The Third Commandment: a Case Study

The third commandment arguably gets less “air time” than the other nine found in Exodus 20. Yet, this commandment includes a “user warning” that, to human reasoning, may seem severe when when crimes like murder, adultery, and idolatry carry no such warning. An examination of a familiar story reveals the gravity and scope of this commandment and why we should consider its violation to be a weighty matter.