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Thought for the Day: The Order of the עשרת הדיברות According to the Ramban

I know it is slightly out of character to put Hebrew text in the title of a TftD. I am also painfully aware that "the עשרת הדיברות" is a bit redundant. Sigh... leaving out the "the" in English sounds/looks wrong, and I simply refuse to use the misleading and wrong translation that King James foisted on us. And "Decalogue"?! Please.

The whole world knows that there were two tablets -- five each. One tablet expressed the expressions related to man's role vis-à-vis his (please do not start in on my about pronouns, you know very well what I mean) Creator, the other five his role vis-à-vis other humans. (There, is that better?) The Ramban takes it one step deeper and shows how all of them are really for building a relationship with the Creator.

The Ramban sees the order of the עשרת הדיברות as taking us from the most basic obligation of belief in a Unique Creator through its logical ramifications -- 1,2,3,4; then there is a transition to the critters -- 5; then all about the critters interactions -- 6, 7, 8, 9; finally speaking to how the person views himself. (See Ramban on Shmos 20:11-13.)

  1. Belief in the Creator -- pretty self-explanatory
  2. Belief there are no other independent powers. There is nothing outside the venue of the Creator. This is basically the flip side of (1)
  3. Using HaShem's name for false and meaningless oaths. This prohibition is the beginning of the transition from thought to action; speech is that transition point.
  4. Shabbos takes prohibitions on actions to the the whole body, but starting with kiddush to demonstrate that everything is done because HaShem created and therefore owns the world and everything in it.
  5. Parents are partners in creation, and therefore honoring then is another step in honoring even those whom HaShem uses to get things done in this world.
  6. Since man was created to declare and demonstrate the glory of Heaven, murder is diminishing that ability  and therefore is forbidden.
  7. Adultery produces children who honor the wrong people -- which is honoring someone who is not a partner with HaShem in your creation and therefore an echo of avoda zara.
  8. Kidnapping is doing the same thing, but after the person is born, by taking him away from his parents. Again, he comes to honor someone who is not a partner in his creation.
  9. Stealing and testifying to something false is acting as if you are able to subvert justice, demonstrating that there are forces at work besides the Creator; so again, forbidden. (Even though the "Thou shalt not steal" of the עשרת הדיברות refers to kidnapping, the Ramban sees stealing as also included.)
  10. Finally, if one did not desire what belongs to someone else, none of this would even start. (I find it interesting that the עשרת הדיברות ends -- not begins -- with a prohibition on the root cause. First you have to route out the bad behaviour and attitude, then you can work on the source.)
From the Ramban's point of view, then, parshas Mishpatim -- laws of torts, is a natural segue from the עשרת הדיברות.
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