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← Luther's Little Prayer Book (Ein Betbüchlein)/Book 1 · Betbüchlein (Ein Betbüchlein)
Chapter 2Betbuechlein.1.2

Auslegung der Zehen Gebot

The Two Tablets of the Law

The Ten Commandments are divided into two tablets, the first concerning our duty toward God and the second our duty toward our neighbor.

The first and proper tablet of Moses contains the first three commandments, in which a person is taught what he should and is bound to do and leave undone toward God—that is, how he should conduct himself toward God. The first commandment teaches how a person should conduct himself inwardly in his heart—that is, how he should always think of God, hold Him, and regard Him: he should look to Him for every good, as to a Father and good Friend, in all faithfulness, faith, and love, and with fear at all times, so that he doesn't offend Him, just as a child doesn't offend his father. For nature teaches that there is a God who gives every good and helps in every trouble, as the idols among the pagans show; and it goes like this:1 You shall not have other gods.✦ The second commandment teaches how a person should conduct himself toward God outwardly in words before other people, or also inwardly before himself—namely, that he honor God's name. For no one can show God, neither to himself nor to other people, according to the divine nature, but only by his name. And it reads as follows: You shall not take the name of your God in vain. The third commandment teaches how a person should conduct themselves toward God in their outward actions—that is, in divine services—and it reads as follows:✦ You shall keep the holy day holy.✦ These three commandments teach a person how to relate to God in their thoughts, words, and deeds—that is, in their entire life. The Second Tablet. The second tablet of Moses, on the left, contains the seven commandments that follow, which teach a person what they owe to others and their neighbor—what they should avoid and what they should do. The first teaches how you should conduct yourself toward every authority that stands in God's place. That is why this commandment comes right after the first three, which concern God himself, and before the others—authorities like fathers and mothers, masters and mistresses—and it reads as follows:2 You shall honor your father and your mother.✦ The second teaches how you should conduct yourself toward your equal or neighbor regarding their own person: that you must not wrong them, but where they need it, support and help them. And it runs as follows:✦ You shall not kill. The third teaches how you should treat your neighbor's highest good with respect to their own person—that is, their spouse, child, or friend—so that you don't shame them, but keep them in honor as far as anyone can, and it runs as follows: You shall not commit adultery.✦ The fourth point teaches how we should treat our neighbor's worldly goods: we shouldn't take them or get in the way of them, but rather help them along; it reads as follows: You shall not steal. The fifth point teaches how you should treat your neighbor’s worldly honor and reputation: don’t weaken them, but rather protect and preserve them. It goes like this: Don't bear false witness against your neighbor.✦ So you're forbidden from harming any of your neighbor's goods, and commanded to promote those same goods. If we look at natural law, we find how fair and even-handed all these commandments are.3 For nothing is commanded here to be kept toward God and the neighbor that anyone wouldn't want kept toward himself if he were in God's place and his neighbor's place. The last two commandments teach how evil our nature is, and how pure we should be of every desire of the flesh and of goods. But struggle and hard work remain as long as we live here. They run as follows: You shouldn't covet your neighbor's house.✦ You shall not covet his wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his livestock, or anything else that belongs to him. A brief summary of the Ten Commandments. Christ himself says: Whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them. That is the whole Law and all the Prophets. Matt. 7.4 For no one wants to suffer ingratitude for a kindness he's done, or to let someone else take credit for his name.5 No one wants pride shown against him. No one wants to suffer disobedience, anger, unchastity in his wife, robbery of his goods, lying, cheating, or slander; rather, he wants to find love and friendship, thanks and help, truth and faithfulness from his neighbor.6 And this is exactly what the Ten Commandments command.

Transgressions Against the Commandments

A detailed examination of how human actions and attitudes violate the specific requirements of each of the Ten Commandments.

