Use in Jewish ritual

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 570.

The Mishnah records that it was the practice, in the Temple, to recite the Ten Commandments every day before the reading of the Shema (as preserved, for example, in the Nash Papyrus from c. 150 BCE); but that this practice was abolished in the synagogues so as not to give ammunition to heretics who claimed that they were the only important part of Jewish law.^[37]

In the normal course of the reading of the Torah, the Ten Commandments are read twice a year: the Exodus version in parashat Yitro around late January-February, and the Deuteronomy version in parashat Va'etchanan in August-September. In addition, the Exodus version constitutes the main Torah reading for the festival of Shavuot. It is widespread custom for the congregation to stand while they are being read.

In printed Bibles the Ten Commandments carry two sets of cantillation marks. The ta'am 'elyon (upper accentuation), which makes each Commandment into a separate verse, is used for public Torah reading, while the ta'am tachton (lower accentuation), which divides the text into verses of more even length, is used for private reading or study. It is thought that these differences originally represented the difference between the customs of Eretz Yisrael and those of Babylonia.^{[citation needed]} As it happens, the verse numbering in Christian Bibles follows the ta'am elyon while that in Jewish Bibles follows the ta'am tachton. In Jewish Bibles the references to the Ten Commandments are therefore Exodus 20:2–14^[38] and Deuteronomy 5:6–18.^[39]