Meanings
- Two of the three lists of religious and moral imperatives called the Ten Commandments which, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. These lists include both ritual and moral imperatives, as opposed to the third, which includes mostly ritual imperatives.
1 more example
The lists of Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 5 are called "ten commandments" in the biblical text [...], and that title, or the equivalent Latin term Decalogue, has traditionally been applied to the list of Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5. Biblical scholars often distinguish the Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5 list from the Exodus 34 list on the basis of content by referring to the former as the Ethical Decalogue and the latter as the Ritual Decalogue.
2008, Norman Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible: A Brief Socio-Literary Introduction, page 118Synonyms: ethical Ten Commandments
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounTwo of the three lists of religious and moral imperatives called the Ten Commandments which, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. These lists include both ritual and moral imperatives, as opposed to the third, which includes mostly ritual imperatives.
Cite this entry
Ethical Decalogue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ethical%20Decalogue
“Ethical Decalogue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ethical%20Decalogue. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ethical Decalogue,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ethical%20Decalogue.
Source: Ethical Decalogue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.