Their transgression. Against the first.✦7 Whoever, in their adversity, seeks sorcery, black arts, or the devil's confederates. Whoever uses charm-letters, signs, herbs, words, blessing-formulas, and the like.8 Anyone who practices using divining rods, conjuring treasure, crystal-gazing, cloak-riding, or stealing milk.9 Whoever orders his work and life by chosen days, the signs of the heavens, and the fancies of soothsayers.✦ Anyone who uses set prayers to bless and charm themselves, their livestock, house, children, and all sorts of property against wolves, iron, fire, water, and harm.10 Whoever attributes their misfortune and adversity to the devil or to wicked people, and does not receive everything bad and good from God alone with love and praise, and carry it back to Him with thanksgiving and willing resignation.1112 Whoever puts God to the test and throws himself into needless danger of body or soul.✦ Anyone who is proud of their piety, understanding, or other spiritual gifts. Anyone who honors God while forgetting the soul's need, only for the sake of temporal gain. Whoever does not trust God at all times, and in all his works does not put his confidence in God's mercy. Anyone who doubts the faith or God's grace. Whoever does not restrain unbelief and doubt in others, and does not help them believe and trust in God's grace as much as he can. This category includes all unbelief, despair, and false belief. Against the second.✦13 Anyone who swears lightly without need, or out of habit.✦ Anyone who swears a false oath, or breaks a good vow.✦ Anyone who vows or swears to do evil. Anyone who curses using God's name.✦ Anyone who prattles on with foolish fables about God and carelessly twists the words of Scripture.✦ Anyone who doesn't call on God's name in their adversity, and doesn't praise him in joy and sorrow, in good fortune and misfortune. Anyone who seeks fame, honor, and a reputation from their piety, wisdom, and the like. Anyone who falsely invokes God's name or teaches false doctrine—like the heretics and all those proud, so-called saints.✦14 Anyone who doesn't praise God's name in everything that comes their way.✦ Anyone who doesn't restrain those who misuse God's name.✦15 Dishonoring the Name, using it falsely, and doing evil through it.✦ And so under this belong vain honor, renown, and spiritual pride. Against the Third.16 Anyone who doesn't hear or teach God's Word. Anyone who doesn't pray and serve God spiritually. Anyone who doesn't let all their works be God's works.17 Anyone who isn't patient and doesn't break and put to death their own will. Anyone who doesn't remain surrendered in all their works and sufferings, so that God may do with them as He wills.18 Anyone who doesn't help others do all of this, and restrain them from doing the opposite. Here belong all stiff-necked, willful, and rebellious heads. Against the Fourth.✦19 Anyone who is ashamed of their parents' poverty, their frailty, or the contempt they face. Anyone who doesn't provide them with the food and clothing they need.✦ Still more, whoever curses them, strikes them, speaks ill of them, hates them, and is disobedient. Anyone who doesn't hold them in high regard from the heart for the sake of God's commandment.✦ Whoever does not honor them, even if they do wrong and use force. Whoever does not honor his lords and authorities, and is not faithful and obedient to them, whether they are good or evil. Anyone who doesn't help uphold this commandment and doesn't resist those who break it. All pride, rebellion, disloyalty, and disobedience fall under this. Against the Fifth.✦20 Anyone who is angry with their neighbor.✦ Anyone who says to him, "Raca" (these are all types of signs of anger and hatred).✦21 Whoever says to him, "Fatue"—"you fool"—that covers all kinds of shameful words, curses, slander, backbiting, judging, condemning, mocking remarks, and so on.✦ Whoever points out his neighbor's sins or failings and doesn't cover them or make excuses for them.✦ Whoever does not forgive his enemies, does not pray for them, is not kind to them, and does not do them good. All sins of anger and hatred fall under this: manslaughter, war, robbery, arson, quarreling, wrangling, resenting your neighbor's good fortune, and rejoicing at his misfortune.✦ Anyone who doesn't practice works of mercy, even toward their enemies.✦ Anyone who turns people against each other or hangs them.22 Anyone who stirs up discord between others. Anyone who doesn't reconcile those who are at odds. Anyone who doesn't restrain or prevent anger and discord when they have the chance. Against the Sixth.23 Anyone who defiles virgins, commits adultery, or practices incest and similar forms of unchastity.✦ Whoever practices unnatural ways or uses persons unnaturally (these are silent sins).24 Whoever stirs up or displays evil lust with shameful words, little songs, stories, or pictures. Anyone who stirs up and defiles themselves through looking, touching, and willing thoughts.25 Whoever does not avoid the occasions—such as overeating, heavy drinking, idleness, laziness, too much sleep, and the company of women or of men.26 Anyone who uses excessive adornment, gestures, or similar things, incites others to unchastity. Anyone who provides a house, a room, time, or assistance for such sins to be committed. Anyone who doesn't help preserve another's chastity, through both counsel and deed. Against the seventh.27 Whoever practices theft and robbery, greed and usury. Whoever uses false weights and measures, or passes off bad goods as good.✦ Anyone who wrongfully takes inherited property and rents. Whoever withholds wages that are due and denies a debt.✦ Whoever will not lend or loan to his needy neighbor without any interest.✦28 Everyone who is greedy and rushes to get rich. And also whenever someone else's property is kept, or taken for oneself. Anyone who doesn't prevent harm to another. Anyone who doesn't warn another of harm. Anyone who hinders a neighbor's advantage. Anyone who resents a neighbor's gain. On the Eighth.✦29 Anyone who stays silent about the truth in court and suppresses it.✦ Anyone who lies and deceives in a harmful way. Also, all harmful flatterers, ear-whisperers, and double-tongued people. Whoever puts a bad construction on a neighbor's goods, life, work, and words and slanders them. Anyone who gives those same evil tongues room is helping them and failing to resist them. Anyone who doesn't use their tongue to clear their neighbor's name. Anyone who fails to rebuke a slanderer. Whoever does not say everything good about everyone and keep silent about everything evil. Anyone who stays silent about the truth or fails to uphold it.30

The Goal of Love and Fulfillment

The commandments are fulfilled only through love, which requires the mortification of self-love and reliance on God's grace.

