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Moshe ben Maimon was a scholar of Scripture in the 12th century. Commonly known as Maimonides or "the Rambam" (pronounced RAHM bahm), he was the first to document the commandments given in the Bible.
Additional details are available for the commandments that are linked in the list below.
This site was created as a service of the Psalm 119 Foundation to share brief studies of the commandments G-d gave to humanity via the Hebrew Bible. These commandments are recorded in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They are reiterated, reinforced, and repeated throughout all of Scripture.
They are G-d's holy Law.
These are the tags used on this site to categorize the 613 commandments given in the Hebrew Bible.
The 613 Commandments web site is a work in progress. As we study Scripture, we record our observations about each of the commandments.
Here are the most recently updated articles on the site:
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One who profaned a sacred object must repay what he profaned plus a fifth and bring a sacrifice
"He shall make restitution for that which he has sinned against the holy thing, and shall add to it a fifth part of it and give it to the priest. The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it will be forgiven him." (Leviticus 5:16)
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Do not eat ripened grains from new grain before the Omer
"Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places." (Leviticus 23:14)
Tags: Food -
Have tassels on four-cornered garments
"Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue." (Numbers 15:38) The literal commandment is that we should make tassels on the corners of our garments.
Tags: Signs and Symbols -
Do not destroy objects associated with G-d's Name
"You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 12:2-4)
This negative commandment literally says that we should not destroy the places where we serve G-d, tear down G-d's altar, or obliterate G-d's name. These were the things Israel was commanded to do in regards to gods of the nations they dispossessed when they entered the promised land.
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Do not have sexual relations with your wife's sister
"You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness." (Leviticus 18:18)
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Cover the blood (of a slaughtered beast or fowl) with earth
"So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth." (Leviticus 17:13)
The blood of animals caught while hunting shall be poured out and covered with dirt.
Tags: Food -
Do not oppress the weak
"You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 22:21)
The literal commandment is that we should not oppress strangers.
Tags: Love -
Do not slaughter an animal and its offspring on the same day
"But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day." (Leviticus 22:28)
Tags: Food -
Ritually slaughter an animal before eating it
"If the place which the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire." (Deuteronomy 12:21)
Tags: Food -
Do not drink wine poured in service to idols
"Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place!" (Deuteronomy 32:38)
Tags: Idolatry
"You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the LORD." (Leviticus 22:32-33)
This is a positive commandment to sanctify G-d's name... to set it apart for sacred use; to consecrate it.