Ten Commandments and referring to the Greek translation (in accusative) , , "ten words", found in the Septuagint (or LXX) at Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 10:4. The stone tablets, as opposed to the commandments inscribed on them, are called , "Lukhot HaBrit", meaning "the tablets of the covenant". Different religious traditions divide the seventeen verses of and their parallels at into ten "commandments" or "sayings" in different ways, shown in the table below. Some suggest that the number ten is a choice to aid memorization rather than a matter of theology. Traditions: The biblical narrative of the revelation at Sinai begins in
Ten Commandments in different ways in the classical Jewish tradition. Rabbi Hanina ben Gamaliel says that each tablet contained five commandments, "but the Sages say ten on one tablet and ten on the other", that is, that the tablets were duplicates. This can be compared to diplomatic treaties of the ancient Near East, in which a copy was made for each party. According to the Talmud, the compendium of traditional Rabbinic Jewish law, tradition, and interpretation, one interpretation of the biblical verse "the tablets were written on both their sides", is that the carving went through the full thickness of the tablets,