Again, the last two.31 The last two commandments are set as the goal and mark we're meant to reach, and we should work toward them every day by our own effort, with the help and grace of God. For the evil inclination doesn't thoroughly die until the flesh has turned to dust and been made new.✦✦32 The five senses are covered by the fifth and sixth commandment. The six works of mercy in the fifth and seventh. The seven deadly sins: pride is the first. And the second. Unchastity is the sixth. Anger and hatred are the fifth. Gluttony is the sixth. Sloth is the third, and indeed, it is in all of them. Sins of others are in all the commandments, for by commanding, advising, and helping, one can sin against every commandment.33 Crying sins and silent sins are against the fifth,34 sixth, and seventh commandments, and so on. In all these works one sees nothing but self-love, which seeks its own, takes from God what is His and from people what is theirs, and gives nothing—neither to God nor to people—of what it has, is, and can do. That is why Augustine rightly says: The beginning of all sin is love of oneself. From all of this it follows that the commandments command nothing other than love and forbid nothing other than love, and that nothing fulfills the commandments but love, and nothing transgresses them either but love.35 That is why St. Paul says that love is the fulfillment of all the commandments, just as evil love is the transgression of all the commandments. Their fulfillment. Of the First. Love and fear of God in true faith, and firm trust at all times in every work—completely bare and pure—remaining resigned in all things, whether they are bad or good.36 Everything written in Scripture about faith, hope, and the love of God belongs here—all of which is briefly contained in this commandment.✦ Of the Second.37 Praise, honor, bless, and call upon God's name, and completely put to nothing your own name and honor, so that God alone may be praised—the One who alone is and works all things.✦ Everything Scripture teaches about God's praise, honor, thanksgiving, name, and word belongs here. Of the Third. Surrender yourself to God so that He alone does all our work in us. This commandment requires a soul poor in spirit—one that offers what is its own (not His) before God, so that He may be its God and may receive His work and His Name within it, in accordance with the first two commandments.✦38 This includes everything commanded regarding the service of God, listening to preaching, and the good works that bring the body under the Spirit—so that all our works are God's and not our own. Of the Fourth.✦39 Willing obedience, humility, and subjection to every authority for the sake of God's good pleasure, as the Apostle St. Peter says—without any rebelling, complaining, or murmuring. Everything written about obedience, humility, submission, and reverence belongs under this. Of the Fifth.✦ Patience, gentleness, kindness, friendliness, mercy, and in everything a sweet, kindly heart, without any hatred, anger, or bitterness toward anyone at all—even toward enemies.✦40 Under this belong all teaching on patience, gentleness, peace, unity, and the like. Of the Sixth. Chastity, discipline, and modesty in deeds, words, gestures, and thoughts; also moderation in eating, drinking, and sleep, and everything that helps preserve chastity. Here belong all the teachings about chastity: fasting, sobriety, moderation, prayer, watching, work, and whatever else preserves chastity. Of the Seventh. Poverty of spirit; gentleness; a willingness to lend and share your possessions; living without any greed or craving.41 This covers all teachings regarding greed, ill-gotten gains, usury, cunning, fraud, harm, and anything that hinders a neighbor’s temporal goods. Of the Eighth. A peaceful, wholesome tongue that harms no one and benefits everyone, that reconciles those at odds, and that excuses and defends the slandered—that is truth and simplicity in words. This covers all the teaching on silence and speech regarding a neighbor's honor, rights, affairs, and salvation. The last two. That is perfect chastity and a total disregard for worldly pleasures and possessions—something only fully accomplished in the life to come. In all these works you see nothing but other-directed, shared love—that is, love of God and of the neighbor—which does not seek what is its own, but what is God's and the neighbor's, and freely yields itself to everyone as their own, for service and will.42 You can see that the Ten Commandments gather all the teaching people need in a brief, orderly way. Anyone who wants to keep them has good works to do every hour, so there's no need to choose other tasks, run here and there, or do things that weren't commanded at all. All of this clearly shows that these commandments aren't about what a person should do for himself, leave alone for himself, or demand from others, but rather what he should do and leave alone for others—for God and for people. We have to grasp that fulfillment rests in love toward others, not toward ourselves. A person already does, leaves alone, and seeks far too much for himself; that doesn't need teaching, but restraining.✦ The person who lives best is the one who doesn't live for himself. And the person who lives worst is the one who lives for himself—for that is what the Ten Commandments teach.43 From this you can see how few people live well; in fact, as a human being, no one is able to live well.44 So since we recognize this, we must now learn where we're to get it from so that we can live well and fulfill the commandments.45

Read the original Latin

DIe Erste vnd rechte Tafel Mosi begreifft die ersten drey Gebot / in welchen der Mensch gelehret wird / was er Gott sol vnd schüldig ist zu thun vnnd lassen / das ist / wie er sich gegen Gott halten sol.

