Commandment

"commandment." This noun occurs 181 times in the Old Testament. Its first occurrence is in Gen 26:5, where miswâ is synonymous with hoq ("statute") and tôrâ ("law"): "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

In the Pentateuch, God is always the Giver of the miswâ: "All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and posses the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no" (Deut 8:1-2). The "commandment" may be a prescription ("thou shalt do …") or a proscription ("thou shalt not do …"). The commandments were given in the hearing of the Israelites (Exod 15:26; Deut 11:13), who were to "do" (Lev 4:2ff.) and "keep" (Deut 4:2; Psa 78:7) them. Any failure to do so signified a covenantal breach (Num 15:31), transgression (2Chron 24:20), and apostasy (1Kings 18:18).

The plural of miswâ often denotes a "body of laws" given by divine revelation. They are God's "word": "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Psa 119:9). They are also known as "the commandments of God."

Outside the Pentateuch, "commandments" are given by kings (1Kings 2:43), fathers (Jer 35:14), people (Isa 29:13), and teachers of wisdom (Prov 6:20; cf. Prov 5:13). Only about ten percent of all occurrences in the Old Testament fit this category.

The Septuagint translation are: entole ("commandment; order") and prostagma ("order; commandment; injunction").

signifies "that which is imposed by decree or law," Heb 11:23. It stresses the concrete character of the "commandment" more than epitage (No. 4). Cp. COMMAND, No. 1. For the verb in Heb 11:22 see No. 3 under COMMAND.

akin to No. 3, above, denotes, in general, "an injunction, charge, precept, commandment." It is the most frequent term, and is used of moral and religious precepts, e.g., Mat 5:19; it is frequent in the Gospels, especially that of John, and in his Epistles. See also, e.g., Act 17:15, Rom 1:7-13, Rom 13:9, 1Co 7:19, Eph 2:15, Col 4:10. See PRECEPT.

akin to No. 2, marks more especially "the thing commanded, a commission;" in Mat 15:9, Mar 7:7, Col 2:22, RV, "precepts," AV, "commandments." See PRECEPT.

akin to No. 4, above, stresses "the authoritativeness of the command;" it is used in Rom 16:26, 1Co 7:6, 1Co 7:25, 2Co 8:8, 1Ti 1:1, Tit 1:3, Tit 2:15. See AUTHORITY.

Notes: (1) For parangelia (cp. parangello, above), "a proclamation," see CHARGE. (2) In Rev 22:14 the RV, "wash their robes" (for AV, "do His commandments") follows the most authentic mss.