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| If you love Me, mistranslate the Greek. |
The claim here is the word "commandments" refers to the Ten Commandments, and thus the Sabbath commandment is there but hidden. Hence the title for today's post.
Today, we purposefully ask, which commandments? Do the original languages tell us all Christians must keep the Ten Commandments, or are we seeing the English word "commandments" and then jumping to conclusions?
And here are the stakes for the claim. We have but three choices:
1) The underlying Greek refers to the Ten Commandments exclusively, and we can jump to this conclusion,
But if it does not, then either:
2) It refers to all commands, and we must keep all 613 Old Covenant laws,
or
3) It refers to something completely other than the Old Covenant law-keeping.
Let's find out which one of these we end up with.
ENGLISH IS A HARD LANGUAGE
The Bible was not originally written in English. To get from "commandments" (lower case c) to "Commandments" (upper case C), first we have to translate one Greek word and one Hebrew phrase into English. Then, once they are in English, the two are connected. But do they connect without English? Let's test that.
First, the Greek word.
entolē (ἐντολή), a command
The Greek word translated into "commandments" is entolē (ἐντολή), which means authoritative instructions, commands, or precepts. It appears 71 times in the New Testament (a lot more than just the 13 we saw above).
Notice how Ten Commandments is not listed. Let's see some examples of how entolē can be any command at all.
In John 10:18, Jesus says He received an entolē from the Father to lay down His life and take it back up again. In John 12: 49-50, Jesus says He received an entolē from the Father regarding what to say and do. The Ten aren't even the greatest entolē (MAT. 22: 35-40). In Matthew 5: 19, a very popular verse, Jesus spoke of even the least entolē. In Hebrews 9: 19, entolē refers to the whole law. And in Hebrews 7: 18, the author said the entolē was annulled.
If we cannot jump to Ten Commandments in these examples, then we shouldn't anywhere.
It can mean the Ten Commandments, no doubt. I am not claiming entolē cannot mean the Ten. It can. But it is a broad word and can mean much more than that. The vast majority of the time, it does not refer to the Ten.
In only 6 out of 71 instances does it clearly refer to the Ten (MAT. 19:17-19; MAR. 10:19; LUK. 18:20; ROM. 7:8; 13:9; & EPH. 6:2). Three of those are synoptic duplicates (three verses speak of the same thing). That means entolē clearly refers to the Ten Commandments in a grand total of four out of 71 unique instances. If entolē only refers to the Ten Commandments 5% of the time, we cannot see "commands" and jump to the conclusion it refers to the Ten Commandments. 95% of the time, that will be the wrong conclusion.
In each of those cases, we can only know it refers to the Ten because there are contextual clues nearby. This fact complicates the effort to use verses like John 14:15 as a proof text for Sabbath-keeping.
In order for "keep My entolē" to refer to the Ten Commandments, we either need entolē to always refer to the Ten, which it does not, or we need some other clue close by in the text to prove entolē is narrowed down to the Ten specifically, but there is nothing like this in John 14.
There are context clues close by to John 14, but they aren't for the Ten. We will see that later.
This eliminates option #1.The word entolē does not refer exclusively to the Ten Commandments. Therefore, turning 'If you love Me, keep My commandments' into a command to keep the seventh-day Sabbath is reading ideas into the text rather than pulling them out of it. In short, it's eisegesis.
Now, the Hebrew phrase.
Aseret ha-D'varim (עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים), Ten Sayings
The Hebrew phrase Aseret ha-D'varim (עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים) is the phrase translated as Ten Commandments. But here is a bit of trivia for you - "Ten Commandments" is somewhat of a mistranslation. The Ten were not named "commandments" in Hebrew. They are divine commands, but that's not their name. I will quote Judaism 101:
"In the Torah, these words are never referred to as the Ten Commandments. In the Torah, they are called Aseret ha-D'varim (Ex. 34:28, Deut. 4:13 and Deut. 10:4). In rabbinical texts, they are referred to as Aseret ha-Dibrot. The words d'varim and dibrot come from the Hebrew root Dalet-Beit-Reish, meaning word, speak or thing; thus, the phrase is accurately translated as the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements, the Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things, but not as the Ten Commandments, which would be Aseret ha-Mitzvot."
-"Aseret ha-Dibrot: The Ten Commandments", Tracery R Rich, Judaism 101. Accessed 6-2024.
In the ancient Jewish mind, these were the Ten Words (δέκα λόγοι), hence the name Decalogue. They aren't the Ten entolē.
The word entolē was not used in the translation of Aseret ha-D'varim from Hebrew into Greek in the Septuagint. The same was true in the first century. If the native speakers and translators would not render Aseret ha-D'varim as entolē, then we should not jump to reading entolē as Aseret ha-D'varim.
To put this more plainly, the connection being made in John 14 is artificial. The idea, "if you love Me, keep My Ten Commandments," is based on a problematic understanding of the Hebrew and the Greek and the English. The word "commandments" does not get us to "Commandments" (upper case C) on its own.