Das erste Gebot lehret / wie sich der Mensch halten sol inwendig im Hertzen / das ist / was er allzeit von jhm gedencken / halten vnd achten sol / nemlich / daß er sich alles gutes zu jhm versehe / wie zu einem Vater vnnd guten Freund in aller trew / Glaube vnd Liebe / mit furcht zu aller zeit / daß er jhn nicht beleidige / wie ein Kind seinen Vater. Denn das lehret die Natur / daß ein Gott sey / der da alles gutes gebe / vnnd in allem vbel helffe / wie das anzeigen die Abgötter bey den Heyden / vnnd lautet also:

Du solt nicht andere Götter haben.

Das ander Gebot lehret / wie sich der Mensch halten sol gegen Gott eusserlich in Worten / für den Leuten / oder auch innerlich für jhm selbs / nemlich / daß er Gottes Namen ehre / Denn niemand mag Gott / weder für jhm selbs / noch für den Leuten / zeigen nach der Göttlichen Natur / sondern bey seinem Namen / vnnd lautet also:

Du solt den Namen deines Gottes nicht vnnütz führen.

Das dritte Gebot lehret / wie sich der Mensch halten sol gegen Gott eusserlich in Wercken / das ist / in Gottesdiensten / vnd lautet also:

Du solt den Feyrtag heiligen.

Also lehren diese drey Gebot den Menschen / wie er mit Gott sol handeln / in Gedancken / Worten / Wercken / das ist / in gantz seinem Leben.

Die Ander Tafel.

DIe Ander vnnd lincke Tafel Mosi helt inne die sieben folgende Gebot / in welchen der Mensch gelehret wird / was er den Menschen vnd seinem Nehesten schüldig ist zu lassen vnd zu thun.

Das erste lehret / wie man sich halten sol gegen alle Oberkeit / welche an Gottes stat sitzen / Darumb folget dasselbige für andern Geboten den ersten dreyen / die Gott selbs antreffen / als sind Vater vnd Mutter / Herrn vnd Frawen / vnnd lautet also:

Du solt deinen Vater vnd deine Mutter ehren.

Das ander lehret / wie man sich halte gegen seinem gleichen oder Nehesten / seiner eigen Person halben / daß man dieselbe nicht beleidige / sondern wo sie darff / fördere vnd helffe / vnd lautet also:

Du solt nicht tödten.

Das dritte lehret / wie man sich halte gegen des Nehesten höhestes Gut / nach seiner eigen Personen / das ist / sein ehelich Gemahl / Kind oder Freund / daß man dieselbigen nicht schende / sondern bey Ehren behalte / so ferne es jederman müglich ist / vnd lautet also:

Du solt nicht Ehebrechen.

Das vierde lehret / wie man sich halte gegen des Nehesten zeitlich Gut / daß man es nicht nehme noch hindere / sondern fördere / vnd lautet also:

Du solt nicht stelen.

Das fünffte lehret / wie man sich halte gegen des Nehesten zeitliche Ehre vnnd gut Gerücht / daß man das nicht schweche / sondern mehr schütze vnd erhalte / vnnd lautet also:

Du solt nicht falsch gezeugnis reden wieder deinen Nehesten.

Also ist verboten / zu schaden in allen Gütern des Nehesten / vnd geboten denselben zu frommen.

Wenn wir nu das Natürliche Gesetze ansehen / so finden wir / wie billig vnnd gleich alle diese Gebot sind. Denn nichts ist hie geboten gegen Gott vnd den Nehesten zu halten / daß nicht ein jeglicher wolt jhm gehalten haben / wenn er an Gottes vnd seines Nehesten stat were.

Die letzten zwey Gebot lehren / wie böse die Natur sey / vnd wie rein wir von allen begirden des Fleisches vnd Gütern seyn sollen / Aber da bleibet Krieg vnd Erbeit / dieweil wir hie leben / die lauten also:

Du solt nicht begehren deines Nehesten Hauß.

Du solt nicht begehren seines Weibes / Knecht / Magd / Viehe / oder was sein ist.

Kurtzer Beschluß der zehen Gebot / spricht Christus selber.

Was jhr wollet / daß euch die Menschen thun sollen / dasselbige thut jhr jhn auch. Das ist das gantze Gesetze vnd alle Propheten / Matth. 7.

