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https://torah.org/torah-portion/community-aseres-hadibros-and-its-translation/

Posted on March 14, 2017 (5779) By Mordechai Lewis | Series: | Level:

Hashem says to Moshe, “Ascend to Me, to the mountain and be here and I shall give you the Tablets of stone and the Torah and the commandments that I have written, to instruct them.”

We’ve all heard of the words Aseres HaDibros. Yet, those words are not found together anywhere throughout the Written Torah only in the Oral Torah. However, Rashi does use those words eight times when explaining certain pesukim in the Torah.

Where in the Oral Torah is, it found? The Gemara derives that tablets are a reference to the Aseres HaDibros. How many times does the Oral Torah mention Aseres HaDibros? Fifteen times not counting Rashi or Tosfos within these Mesechtos.

When were, they given? It’s a dispute. Either, it was given on the on the sixth (i.e. Friday) of Sivan or the seventh (i.e. Shabbos) Sivan.

Now, the question you were wondering:

What does Aseres HaDibros mean?

Most people translate it as the ‘Ten Commandments’ because that’s the translation in all ArtScroll Chumashim and in others as well. Still, everyone agrees that aseres, which comes from the word eseir, means ten. Then, what does HaDibros mean?

In this week’s parsha, Rashi says, “‘Calling’ preceded l’chol dibros, every statement, and every saying and every tzivuyim, commandment.”

Since Rashi translates dibros to mean statement, Aseres HaDibros would translate as the ‘Ten Statements’.

Had it been Aseres HaTzivuyim, that would translate to mean the ‘Ten Commandments’.

This article is dedicated:

In memory of Eliyahu ben Mordechai, Mashah Tzivyah bas R’ Shlomo Zalman, Altah Soshah Devorah bas Aryeh Leibush, Chaim ben Shmuel Efraim Zalman, Tuvyah Shlomo ben Naftali Tzvi HaKohein, Esther Perel bas R’ Shlomo, Miriam bas Zelig Shaul, Menachem ben Shimon, Menachem ben Zev, Sarah bas HaRav Yisroel, Yosef ben Moshe HaLevi, Yisroel ben Yeshayah, Elisheva Basyah bas Yechiel Ephraim and all the other departed souls of our nation.

For the complete recovery of Chayah Malka bas Bas-Sheva, among the other sick ones of our nation.

To view this article with footnotes, go to https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/103826. For comments or feedback, please email [email protected].