Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman Why Christians Keep the 10 Commandments (But Ignore the Rest of the Old Testament)
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Apr 7, 2026 
Bart Ehrman, six-time NYT bestselling Biblical scholar who studies the New Testament and early Christianity. He explores why the Ten Commandments became the Bible's most famous laws. Short takes cover their placement in Exodus, how Christians picked some laws and ignored others, the changing meanings of commands like adultery, and why few people can actually list all ten.
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Ten Commandments Start the Law of Moses
- The Ten Commandments open the law of Moses and start the legal material in Exodus 20.
- They appear as the first set of direct do/don't imperatives before varied conditional legal rules throughout the Torah.
Two Legal Genres Underpin Mosaic Law
- The Torah contains two legal forms: direct commandments (do/ don't) and conditional case laws (if/then).
- The Decalogue belongs to the direct category, while many other Mosaic laws are situational resolutions like fines or procedures.
Decalogue Label And Numbering Vary By Tradition
- The label 'Ten Commandments' (Decalogue) is not used in Exodus 20 and later traditions number and name the items differently.
- Jewish and Christian traditions even disagree on which statements count as commands, producing varied numbering systems.