Denn niemand wil vndanck leiden für seine Wolthat / oder seinen Namen einem andern lassen. Niemand wil hoffart gegen jhm erzeiget haben. Niemand wil vngehorsam / zorn / vnkeuscheit seines Weibes / beraubung seiner Güter / liegen / triegen / affterreden / leiden / sondern liebe vnd freundschafft / danck vnd hülffe / warheit vñ trew erfinden von seinem Nehesten. Das gebieten aber alles die zehen Gebot.

Die Vbertretung derselben.

Wieder das Erste.

WEr in seiner Wiederwertigkeit Zeuberey / Schwartzkunst / Teuffels Bundgenossen suchet.

Wer Brieff / Zeichen / Kreuter / Wörter / Segen vnd deßgleichen gebrauchet.

Wer Wündschruten / Schatzbeschwerungen / Cristallen sehen / Mantel fahren / Milch stelen vbet.

Wer sein Werck vnd Leben / nach erwehleten Tagen / Himels zeichen / vnd der Weissagern dünckel richtet.

Wer sich selbs / sein Viehe / Hauß / Kinder vnd allerley Gut / für Wölfen / Eisen / Fewr / Wasser / schaden / mit bestimpten Gebeten segnet vnd beschweret.

Wer sein Vnglück vnd Widerwertigkeit dem Teuffel oder bösen Menschen zuschreibt / vnd nicht mit lieb vnd lob / alles böses vnnd gut / von Gott alleine auffnimpt / vnd jhm wieder heim tregt mit dancksagen / vnd williger gelassenheit.

Wer Gott versuchet / vnd in vnnötige fehrligkeit Leibes oder Seel sich gibt.

Wer in seiner frömigkeit / verstand / oder andern Geistlichen Gaben hoffertig ist.

Wer Gott mit vergessen der Seelen noth / nur vmb zeitliches nutzes willen ehret.

Wer Gott nicht vertrawet allezeit / vnd in allen seinen Wercken nicht zuuersicht hat in Gottes Barmhertzigkeit.

Wer zweiffelt an dem Glauben oder an Gottes Gnaden.

Wer nicht andern wehret den Vnglauben vnd zweiffel / vnnd hilffet nicht / daß sie gleuben / vnd Gottes Gnade trawen / so viel er vermag.

Vnd da gehören her / aller Vnglauben / verzweiffeln / mißglauben.

Wieder das Ander.

WEr ohn noth oder aus gewonheit leichtlich schweret.

Wer falschen Eid schweret / oder auch sein gut gelübd bricht.

Wer Vbel thun gelobet oder schweret.

Wer bey Gottes Namen fluchet.

Wer nerrische Fabeln von GOtt schwetzet / vnd die Wort der Schrifft leichtfertig verkehret.

Wer Gottes Namen nicht anrüfft in seiner Wiederwertigkeit / vnd nicht lobet / in liebe vnd leid / in Glück vnd Vnglück.

Wer Rhum vnd Ehre vnnd Namen suchet von seiner frömigkeit / Weißheit etc.

Wer Gottes Namen anrüfft felschlich / oder falsche Lehre gibt / als die Ketzer / vnd alle hoffertige Heiligen.

Wer Gottes Namen nicht lobet in allen dingen was jhm für kömpt.

Wer nicht wehret andern die Gottes

Namen vnehren / felschlich brauchen / vnd durch denselbigen böses wircken.

Vnnd daher gehöret die eitel Ehre / Rhum vnd Geistliche hoffart.

Wieder das Dritte.

WEr nicht Gottes Wort höret oder lehret.

Wer nicht betet vnnd GOtt Geistlich dienet.

Wer nicht alle seine Werck lesser Gottes Werck seyn.

Wer nicht gedultig ist / vnnd seinen Willen bricht vnd tödtet.

Wer nicht gelassen stehet in allen seinen wercken vnd leiden / daß Gott mit jhm mache wie er wil.

Wer nicht den andern diß alles zu thun hilfft / vnd jhnen wehret dawieder zu thun.

Hieher gehören alle halßstarrige / eigensinnige / wiederspenstige Köpffe.

Wieder das Vierde.

WEr sich armuts / gebrechens / verachtung seiner Eltern schemet.

Wer jhnen nicht jhre notturfft mit Speise vnd Kleider versorget.

Viel mehr / wer jhnen fluchet / schlehet / nachredet / hasset vnd vngehorsam ist.

Wer nicht von Hertzen groß von jhnen helt / vmb Gottes Gebots willen.

Wer sie nicht ehret / ob sie gleich vnrecht vnd gewalt thun.

Wer seine Herrn vnd Oberkeit nicht ehret / trew vnd gehorsam ist / sie sind gut oder böse.

Wer nicht hilfft zu diesem Gebot / vnd wiederstehet den Vbertretern desselbigen.

Vnd da gehöret her alle hoffart / auffrhur / vntrew vnd vngehorsam.

