And God spoke all these words. The introduction to the Ten Commandments emphasizes two things: the subject (God) and the mode (spoke all these words). This is not Mosaic legislation transmitted with divine approval but direct divine speech — God speaking in first person to the assembled community. Deuteronomy 5:22 confirms: these are the commandments the Lord proclaimed to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness. The Ten Commandments are the only portion of the Torah spoken directly by God to the whole people. Everything else comes through Moses. The directness of this speech is the measure of its authority and the basis of its permanence. Matthew 5:17–18 says not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

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