The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code

by Dennis Prager

The most important words ever written are the Ten Commandments. These words changed the world when they were first presented at Mt. Sinai to Israelites, and they are changing it now. They are the foundation stones of Western Civilization.

Given their staggering importance, you would think that all societies, and certainly our educational and religious institutions, would be intent on studying them closely. Sadly, this is not the case. Our schools ignore them and our churches and synagogues take them for granted. But here's a simple test: Who among us can even name all of the Ten Commandments? And even among those who can name them, how many can explain them in a way that makes sense to the modern eye and ear?

If you are a person of faith, this book will strengthen it; if you are agnostic it will force you to rethink your doubts; if you're atheist, it will test your convictions. For people who have thought little about the Ten Commandments, as well as for those who have a sophisticated understanding of them, it will be a revelation.

That's a lot to ask of a little book, but the only thing that's little here is the length. The ideas are very big.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Philosophy, Christian, Faith, Self Help

110 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2015

About the author

Dennis Prager is a best-selling author, columnist and nationally syndicated radio talk show host based in Los Angeles and heard on 150 stations across the country.

A Fellow at Columbia University’s School of International Affairs, where he did graduate work at the Middle East and Russian Institutes, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Delegation to the Vienna Review Conference on the Helsinki Accords, and by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. He holds an honorary doctorate of law from Pepperdine University.

A highly sought-after speaker and frequent cable news show guest, Dennis has lectured all over the world. His New York Times best-selling books include Think a Second Time, Happiness is a Serious Problem and Still the Best Hope: Why American Values Must Triumph. His newest book is The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code.

Reviews

[Negin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, but then again I love all books by Dennis Prager. He has a true knack for explaining things ever so clearly. As always, he was engaging and articulate. In this book, he goes through each of the Ten Commandments and explains their importance and relevance today.

I highlighted so many quotes and had a difficult time choosing my favorites to share here.

“Any moral system that is detached from God, no matter how noble and sincerely held, will likewise fail.”

“Sigmund Freud, the father of psychiatry and an atheist, theorized that one’s attitude toward one’s father largely shaped one’s attitude toward God.”

“Neither the Ten Commandments nor the Bible elsewhere commands us to love our parents. This is particularly striking given that the Bible commands us to love our neighbor, to love God, and to love the stranger. The Bible understands that there will always be individuals who, for whatever reason, do not love a parent. Therefore, it does not demand what may be psychologically or emotionally impossible. But it does demand that we show honor to our parents. And it makes this demand only with regard to parents. There is no one else whom the Bible commands us to honor.”

“The Hebrew original does not say, ‘Do not kill.’ It says, ‘Do not murder.’ Both Hebrew and English have two words for taking a life—one is “kill” (harag, , in Hebrew) and the other is “murder” (ratsach, , in Hebrew). Kill means: 1.Taking any life—whether of a human being or an animal. 2.Taking a human life deliberately or by accident. 3.Taking a human life legally or illegally, morally or immorally. On the other hand, murder can only mean one thing: The illegal or immoral taking of a human life. That’s why we say, ‘I killed a mosquito,’ not ‘I murdered a mosquito.’ And that’s why we would say, ‘The worker was accidentally killed,’ not ‘The worker was accidentally murdered.’”

“So why did the King James translation of the Bible use the word ‘kill’ rather than ‘murder’? Because four hundred years ago when the translation was made, ‘kill’ was synonymous with ‘murder.’ As a result, some people don’t realize that English has changed since 1610 and therefore think that the Ten Commandments prohibit all killing. But, of course, they don’t. If the Ten Commandments forbade killing, we would all have to be vegetarians—killing animals would be prohibited. And we would all have to be pacifists—since we could not kill even in self-defense.”

[William C. Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have actively attended church, including weekly Sunday School classes, my entire life. I attended four years of seminary, including one full year dedicated to the study of the Old Testament. I graduated from a religious university that required seven religion classes (if I recall correctly, I exceeded this requirement by taking eight). And yet this book made me feel as though I had never read the Ten Commandments before.

I read Dennis Prager's little 90-page book in one fairly short sitting and gained more insight into these God given statements than my lifetime of religious education has given me. I enthusiastically recommend this book to everyone.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

A religious fundamentalist putting his sermon in book form. Interesting argument if he would have published the book some three thousands years ago. Yet, for 2000s this is just rehashing shallow reason heard somewhere.