Wieder das Fünffte.

WEr mit seinem Nehesten zürnet.

Wer zu jhm sagt / Racha (das sind allerley zorns vnd hasses zeichen.)

Wer zu jhm sagt / Fatue / du Narr / das sind allerley Schandwort / Flüch / Lesterung / Nachreden / Richten / Vrtheilen / Hohnsprüch / etc.

Wer seines Nehesten Sünde oder Gebrechen rüget / vnd nicht bedecket vnnd entschüldiget.

Wer seinen Feinden nicht vergibt / nicht für sie bittet / nicht freundlich ist / nicht wolthut.

Vnd hierinne sind alle Sünde des zorns vnd hasses / als Todtschlag / Krieg / rauben / brennen / zancken / habern / trawren des Nehesten Glücks / frewen seines Vnglücks.

Wer nicht vbet die Werck der Barmhertzigkeit / auch gegen seinen Feinden.

Wer die Leute zusammen hetzt oder henget.

Wer vneinigkeit machet zwischen andern.

Wer nicht versünet die Vneinigen.

Wer nicht wehret oder fürkompt zorn vnd vneinigkeit / wo er kan.

Wieder das Sechste.

WEr Jungfrawen schwecht / Ehebricht / Blutschanden vnd dergleichen Vnkeuscheit wircket.

Wer Vnnatürliche weise oder Personen (das sind stumme Sünden) gebrauchet.

Wer mit schandbarn Worten / Liedlin / Historien / Bilden / die böse lust reitzet oder zeigt.

Wer mit sehen / greiffen / willigen Gedancken / sich reitzt vnd befleckt.

Wer die vrsach nicht meidet / als fressen / sauffen / müssigkeit / faulheit / schlaffen / vnd Weibs oder Mans personen gemeinschafft.

Wer mit vbrigem Schmuck / geberden etc. andere zur vnkeuscheit reitzet.

Wer Hauß / raum / zeit / hülffe / gestattet solche Sünde zu thun.

Wer eines andern Keuscheit nicht hilfft bewahren / mit rath vnd that.

Wieder das Siebende.

WEr Dieberey vnd Reuberey / geitz vnd Wucher treibt.

Wer falsch Gewicht vnnd Maß brauchet / oder böse Wahr für gut außgibt.

Wer vnrecht Erbgüter vnd Zinß einnimpt.

Wer verdient Lohn fürhelt / vnnd Schuld verleugnet.

Wer seinem Nehesten dürfftigen / nicht borget noch leihet / ohn allen auffsatz.

Alle die geitzig sind / vnnd eilen Reich zu werden.

Vnd wie sonst frembd Gut behalten / oder zu sich bracht wird.

Wer des andern Schaden nicht wehret.

Wer den andern nicht warnet für Schaden.

Wer seines Nehesten vortheil hindert.

Wer seines Nehesten gewinst verdrieß hat.

Wieder das Achte.

WEr für Gericht die Warheit schweiget vnd vnterdruckt.

Wer schedlich leugt vnnd betreugt.

Item / alle schedliche Schmeichler / Ohrenbleser vnd Zweyzüngige.

Wer des Nehesten Gut / Leben / werck vnd Wort vbel außlegt vnd schmehet.

Wer denselbigen bösen Zungen stat gibt / hilfft vnd nicht wiederstehet.

Wer seine Zungen nicht brauchet zu entschüldigen seines Nehesten Namen.

Wer nicht straffet den Affterreder.

Wer nicht alles gutes von jederman sagt / vnd alles böses schweigt.

Wer die Warheit schweigt / oder nicht versicht.

Wieder die letzten zwey.

DIe letzten zwey Gebot sind ziel vnd mahl gesetzt / da wir hin kommen sollen / vnd täglich durch vns dahin arbeiten / mit hülffe vnd gnaden Gottes / Denn die böse neigung stirbt nicht ehe gründlich / das Fleisch werde denn zu Puluer vnd new geschaffen.

Die fünff Sinn werden eingeschlossen im 5. vnd 6. Gebot.

Die sechs werck der Barmhertzigkeit im 5. vnd 7.

Die sieben Todtsünde / Hoffart im 1. vnd 2. Vnkeuscheit im 6. Zorn vnd Haß im 5. Fraß im 6. Tragheit im 3. vnd wol in allen.

Die frembde Sünde sind in allen Geboten / Denn mit heissen / rathen vnd hülffe wieder alle Gebot gesündiget kan werden.

Die ruffende vnnd stumme Sünde sind wieder das 5. 6. vnd 7. Gebot etc.

In allen diesen Wercken sihet man nichts anders / denn eigen Liebe / die das jre suchet / nimpt Gott was sein ist / vnd den Menschen was derselbigen ist / vnnd gibt nicht / weder Gott noch Menschen / etwas von dem das sie hat / ist vnd mag. Daß wol Augustinus saget / Der anfang aller Sünde / ist die eigene seines selbs Liebe.

