepburn was the director's first choice for Nefretiri in early 1954, but he decided her slender figure would not fill the role's low-cut gowns and looked elsewhere.

Since 1973 the film has aired annually on US network television during which season?

ABC has broadcast the film every year since 1973 around Passover and Easter, the holidays tied to the Exodus and to Holy Week; it usually airs on a Saturday night in spring.

What was the film's production budget, then the largest ever?

The budget was about $13 million, the most ever spent on a film at the time; it paid off, as the picture became the top-grossing release of 1956.

Who plays Sethi, the Pharaoh who raises Moses as a prince of Egypt?

Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays Sethi, the Pharaoh who favours Moses over his own son Rameses; the English stage veteran had earlier appeared in Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941) and Rope (1948).

Which horror star plays Baka, the master builder Moses kills?

Vincent Price plays Baka, the master builder whom Moses kills while rescuing Joshua; Price had just begun his horror career with House of Wax (1953).

Which 1949 novel supplied the Nefretiri romance and other subplots?

Prince of Egypt by Dorothy Clarke Wilson (1949) was one of three novels credited on screen, with Ingraham's Pillar of Fire and Southon's On Eagle's Wings; DreamWorks reused its title for a 1998 animated film.

The lead was partly cast for his resemblance to whose sculpture of Moses?

Charlton Heston's profile was likened to Michelangelo's marble Moses in Rome's San Pietro in Vincoli; the director reportedly compared a photograph of the actor with the statue before casting him.

The 1956 film remakes the biblical prologue of the director's silent film from which year?

The director's 1923 silent The Ten Commandments opened with a biblical prologue before a modern morality tale; the 1956 film expands that prologue into the whole picture.

What happened to the director after he climbed the 107-foot Egyptian gate set to check a shot?

The director, then 73, climbed a 107-foot ladder on the Per-Rameses gate set in November 1954; he suffered a heart attack at the top and, against medical advice, was back directing within days.

Moses's red robe with black and white stripes turned out to match the colours of which Israelite tribe?

Moses was a Levite, and the midrash Numbers Rabbah 2:7 gives the tribe of Levi a banner of red, black and white; the costume department claimed the match was noticed only after the robe was woven.

Who plays Sephora, the shepherdess who becomes Moses's wife?

Yvonne De Carlo plays Sephora, the Midianite shepherdess Moses marries in exile; she later became famous as Lily Munster in TV's The Munsters (1964–66).

Which character does Judith Anderson play in the 1956 film?

Judith Anderson plays Memnet, Bithiah's servant who kept the Levite cloth from Moses's basket; Nefretiri kills her when she threatens to reveal Moses's Hebrew birth.

Which role did associate producer Henry Wilcoxon also play on screen in the film?

Henry Wilcoxon, the director's associate producer and his Marc Antony in Cleopatra (1934), plays Pentaur, captain of the host, who leads Rameses's chariots after the Hebrews into the Red Sea.

In the AFI's 2008 "Ten Top Ten", the film was ranked where among epics?

The AFI's 2008 'Ten Top Ten' placed it tenth among epics, behind Lawrence of Arabia at number one and Ben-Hur at two; it had joined the National Film Registry in 1999.

Which chapter, dealing with worship of Yahweh, do scholars call the 'Ritual Decalogue'?

Exodus 34:11–26, which Goethe first singled out, lists cultic rules such as the three pilgrimage feasts and not boiling a kid in its mother's milk, so scholars call it the 'Ritual Decalogue' against the 'Ethical Decalogue' of Exodus 20.

Which Mel Brooks film features a satirical scene about the Ten Commandments?

In History of the World, Part I (1981), Mel Brooks's Moses comes down the mountain with three tablets, announces 'fifteen commandments', drops one and hastily corrects it to ten.

Which plague does the film show as a greenish mist creeping through Egypt's streets?

The film shows the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, as a greenish mist drifting through the streets on Passover night; most of the earlier plagues are reported rather than shown.

Who plays Moses's brother Aaron in the 1956 film?

John Carradine plays Aaron, Moses's brother and spokesman before Pharaoh; the gaunt character actor had earlier appeared in Stagecoach (1939) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

What does Moses's staff turn into when cast down before Pharaoh in the film?

Before Rameses's court Moses's staff becomes a cobra that swallows the snakes conjured by the magician Jannes, echoing Exodus 7:8–12, where Aaron's rod swallows the Egyptians' rods.