The Nine Commandments: Uncovering the Hidden Pattern of Crime and Punishment in the Hebrew Bible

by David Noel Freedman, Jeffrey C. Geoghegan, Michael M. Homan

In a book as controversial as Harold Bloom’s The Book of J and Elaine Pagels’s The Gnostic Gospels, David Noel Freedman delves into the Old Testament and reveals a pattern of defiance of the Covenant with God that inexorably led to the downfall of the nation of Israel, the destruction of the Temple, and the banishment of survivors from the Promised Land. Book by book, from Exodus to Kings, Freedman charts the violation of the first nine Commandments one by one–from the sin of apostasy (the worship of the golden calf, Exodus 32) to murder (the death of a concubine, Judges 19:25—26) to false testimony (Jezebel’s charges against her neighbor, Naboth, I Kings 21).

Because covetousness lies behind all the crimes committed, Freedman shows, each act implicitly breaks the Tenth Commandment as well. In a powerful and persuasive argument, Freedman asserts that this hidden trail of sins betrays the hand of a Master Weaver or Editor who has skillfully woven into Israel’s history a message to a community in exile that their fate is not the result of God’s abandoning them but of their willful abandonment of God. With wit and insight, The Nine Commandments boldly challenges previous scholarship and conventional beliefs, and appeals to the same audience that has propelled Thomas Cahill’s books and other recent explorations of the history of religion onto bestseller lists across the country.

Genres: Biblical Studies

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Son of David Freedman

Reviews

[Ken Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thought provoking book. Even though he adopts some of the suppositions of critical scholarship that I don't find persuasive, he makes a very good case that Israel's history from Exodus onwards includes a breach of the nine commandments. Freedman does not deny that there is a 10th commandment - he actually spends quite a bit of time on "Thou shalt not covet..." but he maintains that coveting is essentially prior to violating any of the other commandments. There are a lot of points he brought up that I found fascinating, for example the discussion of why Moses was commanded to bring the rod in Numbers 20 and speak to the rock: "this explains why when Moses holds up the rod, this 'sign for rebels,' he says to the people 'Hear now, you rebels'". Reformed folk I believe can benefit from reading this book, as it dovetails well with the Apostle Paul's reading of the function of the Law in Romans 7.

P.S. I was able to hear a presentation by Dr. Freedman when I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls in San Diego. What a knowledgeable scholar!

[Matthew Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book that clearly outlines how the decalogue linearly and consistently is depicted throughout Genesis-Kings. While I still have some questions (though Freedman seemed to read my mind and addressed many of them in his conclusion), I am overall convinced of his argument and think this is a fantastic book that again proves the importance of source criticism and illustrates how intricate and purposeful the Hebrew Bible is written.

[Thomas Estes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by the late David Noel Freedman (1922-2008) is about as much fun as one can have studying the Bible. It pairs the intrigue and excitement of a Dan Brown mystery with with first-rate biblical scholarship. No cheap thrills here. While his thesis is strained at a couple of points, it is plausible. I found myself hoping it was true—WANTING it to be true. I suspect other readers will too.

[Ardith Arnelle-Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superior book on the 10 Commandments

Really enjoyed and learned so much about how the Ten Commandments are intertwined thought-out the bible. Get the book it is worth the time and investment.

[Ryan Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freedman writes well and presents an interesting hypothesis. Despite not being convinced of his theory, I believe the book is worth the read.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The basic idea here is that violations of the ten commandments run sequentially, book by book, from Exodus through Kings, a commandment per book. This shows, to readers living in Exile, that the Exile was the result of breaking the covenant embodied in the ten commandments (or better, ten words) — AND shows that the final redactor of these documents gave us a consciously crafted, unified composition.

The pros are — Freedman writes well, and this book is evidently for a lay audience. If he teaches like he writes, he'd have been great in the classroom (Freedman passed away a few years ago). He makes a good case for showing the accumulation of covenant violations leading up to the Exile. And he brings in a number of interesting subsidiary subjects, making for a good read (and a good ride).

The cons — I'm not much of one for hearing things like "this is the first time anyone has ever noticed this in the Bible," a claim which Freedman repeats in one form or another several times. As the trend in biblical studies has continued to emphasize literary artistry and the "final canonical shape" of the text, we are sometimes given several possible unifying factors that supposedly tie the Bible, or significant parts of it, together. After a while one wonders if they can all be due the skill of the "redactor," who must indeed have been a literary supergenius for weaving together such a variety of unifying features. One also wonders about the human ability to find patterns where they do not exist (seen at its worst in the "Bible code" books).

In short — a lot of great material in this engaging volume. The illustrations of the covenant violations are compelling, and Freedman's reading of the number "10" as a kind of number of finality is thought-provoking (thought challenged by reviewers). I am not sure, though, that the unifying threads Freedman finds are those of the redactor rather than of Freedman himself and his co-authors.

[Jacob J · Rating 5 out of 5]

While highly speculative, Freedman puts forth a compelling case for the idea that most of the Old Testament was complied and edited by a R (the redactor from the Documentary Hypothesis) with a high level message in mind. Even if the theory turns out to be wrong, the book is a very enjoyable read and has lots of tidbits from Freedman sprinkled throughout. He is an amazing Biblical scholar and he can write too.

[Mark Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating explication of author's theory that the first nine books of the Bible (Samuel and Kings being the 8th and 9th) are linked as a purposeful illustration by the Deuteronomistic Historian (perhaps Baruch) of the Ten Commandments and the consequences of their violation - addressed to the surviving Jews in Babylonian captivity after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. I couldn't put this down.

[Charlotte Gunther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freedman, skilled scholar that he is, postulates an almost hidden record of how God's chosen people violated every commandment in the Decalogue--and with devastating consequences. It behooves us to listen to the God of Israel.

[Andrew Ketel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it a second time June 6, 2001