Aus diesen allen folget / daß die Gebot nicht anders denn Liebe gebieten / vnd Liebe verbieten / Vnd die Gebot nichts erfülle denn Liebe / auch nichts vbertrit denn Liebe. Darumb spricht S. Paul / daß die Liebe sey erfüllung aller Gebot / gleich wie die böse Liebe ist vbertretung aller Gebot.

Die Erfüllung derselbigen.

Des Ersten.

GOttes Liebe vnd Furcht im rechten Glauben / vnd alle zeit in allen Wercken fest vertrawen / gantz bloß / lauter / in allen dingen gelassen stehen / sie sind böse oder gut.

Da gehöret her / alles was in der gantzen Schrifft vom Glauben / Hoffnung vnd der Liebe Gottes geschrieben ist / welches alles kürtzlich in diesem Gebot begriffen ist.

Des Andern.

LOb / Ehre / gebenedeyung vnnd anruffen Gottes Namen / vnnd seinen eigen Namen vnnd Ehre gantz vernichten / daß allein Gott gepreiset sey / der allein alle ding ist vnd wircket.

Da gehöret her / alles was von Gottes Lob / Ehre / Danck / Namen / Wort in der Schrifft gelehret ist.

Des Dritten.

SIch Gott ergeben / daß alle vnser Werck er alleine thu in vns / denn diß Gebot fordert eine Geistarme Seele / die da jhres (nicht sein) für Gott opffert / daß er jhr Gott sey / vnd in jhr seines Wercks vnd Namen bekomme / nach den zweyen ersten Geboten.

Da gehöret her / alles was von Gottes Dienst / Predig hören / vnd guten Wercken / den Leib vnter den Geist zu werffen / befohlen ist / daß alle vnser Werck Gottes sind vnd nicht vnser.

Des Vierden.

WIlliger Gehorsam / Demütigkeit / Vnterthenigkeit aller Gewalt vmb Gottes wolgefallen willen / als der Apostel S. Peter sagt / ohn alles wiederbellen / klagen vnd murmelen.

Da gehöret her / alles was von Gehorsam / Demuth / Vnterthenigkeit / Ehrerbietung geschrieben ist.

Des Fünfften.

WEdult / Sanfftmütigkeit / Gütigkeit / Freundligkeit / Barmhertzigkeit / vnd aller ding ein süsses / freundlichs Hertz / ohn allen haß / zorn / bitterkeit gegen einem jeglichen Menschen / auch den Feinden.

Da gehören her / alle Lehre von der Gedult / Sanfftmütigkeit / Friede / Einigkeit / vnd dergleichen.

Des Sechsten.

KEuscheit / Zucht / Schamhafftigkeit in Wercken / Worten / Geberden vnd Gedancken / Auch Messigkeit in Essen / Trincken / Schlaffen / vnd alles was der Keuscheit förderlich ist.

Da gehören her / alle Lehre von der Keuscheit / fasten / nüchtern / messig seyn / beten / wachen / arbeiten / vnnd wo mit Keuscheit behalten wird.

Des Siebenden.

ARmuth des Geistes / Mildigkeit / Willigkeit seiner Güter zu leihen vnd geben / ohn allen geitz vnd begirde leben.

Da gehören her / alle Lehre von dem Geitz / vnrechtem Gut / Wucher / List / Betrug / Schaden / hinderniß des Nehesien am zeitlichen Gut.

Des Achten.

EIn Friedsame / Heilsame Zunge / die niemand schadet / vnnd jederman frommet / die die Vneinigen versünet / die Verlesterten entschüldiget vnd verficht / Das ist Warheit vnd Einfeltigkeit in Worten.

Da gehöret her / alle Lehre vom schweigen vnnd reden / daß des Nehesten Ehre / Recht / Sache / vnd Seligkeit antrifft.

Der letzten zwey.

DAs ist / vollkommene Keuscheit / vnd verachtung zeitlicher Lust vnd Güter gründlich / das allein in jenem Leben volnbracht wird.

In allen diesen Wercken sihet man nicht anders / denn frembde / gemeine / das ist / Gottes vnd des Nehesten Liebe / die suchet nicht was jhr / sondern was Gottes vnd des Nehesten ist / vnd ergibt sich jederman frey zu eigen / dienst vnd willen.

So sihestu / daß in den zehen Geboten gar ördentlich vnnd kürtzlich begriffen sind alle Lehre / die dem Menschen noth sind / welche so jemand halten wil / hat alle Stunde gute Werck zu thun / daß jhm nicht noth were / andere Werck zu erwehlen / hie vnd da lauffen / vnd das thun / da nichts von geboten ist.

