Why do some people learn the Ten Commandments differently than how the Bible teaches them?
It seems like they number them wrong, exclude some and break others into two commandments. The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Old Testament: Exodus 20.2-17 and Deuteronomy 5.6-21. The two versions are slightly different, as often happened when a story or other material was told more than once. Remember, we are dealing here with oral tradition, which was written down much later in time. In addition, Leviticus states most of the Ten Commandments in explaining the life of holiness (Leviticus 19.1-37). In this section, you will find the origins of what Jesus later offered as a “summary of the law,” also known as the “Great Commandment,” namely, love God and love your neighbor. (Matthew 22.34-40) This summary recognizes that the first four commandments concern love of God, and the final six concern love of neighbor.
