Bible Quiz: The Ten Commandments
Two slabs of stone, written on both sides, and one of them broken before the camp below had read a word of it. This round works through all ten — the exact wording, the two places the list appears and where those two versions quietly disagree, the one commandment with a promise attached, the one Paul says taught him what sin even was, the field that shows up in Deuteronomy but not in Exodus, and the thing God forbids in the very next breath after the tenth. Fifteen questions drawn from a bank of 39, and every answer shows the verse behind it, so a miss sends you straight back to the text.
That round moved through all ten — Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 laid side by side, the finger of God, two tables written on both their sides, the tablets broken at the foot of the mountain and hewn again, a jealous God and mercy shown to thousands, and the way Jesus and Paul both keep quoting the list centuries later.
30 Days Walking with Jesus (Free 3-Day Sample)
Short daily readings on what Jesus actually said and did — the next step after a list of rules, for anyone who has read the ten and wondered what you are meant to do with them now.
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Common Questions About the Ten Commandments
What are the Ten Commandments, in order?
In the order they appear in Exodus 20, they are: have no other gods; make no graven image or likeness to bow down to; do not take the name of the LORD in vain; remember the sabbath day and keep it holy; honour your father and mother; do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness against your neighbour; and do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour. What surprises most people reading them straight through is how short they are. Four of the ten are a single sentence, and two of those are four words long in the King James wording. The sabbath command is the longest by a wide margin, running four verses and naming not just the household but hired workers, livestock and foreigners passing through the gates.
Where are the Ten Commandments in the Bible?
They appear twice, in full. The first time is Exodus 20:1-17, spoken aloud at Mount Sinai to the whole camp. The second is Deuteronomy 5:6-21, where Moses recites them again to the next generation about forty years later. The two versions are nearly identical, and the places they differ are the interesting part. Exodus grounds the sabbath in creation, because God rested on the seventh day; Deuteronomy grounds it in rescue, because Israel had been slaves in Egypt. Exodus opens the sabbath command with “Remember”; Deuteronomy opens it with “Keep”. Deuteronomy adds a clause to the parents command, “that it may go well with thee”, and reorders the coveting command so the neighbour’s wife comes before the neighbour’s house, while adding a field to the list. Same ten, two tellings.
Why do different churches number the Ten Commandments differently?
Because the text itself never numbers them. Exodus 20 gives a block of commands and Deuteronomy 4:13 says there are ten, but nothing in scripture marks where one ends and the next begins, so traditions bracket the same words differently. Catholic and Lutheran numbering treats “no other gods” and “no graven images” as one commandment, then splits the coveting clause in two, making the ninth about the neighbour’s wife and the tenth about the neighbour’s goods. Reformed, Orthodox and Anglican numbering keeps graven images as a separate second commandment and keeps coveting as a single tenth. Jewish tradition counts Exodus 20:2 itself, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt”, as the first of the ten words. Every tradition is reading the identical verses; they simply draw the lines in different places.
Does the New Testament repeat the Ten Commandments?
Repeatedly, and usually in clusters. When a rich young man asks Jesus what to do, Matthew 19:18-19 lists murder, adultery, stealing, false witness and honouring parents, then adds loving your neighbour as yourself. Mark’s version of the same conversation slips in a line that is not among the ten at all: “Defraud not”, which is about cheating someone of their wages. Paul runs through five of them in Romans 13:9 and says they are all briefly comprehended in loving your neighbour as yourself. James 2:11 points out that the God who said do not commit adultery also said do not kill, so the list holds together as one cloth. And in Matthew 5, Jesus takes two of them further than the wording alone, reaching past the act of murder to anger and past adultery to the look.
What is the easiest way to learn the Ten Commandments by heart?
Most people who try to memorise a list of ten end up with seven and a gap. What works better is learning them in two halves, the way the two stone tablets are usually pictured: the first group is about God, the second about the people around you. Then attach each one to a detail you cannot forget, because the details are what stick. Mercy shown to thousands against iniquity visited to four generations. The one commandment Paul says taught him what sin was. The field that appears in Deuteronomy’s version of the tenth but not in Exodus’s. The one commandment with a promise attached to it. Testing yourself beats rereading, which is exactly what the quiz above is for: fifteen questions drawn fresh from a bank of forty-two, with the verse shown after every answer, so play the Ten Commandments quiz above and see which of the ten you can actually place.