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this day and age many believe the Ten Commandments to be outdated, irrelevant and many do not even know they exist. Lots of people, if they have heard of them in Sunday School or church, cannot even name them, much less decipher their meaning or figure out how they can be applied to their modern day lifestyle.

In his book "The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code," Dennis Prager explains just how important these ten commandments are to today's world. They are just as significant as when God gave them to Moses almost 3,000 years ago on Mt. Sinai to present to the Israelites. He proclaims that these commandments are the foundation stones of all Western Civilization. Prager states, "If you want to improve your life and make a better world, here is the blueprint."

Our modern-day culture is obsessed with success, accumulation of wealth, higher education, honour, and beauty. If the Ten Commandments were taught to our children and practised all through adulthood what a different world we would live in.



"In "The Ten Commandments," readers will learn:

* Why the Third Commandment is the most misinterpreted commandment and why breaking it is unforgiveable.

* Why the First Commandment is the most important, and foundational to all the rest.

*Why the Ten Commandments aren't just for the religious community.

*Why the Fifth Commandment is essential for both the family structure and also the future success of the children.

*Why keeping the Fourth Commandment, honour the Sabbath day, is still very important today."


Each chapter is dedicated to one commandment followed by discussion questions that just beg for discussion. Prager uses simple, succinct language that is full of wisdom.

[Lyndsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Dennis Prager's radio show, so I could hear him saying every word in this book. He always says he strives for clarity and truth, and that is exactly how this book is written. Logical. Clear. True. And from the perspective of a religious Jew, it was very refreshing (as I am used to the Christian perspective only). It is also written with the perspective of how the 10 Commandments are meant for SOCIETY, not just for the individual. I've been brought up only thinking about it in terms of the personal responsibilities of the individual to heed the 10 Commandments, so it was quite refreshing.

It's an easy read for your lunch break. I definitely recommend it.

[Brian Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short sweet

Dennis Prager is a wise man. This book about the Ten Commandments gives us some very good reasons why we as a society regardless of our religion should endeavour to follow them. It simply more of a pamphlet than a book so consider the price to be an extra donation to larger university so he can make more great video's.

[Amy Bodkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you aren't religious, the book makes some excellent philosophical points, for example truthfulness is more important than kindness in maintaining a good society. I also appreciated his explanation of certain Hebrew words and how some English translations have led to understandings contrary to the original text.

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the way Dennis explained the Ten Commandments.

[LAMONT D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Prager and Prager University. This eBook is very short and very readable. And what an important topic to dive into and try to get a handle on. He made me think about a couple of points that I had never considered including what does it really mean to take God's name in vain. Each chapter has five study questions to get you thinking and the forward gives you a brief but important reference point for the rest of the book. I believe there are additional resources at their website regarding the Ten Commandments. I would encourage anyone to check out their online presence even if you thought you would disagree. Knowledge can be very helpful if pointed in the right direction.

[Alexander Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dennis Prager lays out his argument for why a successful society could find their basis in the ten commandments.

His exploration of the classic Hebrew written in the text was eye-opening. I felt like I really got to understand the Western World more through reading it.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't understand a number of the commandments till I read what the real translations were. I'd had only a vague idea of what they meant before this book.

It is a short read. It's clearly meant for study programs in religious universities. But it is still worth a read for anyone who wants to understand the Judeo-Christian world more.

[Janlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following the Ten Commandments is essential for walking on Yehovah's path. I love to give this book for graduations and weddings because it is a good reminder of how to set a firm foundation for shalom when beginning a new chapter in one's life.
There is so much that I could write about each commandment. I think Dennis does a great job of choosing the most important things to bring out. He keeps the book short and accessible while at the same time covering many of the issues and questions that people in our culture may have about each of these beautiful commandments.

[Terry Quinalty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating

Dennis Prager provides a very easy to understand insight into the valuable wisdom contained in the first five books of the Old Testament (AKA, the Torah). He demonstrates how it remains relevant even after 3,000 years. Adhering to lessons learned from the Torah gives us a chance at a kinder and more just life, society, nation, and world.