Here's where we stand so far:
- Aseret ha-D'varim is not literally "Ten Commandments"
- entolē is not used when translating Ten Commandments
- The English word "commandments" collapses ideas together
- entolē is much more than the Ten
- We need additional evidence to connect entolē to the Ten
- In no New Testament verse is the Sabbath specifically commanded for the church
- There is more support here for keeping all 613 laws than just the Ten
- None of those 613 laws are about when to go to church
Option 1 is eliminated. Now we have to ask which of the other two options is the best fit?
OPTION 2: ALL THE LAWS
As a reminder, the choices were:
2) We must keep all 613 Old Covenant laws, or
3) This isn't about the Old Covenant law.
We all know there aren't just 10 laws, there are 613 laws. But here's the thing - no one keeps all 613. I'm not talking about trying and failing. I mean no one even tries to keep "the law". Because it's not possible at this time. Yet that is exactly the requirement we get when we use John 14 to bind people to Old Covenant law but then fail to prove entolē means the Ten only. "Keep my commandments" becomes "keep ALL that I have commanded."
And so there is a sleight of hand going on here. "The law" is being redefined as just the Ten. Seventh Day Adventists frequently say, "The Law (The Ten Commandments)." This way, some can claim to be law-keepers while not keeping the law, and while accusing their neighbor of breaking the very law they themselves do not keep. But we've already seen why that cannot work, and we've eliminated that option.
By what logic can someone claim ongoing covenant obligation to “the law” while simultaneously treating most of that law as if it doesn't exist? If you're not keeping all the law, then you're not keeping the law at all.
I've written more times than I can count on how covenants work and why there is zero chance all 613 Old Covenant laws are still in effect as written. (For more, I suggest reading "Confusing the Covenants".) I will not go on about that yet again here. Suffice it to say, option 2 is eliminated.
Someone might say to me, "If it cannot be all 613, then it must be narrowed to the Ten on its own." But that does not follow. This relies on the Ten being the only option left. They are not.
OPTION 3: THE CHRIST EVENT
Through the process of elimination, we know what "keep my commandments" does not mean. But we haven't seen what it does mean. We need to ask how did the author intend it to be understood.
As for Matthew, the Ten are clearly in view. Not because we assume what "commandments" means, but because of additional evidence close by. But that was a private conversation between Jesus and the rich man, during the Old Covenant period, there is no command for the New Covenant here (especially not the Gentiles), and the rich man still went away disappointed. If anything, this demonstrates the Ten are not sufficient. (For more, read "Who Requires What For Salvation?".)
As for I Corinthians, there is nothing to indicate Paul was talking about the Ten, but he could not be talking about the whole law since he said circumcision is nothing. Rather, he seems to be saying something I've said here many times: Jews do not need to become Gentiles to be Christians, and Gentiles do not need to become Jews to be Christians. That is hardly a pro-legalist position.
As for John, if we don't ask John what he means, then why bother reading John at all? John straight out tells us what he means by entolē.
(I JON. 3:11,23) 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ... 23 And this is his command (entolē): to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded (entolē) us.
(II JON. 1:6) And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands (entolē). As you have heard from the beginning, his command (entolē) is that you walk in love.
And where did John get this idea?
(JON. 13:34-35) 34 A new commandment (entolē) I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
(JON. 15:12-14,17) 12 This is My commandment (entolē), that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ... 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
He got it right from Jesus.
Lo and behold, John 14 is sandwiched right between these last two selections. How should we best understand John 14? In the light of John 13 and 15, of course. They aren't evidence that entolē always means the Ten Commandments, that's for sure. Love and faith. Those are the entolē in John's mind.
Even more than this, if you walk in love you fulfill the spirit of the whole law (ROM. 13: 8-10; GAL. 5: 6,14; JAS. 2: 8).
(For an even better list, read "The Sabbath Rest of Hebrews 4".)
CONCLUSION
Does this article tell you not to obey God? In no way! This article merely challenges the claim that the Old Covenant laws are what God wants Christians to obey. We started with a simple question: which commandments? We have seen how we cannot just assume Ten Commandments. That doesn't work in Greek or Hebrew and therefore doesn't work in English. And it's not all 613 laws either. It must be something else entirely. Jesus tells us exactly what. So, when John 14:15 says “keep My commandments,” it is not pointing us back to Sinai as a legal system. It is pointing us to Christ as the fulfillment of it.
In the New Covenant, the commandments are faith and love. That is what "keep my commandments" means. That is what this article tells you to obey.
The Sabbath commandment is not hiding in John 14:15. The passage never mentions the weekly Sabbath, fails to narrow entolē to the Ten Commandments, and does nothing to bind Gentile Christians to the Old Covenant. That entire conclusion must first be imported into the text before it can be read out of it.
What was the definition of eisegesis again? Oh yes, "the process of interpreting a text by imposing one's own presuppositions, agendas, or biases into it, rather than drawing meaning from the text itself."
That leaves the question as it actually stands: Are we reading John the way John defines himself, or are we importing meanings he never puts there?
Once John is allowed to speak for himself, the answer to “which commandments?” is already on the page. The commandments are faith and love.
To help you move forward, I recommend the following articles:
"Who Requires What For Salvation?"
"The Covenant and The Testimony"
"Are The Ten Commandments Removed?"
"The Sabbath Rest of Genesis 2"
"The Sabbath Rest of Isaiah 66"
"The Sabbath Rest of Hebrews 4"
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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