Brief Review of the Ten Commandments (A Book Written by Mark Rooker)

Rooker, Mark. The Ten Commandments: Ethics for the Twenty-First Century. B & H Academic, 2010. 234 pp.

This book is academic and scholarly, but accessible. It elucidates each of the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) and discusses the Decalogue's ancient context while showing its practical application for today. I have derived much benefit from perusing this work. Rooker is thorough and writes coherently, but knowledge of some Hebrew is required.

Now I want to deal with particular commands that the book analyzes: we'll review issues like God's name and blasphemy, the Sabbath, killing/murder, and covetousness.

1) Treating God's name in a worthless manner (Exodus 20:7):

The third command of the Decalogue prohibits using God's name in a worthless way. Rooker illustrates how this command was given within the context of pagan invocations to Egyptian deities as an example. One Egyptian prayer demonstrates the seriousness of lightly uttering Ptah's name; similarly, the third commandment enjoins Israel not to "misuse" God's name (the name of YHWH).

Just what is meant by God's name though? Rooker argues that "name" denotes the deity (God) himself or his essence/character. That is the meaning which name commonly had in the Ancient Near East: Adam names the animals under God's direction and Isaac gives the wells that he reopens, the same names his father had given them (Genesis 26:18). See also Genesis 17:5; 17:15; 32:28-31; 2 Kings 24:17. The Hebrew word shem may signify the “fame, honor, power, or reputation” of a person or persons (Rooker); additionally, we are told that the name of God refers to his nature, being, person, and teaching. After considering these aspects of the divine name, Rooker then discusses the personal name of God (YHWH/Jehovah).

Like many scholars working in OT studies, Rooker uses Yahweh as a reconstructed pronunciation for the Tetragrammaton: he points out that the root for the name is hwh. Since the divine name appears within the context of Exodus 3:14, it apparently means "He causes to be" or "He brings into existence" (Rooker). While God's name is peerless and holy, Rooker insists that shem refers to more than a label or moniker for God: his name (shem) signifies his reputation, characteristics, his being, divine righteousness and God's hesed, but I would contend that it might denote his personal name too. See Psalm 143:11-12; Isaiah 42:8; 1 Kings 8:41-42; Psalm 83:18; 145:21; Jeremiah 23:27.

I conducted an electronic search for "Jehovah" in Rooker's study, and the name evidently does not appear in the book: he opts for Yahweh instead. However, just what does it mean to take God's name in a worthless way? Is pronouncing the name enough to be charged with blasphemy in God's eyes?

"Any invocation of the Lord or calling on His name that is insincere or needless is simply perfunctory and constitutes taking God’s name in vain" (Rooker).

That is probably only a brief description of what it means to treat God's name worthlessly; Rooker shows this to be the case later in his book. He thinks Exodus 20:7 forbids employing God's nomen "in a magical incantation, false swearing, or a general inappropriate use."

2) The Sabbath Law in Exodus 20:11-12

Rooker argues that the Sabbath is no longer binding on God's people/Christians today, but we can still gain benefit from the principles undergirding that day.

Mark Rooker Analyzes Exodus 20:5

Not only are we not to make any image of a god, but we are also forbidden to bow down and worship an existing image (Exod 20:5). The word translated “bow down” (wh) is a unique verb in that it is the only root attested in the rare shafel stem in the Old Testament.12 The verb occurs 170 times in the Old Testament with the meaning of “bow down” or “prostrate oneself,” whether out of respect to a human superior or in obeisance to a god. For example, the Israelites “bowed down” to the image of the golden calf (Exod 32:8). They bowed to the lîlîm made by human hands (Isa 2:8) and to a carved image (Isa 44:15,17). “Bowing down” is a religious gesture that conveys homage and reverence. Idolatry involves “bowing down” in reference to the worship of the stars (Deut 4:19; Jer 8:2) and the worship in a pagan temple (2 Kgs 5:18). But it is fitting for worshippers to “bow down” to Yahweh, the true God (Gen 24:26,48,52; Ps 99:9). Many times this action of bowing down includes placing one’s face to the ground (Gen 18:2; 19:1; 24:52; 42:6; Isa 49:23). We are not only not to bow before idols but also not to “worship them” or “serve them” (bd). The root (bd) often occurs with wh (bow down) in reference to the worship of other gods.13 The verb bd (“worship”) frequently has Yahweh as its object. We see this early in the book of Exodus as we learn that the Israelites will worship God on Mount Sinai (Exod 3:12; 4:23; 7:16; 8:1[7:26]; 8:20[16]; 9:1,13; 10:3,7,8,11,24,26; 12:31).14 For the Israelites to turn back after being delivered from Egyptian bondage (bdîm) and serve other gods would be to reverse the exodus.15 The verb bd (“serve”) can be distinguished from the verb wh (“bow down”) by the fact that wh refers to prostration, whereas bd often refers to making offerings (Exod 10:26; Isa 19:21). As with wh (“to bow down”), the word for worship (bd) has a nontheological usage as it refers to serving kings and political suzerains, which may involve paying tribute (Gen 27:29; Ps 72:11).16

Rooker, Mark. The Ten Commandments: Ethics for the Twenty-First Century (New American Commentary Studies in Bible and Theology) (Kindle Locations 807-827). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.