[Alanna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great, but it's so short it felt more like a pamphlet. I guess I'll have to watch the Prager University YouTube videos. But it was a nice 20 minutes read when I was having trouble falling asleep and it's always good to gain more insight into the ten commandments!

[Mr. V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick and easy read that helps explain the Ten Commandments and their significance. Not much depth but if you want to learn and understand and do it in under an hour this the book. If you really want to learn more and have a better understanding read The Rational Bible; The Book of Exodus.

[Jaclyn]

Quick read; concise explanation of original language and how it should be used to interpret the commandments. Found it very enlightening and useful even though I've been a Christian for many years. Highly recommend.

[Clarence Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

ReedIII Quick Review: Clear very-short commentary on the Ten Commandments and their application in our world and our lives. The simple approach with discussion questions allow for a very personal interpretation and application of Biblically familiar laws.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Dennis. He is a good colleague ,but he does present it from a Jewish perspective missing ,as hard as he tries not to, the Christian understanding of these commandments.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, concise, thought-provoking.

[Kico Meirelles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great small book with valuable lessons. Dennis Prager is able to explain in simple words the greatest moral code of the humankind. A must read for religious and non religious people.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short book. The content is good, but not very deep. It's kinda like each chapter is a Prager U video, plus the end is very abrupt with no concluding commentary.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book that clearly lays out why the Ten Commandments are so importan.

[Cactuskid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really all the world needs to be a decent and prosperous country. The 10 basic rules which can apply to just about everything.

[Jolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one! Very common sense approach to understanding the Ten Commandments. I learned a few new things.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with this book.  My disappointment does not spring form the fact that the author says anything wrong--if you are looking for a brief volume that serves as a workbook in association with the author's video (?) on the Ten Commandments, it is fine for what it is.  The disappointment comes from the fact that the book admirably achieves a not very ambitious goal of being a basic summary of the Ten Commandments in the Bible and in contemporary application [1], rather than for anything negative that it says.  When one is dealing with a writer as good as Dennis Prager is, the question is one of how ambitious of a work he chose to write, not how enjoyable the book is within its genre.  Be that as it may, so long as your expectations are sufficiently mild for this book and you are not expecting it to be a lengthy work as some of his are, this book is certainly an enjoyable example of a modest work on the Ten Commandments and their application in society.

The contents of this book are predictably straightforward in that light.  The book has a foreword and a short introduction about the Ten Commandments in which the author discusses the humor as well as the seriousness of the Commandments.  After this there follows a discussion of the Ten Commandments in the way that they are defined by the Jews, where each chapter includes an explanation of the law and some ways that its application would be of benefit to the people of the United States (and other countries) in the present day.  It should be noted that in the Jewish reckoning, the first Commandment is one of identity about God and the second commandment includes the prohibitions against rivalry with other gods and idols to represent God, which only makes the five-point covenant aspect of the Ten Commandments more obvious, which is something I may write about at length myself at a later time.  Every one of the chapters includes some space for the reader to answer the questions asked by Dennis Prager for the reader to think about and muse on.  As a whole, the book takes up less than 100 pages and many of those pages are left blank for the reader to write on, which makes this a very short book indeed.

Given the brevity and shallowness of this book's materials, it is obvious that this book can only be fairly judged in association with the video edition of Prager's study of the Ten Commandments or as a minor counterpoint to the author's focus on things that are still true, rather than as an independent work in its own right.  When viewed as an accessory to the video, it may appear in a better light as a supporting character, but when viewed in isolation as a book, especially one that sports a $14.99 price tag, the book appears to be rather overpriced for its modest accomplishments.  As is frequently the case when one looks at a book, the context of a work matters almost as much as the work itself.  The author says nothing objectionable about the law and his view of the ten commandments and how they ought to be separated is itself noteworthy and intriguing.  That said, this book is not nearly deep enough to be worth its price tag, not long enough or thoughtful enough or filled with enough research and interesting material.  Others may disagree, however.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can a person impart wisdom without being wise? Can some think deeply and well about difficult topics, then act in a way that is contrary to their own conclusions? To answer this question, I present Mr. Dennis Prager. I have read many, many of Prager's books--The Nine Questions People Ask about Judaism, Why the Jews?, Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual, and others. I always enjoy his thinking, and I learn from his examples and ideas. I have listened to his radio program off and on over the years, and I consider him to be a bit of a rabbi to me.

