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 Order of Eagles placed possibly thousands of Ten Commandments displays in courthouses and school rooms, including many stone monuments on courthouse property. Because displaying the commandments can reflect a sectarian position if they are numbered (see above), the Eagles developed an ecumenical version that omitted the numbers, as on the monument at the Texas capitol (shown here). Hundreds of monuments were also placed by director Cecil B. DeMille as a publicity stunt to promote his 1956 film "The Ten Commandments". Placing the plaques and monuments to the Ten Commandments in and around government buildings was another expression of mid-twentieth century