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Ed Metzler
the lines, changing the writing
direction after every line, and reducing
double or triple letters to singles.17) The next three
biblical verses of the Ten Commandments
consist of one long compound
sentence speaking in the first person singular,
and ending with "them that love
me, and keep my commandments" (Exodus
20, 4–6 = Deuteronomy 5, 8–10).18) The two versions are
identical except for one
Waw missing in Exodus, and another
in Deuteronomy, both of which I
inserted.19) Remarkably, the
end of the seventh line of 31
letters coincided with the end of the
grammatical sentence.
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17) The number of 32 letters per line
is given at the very beginning
of chapter 1 of the
Sefer Yetzirah, where the letters
are called Ketivot
(from Katav "to
write"), but in Jewish-Aramaic
script the initial
Kaf could easily be
misread as Nun, resulting in
complete mystification, and the
"thirty-two mysterious paths (Netivot) of
wisdom".
18) Although the word Mitzwah
"commandment", related to Metzaweh
"commander" (Isaiah 55, 4), is
used in the Ten Commandments, they are
not called the 10 Mitzwot in
the Bible, but the 10 Devarim (Exodus
34, 28), which means the "10 words",
literally translated into Greek as "decalogue".
Since it undoubtedly has more than 10
words, the concept of Davar "word"
must have meant something else
originally.
19) The Waw is missing before
al-Shileshim in Exodus, and before
kol-Temunah in Deuteronomy.
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