Ten Commandments trivia, the verse beside the law.

Where in Scripture do the Ten Commandments first appear?

1. Genesis 12
2. Exodus 20
3. Deuteronomy 5
4. Leviticus 19

"And God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.'"Exodus 20:1-2

The Decalogue first appears in Exodus 20 — given to Moses on Mount Sinai about three months after the Exodus. Deuteronomy 5 is Moses re-presenting the same ten about forty years later, on the plains of Moab, with small but theologically significant differences (the Sabbath rationale especially).

What is the first commandment?

1. "You shall have no other gods before me."
2. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image."
3. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
4. "Honor your father and your mother."

"You shall have no other gods before me."Exodus 20:3

The First Commandment establishes the exclusivity of Israel's covenant with the LORD. It does not necessarily concede that other gods exist; it forbids placing anything — real or imagined — in the place reserved for God alone. Jesus reaffirms this as part of the Great Commandment ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart"), making it the foundation on which every other commandment rests.

Which commandment forbids bearing false witness?

1. The seventh
2. The eighth
3. The ninth
4. The tenth

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."Exodus 20:16

In the standard Reformed and Jewish enumeration, the prohibition against false witness is the ninth commandment. Its original setting is the courtroom — perjury that could send an innocent neighbor to his death — but the prophets and Jesus broaden it to cover slander, gossip, and every form of deceit. Numbering note: the Catholic and Lutheran enumeration counts it as the eighth, because they combine the first two and split the tenth.

On which mountain were the Ten Commandments given to Moses?

1. Mount Horeb only
2. Mount Sinai
3. Mount Nebo
4. Mount Moriah

"Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire."Exodus 19:18

Exodus consistently names Sinai as the site of the giving of the law. "Horeb" appears elsewhere (especially in Deuteronomy) as another name for the same mountain or its larger region. Nebo is where Moses dies looking into the Promised Land; Moriah is where Abraham binds Isaac and, later, where Solomon's temple stands.

Which two commandments did Jesus name as the greatest, on which "all the Law and the Prophets" depend?

1. Honor your father and mother; do not murder
2. Love God with all your heart; love your neighbor as yourself
3. Do not commit adultery; do not steal
4. Keep the Sabbath; have no other gods

"On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."Matthew 22:40

Jesus summarises the Decalogue as two love-commands: love of God (drawn from Deuteronomy 6:5, the Shema) and love of neighbor (drawn from Leviticus 19:18). The first four commandments expand on the love of God; the last six expand on love of neighbor. Jesus is not abolishing the Ten — he is naming the principle that animates them.

In the Decalogue, which commandment carries an attached promise?

1. The third — "the LORD will not hold him guiltless"
2. The fourth — Sabbath rest
3. The fifth — "that your days may be long"
4. The tenth — coveting

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."Exodus 20:12

Paul calls this "the first commandment with a promise" (Ephesians 6:2). Honoring parents is the hinge between the first table of the Law (duty toward God) and the second table (duty toward neighbor) — because parental authority is the first form of God's authority a child encounters. The promised long life is covenantal: a stable society depends on the generations honoring one another.

In the second giving of the Law (Deuteronomy 5), Moses changes the rationale for the Sabbath. What new reason does he give?

1. Because God rested on the seventh day of creation
2. Because Israel was a slave in Egypt and the Lord brought them out
3. Because the Sabbath is a sign of the new covenant
4. Because the priests need a day of rest

"You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there… therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."Deuteronomy 5:15

In Exodus 20 the Sabbath is grounded in creation; in Deuteronomy 5 it is grounded in redemption. Both rationales are kept side by side in the Christian tradition — the Sabbath as creation gift and as liberation memorial. It is the only commandment whose rationale shifts between the two recitals, which is why Sabbath theology has been so generative across the centuries.

In the Westminster Larger Catechism and most Reformed expositions, the Decalogue is divided into "two tables." What is the division?

1. Five and five — duties to God and duties to neighbor
2. Four and six — duties to God (1–4) and duties to neighbor (5–10)
3. Three and seven — Trinity and creation
4. Six and four — moral and ceremonial

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… and your neighbor as yourself."Matthew 22:37, 39

The Reformed and most Protestant traditions divide the Ten into commandments 1–4 (duties Godward) and 5–10 (duties manward). Jewish tradition often divides them five and five, treating "Honor your father and mother" as still pertaining to God because parents stand in God's place. Augustine and the Roman Catholic tradition use a three-and-seven scheme. The division matters because it shapes how the Two Great Commandments map onto the Ten.

The Heidelberg Catechism teaches that the Ten Commandments serve three uses in the Christian life. Which "use" describes the Law as a mirror that exposes sin and drives a person to Christ?

1. The civil use
2. The pedagogical (or theological) use
3. The didactic (or normative) use
4. The ceremonial use

"For through the law comes knowledge of sin."Romans 3:20

Reformed theology classically names three uses of the moral law: the civil use (restraining sin in society), the pedagogical use (the "mirror" that shows our guilt and drives us to Christ), and the didactic or normative use (the guide for the regenerate Christian life). Luther stressed the second; Calvin gave special weight to the third. The Heidelberg Catechism opens its third section, "Of Thankfulness," with an exposition of the Ten Commandments precisely as the normative guide for the redeemed.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus radicalises the sixth and seventh commandments. He teaches that the prohibition on murder also forbids what, and the prohibition on adultery forbids what?

1. Public anger; remarriage after divorce
2. Hatred of enemies; polygamy
3. Anger and contempt of a brother; lust in the heart
4. Killing in war; cohabitation

"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment… everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."Matthew 5:22, 28

Jesus is not abolishing the commandments — he is exposing their full demand. The Sermon on the Mount drives the Decalogue inward, from external act to the desires of the heart. This is the foundation of the Reformed view that the Law cannot be "kept" in any saving sense by anyone but Christ — and that the Law's deepest function is to drive us to him.