Commandments, the Ten

Ten laws given by God through the prophet Moses to govern moral behavior.

The Hebrew name for these is the “Ten Words.” They are also called the Covenant (Deut. 9:9) or the Testimony (Ex. 25:21; 32:15). God’s giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses, and through him to Israel, is described in Ex. 19:9–20:23; 32:15–19; 34:1. The commandments were engraved on two tables of stone, which were placed in the Ark; hence the Ark was called the Ark of the Covenant (Num. 10:33). The Lord, quoting from Deut. 6:4–5 and Lev. 19:18, has summarized the Ten Commandments in “two great commandments” (Matt. 22:37–39).

The Ten Commandments have been repeated in latter-day revelation (JST, Ex. 34:1–2, 14 [Appendix]; Mosiah 12:32–37; 13:12–24; D&C 42:18–28; 59:5–13).