What could be easier than commenting on the most famous list of rules ever etched into stone, the Ten Commandments? Surely, nothing is especially difficult about "you must not commit adultery" or "you must not steal." That seems clear enough, does it not? Some ten years ago, I was asked to edit a series of books for Abingdon Press, called "Preaching Classic Texts." They do not come more "classic" than the Ten Commandments. So, in a fit of extreme bravado, I assigned the big Ten to me.
My first thought was that the task was bound to be something more like a chore, since the Ten were obviously not narratives, but rather rules, a list of "do's and don'ts," as the familiar phrase has it. I tend to go for the stories—so much more fun, you know. My second thought was: my, what a mountain of commentary there was on these ancient words! I cannot begin to describe the 2500-year (or so) observations on the list. It far exceeded a mountain; it was a whole mountain range. I had obviously bitten off a chunk far larger than my little brain could easily chew.
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