But like another wise man I admire, William J. Bennett, Dennis Prager lost his mind with the rise of Donald Trump. It is as though he (and Bennett) didn't read their own books about morality, character, virtues, and goodness. I have continued to struggle with the reality that good people can make really, really bad choices, and act in ways that are contrary to their wise, thoughtful, and insightful views about life. Prager and Bennett are the two horseman of the Trumpocalypse in my world. It makes me sad.

Regardless, this brief book is a survey and overview of the Ten Commandments. Prager is a scholar of Hebrew and an expert on the Pentateuch. This book served as a refresher for me on why the Ten Commandments are so important, so insightful, and so valuable as a guide to a life well lived (in the Aristotelian sense...which I learned about from Bill Bennett). Good stuff, briefly told and clearly explained. Well done, Dennis. Please become sane again.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Prager is not Christian, but of course these are not the Christian Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments predated Christ’s bodily appearance on Earth, and have been part of the Hebrew faith for far longer than they’ve been part of the Christian faith. Prager himself “taught the first five books of the Hebrew bible (the Torah) verse by verse from the Hebrew for more than twenty-five years at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.”

So he seems like a great person to provide a different view of the Commandments than Christians normally receive.

The differences begin right from the start:

What is the first of the Ten Commandments? It might seem like an odd question, but it’s not. Jews and Christians give different answers. The reason is that what we know as “The Ten Commandments” is, in the original Hebrew, “The Ten Statements,” aseret ha’dibrot (עשׂרת הדברות). And since the Hebrew is the original, we begin with the first statement, which all religions agree, is: “I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This statement is so important that none of the other commandments make sense without it.

This book is very short: I finished the entire book in a day of sporadic reading. But it is also just as dense throughout as the above and would benefit greatly from re-readings. Prager explains from the original Hebrew to the modern day, going commandment by commandment. He combines the first two that I’m most familiar with into one: the prohibition against other gods and the prohibition against idols are both his second commandment, after which the two versions match up.

Unless there is a God, all morality is just opinion and belief.

[Ken Rothacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dennis Prager communicates the relevance and applicability of Scripture.

This book is an easy read, and will not take a lot of time.

I would recommend this book to a Christ-follower who wants to get a better understanding of the Ten Commandments.

I would strongly recommend this book to a person who is considering faith, and may be coming from no faith background or tradition.

Even for someone without interest in faith or religion, this book shows how these Ten Commandments are the foundation for civil society.

The further we move away from the Commandments as a society, the further away we move from civility.

Scripture speaks about itself

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. https://esv.org/Heb4.12

May Dennis Prager’s book encourage the reader, wherever they may be in their own journey of faith.

[Cleo Pappas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short compilation of Prager’s interpretation of the ten commandments. Some of what he says can be viewed in Jordan Peterson’s series on Exodus that is available behind the Daily Wire’s paywall, and a full exegesis of the commandments with additional commentary may be found in Prager’s The Rational Bible: Exodus God Slavery, and Freedom. Prager’s knowledge of Hebrew and his Talmudic training offer a unique perspective that those of us who have only learned the commandments in a non-Hebraic classroom simply do not have access to. The book is invaluable for Christians, Jews, atheists, and agnostics, and would offer an excellent moral foundation for youngsters from eleven years and older. It is an easy, accessible read with discussion questions and pages for notes after each entry.

[Barb Hegreberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I’ve stated in other recent posts, God showed me early on that I will be spending the majority of my time in the Old Testament this year.

It was no surprise to me when we began studying Exodus in Sunday School. Other than the Bible, our main text has been The Rational Bible: Exodus (also by Dennis Prager). I will publish a review on that book at a later date.

This little book focuses specifically on the Ten Commandments. Each chapter/commandment ends with discussion questions and room to journal. This book would be good as a stand-alone study or in conjunction with other materials.

[Ei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know that much of the anger in the political arguments of today have their origins in selective interpretations of the Ten Commandments.
Over and over again I see "covet" exercised by people who want to be "kind".
To "lie" because "the end justifies the means" is also another one that society has tragically embraced.
I keep praying.