If, therefore, the two commands, " Thou shalt have no other gods," and " Thou shalt not make any graven image," are distinct, there is no room for the question whether the command against coveting should be divided. There is, moreover, no pretext for such divis- ion, unless we follow the order given in Deuteronomy, which puts the words, " Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife," be- fore the words, " Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field," etc., etc. As coveting a man's wife is a diiferent of- fence, or at least a different form of a general offence, from coveting his bouse or land, if the order given in Deuteronomy be considered authoritative, there might be some reason for the separation. But if the order given in Exodus be adhered to, no such reason exists. The thing forbidden is cupidity, whatever be its object. That the order given in Exodus is authoritative may be argued, (1.) Be- cause the law as there given was not only the first chronologically, but also was solemnly announced from Mount Sinai. (2.) The re- cension given in Deuteronomy differs from the other in many un- important particulars. If the order in which the objects of cupidity are mentioned be a matter of indifference, then the diversity is a matter of no consequence. But if it be made a matter of impor- tance, controlling the order and interpretation of the command- ments, then it is hard to account for it. There is, therefore, every reason for regarding it as one of those diversities which were not intended to be significant. (3.) The distinction is nowhere else recognized in Scripture. On the contrary, the command, " Thou shalt not covet," is elsewhere given as one command. Paul, in Romans vii. 7, says : " I had not known sin but by the law : for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." And in Romans xiii. 9, in enumerating the laws forbid- ding sins against our neighbour, Paul gives as one command, " Thou shalt not covet." (4.) Our Lord refers the sin of " covet- ing a man's wife " to the seventh commandment. If included un- der that, it would be incongruous and out of harmony with the context, to make it a distinct commandment by itself.
§ 3. Preface to the Ten Commandments. " I am Jehovah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no, other gods before me." Theism and Monotheism, the foundation of all religion, are taught in these words. The first clause is the preface or introduction to the decalogue. It presents the ground of obligation and the special motive by which obedience is en-
276 PART in. Ch. XIX. — THE LAW.
forced. It is because the commandments which follow are the words of God that they bind the conscience of all those to whom they are addressed. It is because they are the words of the cov- enant God and Redeemer of his people that we are specially bound to render them obedience.
History seems to prove that the question whether the Infinite is a person cannot be satisfactorily answered by the unassisted reason of man. The historical fact is, that the great majority of those who have sought the solution of that question on philosoph- ical principles have answered it in the negative. It is impossible, therefore, duly to estimate the importance of the truth involved in the use of the pronoun " I " in these words. It is a person who is here presented. Of that person it is affirmed, first, that He is Je- hovah ; and secondly, that He is the covenant God of his people.
In the first place, in calling himself Jehovah, God reveals that He is the person known to his people by that name, and that He is in his nature all that that name imports. The etymology and signification of the name Jehovah seem to be given by God Him- self in Exodus iii. 13, 14, where it is written, " Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you ; and they shall say to me, What is his name ? what shall I say unto them, and God said unto Moses, I AM that I AM : and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you."
Jehovah, therefore, is the I am ; a person always existing and always the same. Self -existence, eternity, and immutability are included in the signification of the word. This being the case, the name Jehovah is presented as the ground of confidence to the people of God ; as in Deuteronomy xxxii. 40, and Isaiah xl. 28, " Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding." These natural attributes, however, would be no ground of con- fidence if not associated with moral excellence. He who as Jeho- vah is declared to be infinite, eternal, and immutable in his being, is no less infinite, eternal, and immutable in his knowledge, wis- dom, holiness, goodness, and truth. Such is the Person whose com- mands are recorded in the decalogue.
In the second place, it is not only the nature of the Being who speaks, but the relation in which He stands to his people that is here revealed. "lam Jehovah thy God." The word God has a