Which language did God speak when he told Moses the 10 Commandments?

[tonychanyt]

Exodus 20:

1 God spoke all these words:

What language did God speak here?

13 "You shall not murder."
לא תרצח׃ ס

God wrote down the 10 Commandments on 2 stone tablets (Exodus 31:18).

Did Moses pen exactly these (Paleo) Hebrew words in Ex 20:13?

Moses received the Ten Commandments in the 15th century BC. The extant OT manuscripts were written using the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, the earliest known examples of which dated to the 10th century BC. While in Egypt, Moses and his contemporaries spoke a Canaanite dialect at home and Egyptian outside. Their mother tongue became the Proto-Hebrew and developed into the Paleo-Hebrew. Moses wrote in that transitional language with loanwords from Egypt. The Pentateuch we read today in the manuscripts took centuries of evolution and compilation before the language/writing settled down to the form that was recorded.

Textual criticism is a scholarly discipline that aims to reconstruct the original text of a document, particularly ancient texts, when the original is no longer available.

Which language did God use to communicate with Moses?

An ancient form of Hebrew that was slightly different from Paleo Hebrew and quite a bit different from modern Hebrew. Like all human languages, Hebrew has evolved over time.

 

[Grafted In]

Didn't God, Himself write the 10 Commandments....both times?

 

[tonychanyt]

Didn't God, Himself write the 10 Commandments....both times?

Right, but in what language?

 

[awstar]

It is said of the Quran scrolls (Dead Sea scrolls):

Most of these texts were written when the Second Temple still stood in Jerusalem; when Jewish sects, including the Pharisees and Sadducees, argued about the correct interpretation of the law; and when the Greeks, Hasmoneans, and then Romans—with Herod as a client king—ruled over the region. A few other texts date as far back as the eighth century B.C.E., during the time of the First Temple, while some are as late as the Islamic conquest of the region in the seventh century C.E.

What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? The scrolls are considered by many to be the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century.

www.biblicalarchaeology.org

If these scrolls are written in the same Hebrew that was read and studied in the synagogues in Jesus day, Jesus Himself probably was reading in the same language as the LORD wrote with his own hand when he wrote the Ten Commandments for Moses. When Moses died the LORD told Joshua “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” —Joshua 1:7-8

If there was any evolution to the Hebrew language, it would make more sense that it occurred after the 70 souls in Jacob’s 12 tribes had already moved into Egypt. — But not after Moses was born, and especially not after the LORD told Moses to tell his people:

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. —Deuteronomy 11:18-19

And also not after the LORD told Moses to tell the people about when they insist on having a king like the other nations:

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: —Deuteronomy 17:18-19


Also:

Deuteronomy 31:9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:25-26 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

2 Kings 22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

2 Chronicles 34:15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

 

[tonychanyt]

If these scrolls are written in the same Hebrew that was read and studied in the synagogues in Jesus day, Jesus Himself probably was reading in the same language as the LORD wrote with his own hand when he wrote the Ten Commandments for Moses.

How?

 

[St_Worm2]

Exodus 20:
13 You shall not murder.
לא תרצח׃ ס

Did Moses pen exactly these words? No. The OT Hebrew alphabet did not even exist at the time.

Hello Tony, what sources did you use to determine that? If memory serves, a tablet of some sort was discovered from the 13th Century BC that was inscribed with Biblical Hebrew (of course, as with many/most? other discoveries from that long ago, there are many who question its authenticity).

That said, I also remember reading Jewish sources, both from today and from antiquity, claiming that Biblical Hebrew was the common/spoken language of the Jewish people from about the 13th to the 3rd centuries BC, and if that's true, then imagining that Hebrew existed in written form back then doesn't seem like much of a stretch.

Finally, as you know, the Ark of the Covenant contains the Tablets that were written by the hand of God on Mt. Sinai, and the Jews had the Ark in their possession, most of the time anyway, until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD (according to the Roman-Jewish historian, Josephus). So, if the Decalogue was written in a different language than Biblical Hebrew, why isn't that common knowledge? (as that certainly seems like something that, if true, would have been mentioned regularly for millennia now).

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - I'll try to locate some of my sources and get back to you with them when I find them.

 

[awstar]

How?

Glad you asked.

(2016) The World's Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script (frontmatter)

For about 150 years, scholars have attempted to identify the language of the world’s first alphabetic script, and to translate some of the inscriptions that use it. Until now, their attempts have accomplished little more than identifying most of the

www.academia.edu

Douglas N Petrovich

Top 2%, 13534 Views, 16 Pages 1 File ▾

Egyptology, Hebrew Language, Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies, History Of The Bible/Biblical Canon
…

For about 150 years, scholars have attempted to identify the language of the world’s first alphabetic script, and to translate some of the inscriptions that use it. Until now, their attempts have accomplished little more than identifying most of the pictographic letters and translating a few of the Semitic words. With the publication of The World’s Oldest Alphabet, a new day has dawned. All of the disputed letters have been resolved, while the language has been identified conclusively as Hebrew, allowing for the translation of 16 inscriptions that date from 1842–1446 BC. These inscriptions expressly name 3 biblical figures and greatly illuminate the earliest Israelite history in a way that no other book has achieved, apart from the Bible.

 

[tonychanyt]

Glad you asked.

(2016) The World's Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script (frontmatter)

For about 150 years, scholars have attempted to identify the language of the world’s first alphabetic script, and to translate some of the inscriptions that use it. Until now, their attempts have accomplished little more than identifying most of the

www.academia.edu

Thanks for the reference. This is how to do referencing and quotation in a scholarly manner:

1. Display and indent the relevant text.
2. Selectively bold the particular keywords that are important to your point. There is no need to bold the entire sentence. Have a laser-sharp focus.
3. Be concise and precise to the point. No need to quote the whole paragraph.

I do this for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee it will sharpen your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it. I prefer to debate with people who do.

 

[tonychanyt]

Hello Tony, what sources did you use to determine that?

Good question. I edited the OP. Please take another look. Thanks.

Finally, as you know, the Ark of the Covenant contains the Tablets that were written by the hand of God on Mt. Sinai, and the Jews had the Ark in their possession, most of the time anyway, until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD (according to the Roman-Jewish historian, Josephus).

See What happened to the ark of the covenant? and follow up there

 

[eleos1954]

Exodus 20:


What language did God speak here?


God wrote down the 10 Commandments on 2 stone tablets (Exodus 31:18).

Did Moses pen exactly these (Paleo) Hebrew words in Ex 20:13?

Moses received the Ten Commandments in the 15th century BC. The extant OT manuscripts were written using the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, the earliest known examples of which dated to the 10th century BC. While in Egypt, Moses and his contemporaries spoke a Canaanite dialect at home and Egyptian outside. Their mother tongue became the Proto-Hebrew and developed into the Paleo-Hebrew. Moses wrote in that transitional language with loanwords from Egypt. The Pentateuch we read today in the manuscripts took centuries of evolution and compilation before the language/writing settled down to the form that was recorded.

Textual criticism is a scholarly discipline that aims to reconstruct the original text of a document, particularly ancient texts, when the original is no longer available.

Which language did God use to communicate with Moses?

An ancient form of Hebrew that was slightly different from Paleo Hebrew and quite a bit different from modern Hebrew. Like all human languages, Hebrew has evolved over time.

We don't know for sure of course ...

Modern scholarship considers that the Israelites emerged from groups of indigenous Canaanites and other peoples. They spoke an archaic form of the Hebrew language, which was a regional variety of the Canaanite languages, known today as Biblical Hebrew.

 

[awstar]

I prefer to debate with people who do.

I'm not interested in debating. But I'll lead the horse to water, just in case its thirsty.

Douglas Petrovich Shares Archeological Connections Between Joseph from the Old Testament and Egypt

Douglas Petrovich has uncovered fascinating archeological connections between Joseph in the Old Testament and the pharaohs and people of Egypt, including bridges between hieroglyphics and the Hebrew a

rumble.com

I'll even give you a key moment that relates to your question "how" : minute 44 in the interview.

 

[Aaron112]

I'm not interested in debating. But I'll lead the horse to water, just in case its thirsty.

Good, Thank YHVH!
What good is debating (especially on forums)?
God's Word and Message Revealed by God does not change.

...and, as far as I know, those souls who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness are not wanting a debate, nor ever helped by a debate, again especially on forums. They /I/ want living water, and the food from heaven, not from men or from carnal places/the world.