Das alles ist mercklich angezeiget / damit / daß nichts in diesen Geboten gelehret ist / was der Mensch jhm selbs thun / lassen / oder von andern begehren sol / sondern was er andern / Gott vnd den Menschen thun vnd lassen sol / Daß wir es greiffen müssen / daß die Erfüllung stehet in der Liebe / gegen andern / vnd nicht gegen vns / Denn der Mensch thut / lesset vnnd suchet jhm selbs schon zu viel / das nicht zu lehren / sondern zu wehren noth ist.

Darumb lebet der am aller besten / der jhm selbs nicht lebet. Vnd der lebet am allerergesten / der jhm selbs lebet / denn also lehren die zehen Gebot. Daraus man sihet / wie wenig Menschen wol leben / ja als ein Mensch / niemand mag wol leben. Darumb so wir das erkennen / müssen wir nu lernen / wo wirs nemen sollen / daß wir wol leben / vnd die Gebot erfüllen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Exod.20.3;Deut.5.7 — You shall have no other gods before me. Deut.5.7 — You shall have no other gods before me.
  2. ↩Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11;Deut.5.12-Deut.5.15 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy. Deut.5.12 — Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Deut.5.13 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do. Deut.5.15 — Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
  3. ↩Exod.20.8;Deut.5.12 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Deut.5.12 — Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
  4. ↩Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and so that it may go well with you on the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  5. ↩Exod.20.13;Deut.5.17 — You shall not murder. Deut.5.17 — You shall not murder.
  6. ↩Exod.20.14;Deut.5.18 — You shall not commit adultery. Deut.5.18 — and you shall not commit adultery
  7. ↩Exod.20.16;Deut.5.20 — You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Deut.5.20 — And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  8. ↩Exod.20.17;Deut.5.21 — You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Deut.5.21 — You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
  9. ↩Exod.20.3;Deut.5.7 — You shall have no other gods before me. Deut.5.7 — You shall have no other gods before me.
  10. ↩Deut.18.10-Deut.18.14;Isa.47.13;Jer.10.2 — No one among you shall be found who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, who practices divination, soothsaying, or sorcery. Deut.18.11 — and the one who practices sorcery, and the one who consults a medium, and the one who consults a familiar spirit, and the one who inquires of the dead Deut.18.12 — For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. Deut.18.13 — You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. Deut.18.14 — For these nations that you are about to dispossess listen to diviners and soothsayers, but as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. Isa.47.13 — You are worn out with the abundance of your counsel. Let them stand now and save you: those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who declare month by month what is coming upon you. Jer.10.2 — Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.
  11. ↩Deut.6.16;Matt.4.7;Luke.4.12 — You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. Matt.4.7 — Jesus said to him again, 'It is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.' Luke.4.12 — And Jesus answered him, 'It is said, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'
  12. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
  13. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11;Matt.5.33-Matt.5.37 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Matt.5.33 — Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not swear falsely, but you shall fulfill your oaths to the Lord.' Matt.5.34 — But I say to you, do not swear at all—neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; Matt.5.35 — Neither by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Matt.5.36 — Neither swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Matt.5.37 — Let your word be 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these comes from the evil one.
  14. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11;Lev.19.12;Matt.5.33 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Lev.19.12 — You shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God; I am the LORD. Matt.5.33 — Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not swear falsely, but you shall fulfill your oaths to the Lord.'
  15. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
  16. ↩2Pet.3.16;Jer.23.36 — As also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable twist, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. Jer.23.36 — And the burden of the LORD you shall mention no more, for the burden shall be each man's own word; and you have twisted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.
  17. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
  18. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
  19. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
  20. ↩Exod.20.7;Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain. Deut.5.11 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
  21. ↩Exod.20.12;Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and so that it may go well with you on the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  22. ↩1Tim.5.4;Exod.20.12 — But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety toward their own household and to repay their parents; for this is acceptable before God. Exod.20.12 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  23. ↩Exod.20.12;Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and so that it may go well with you on the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  24. ↩Exod.20.13;Deut.5.17;Matt.5.21-Matt.5.22 — You shall not murder. Deut.5.17 — You shall not murder. Matt.5.21 — You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' Matt.5.22 — But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever says to his brother 'Raca' will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
  25. ↩Matt.5.22 — But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever says to his brother 'Raca' will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
  26. ↩Matt.5.22 — But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever says to his brother 'Raca' will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
  27. ↩Matt.5.22 — But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever says to his brother 'Raca' will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
  28. ↩1Pet.4.8;Prov.10.12 — Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, for love covers a multitude of sins. Prov.10.12 — Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.
  29. ↩Exod.20.13;Matt.5.21-Matt.5.22 — You shall not murder. Matt.5.21 — You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' Matt.5.22 — But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever says to his brother 'Raca' will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
  30. ↩Matt.5.44 — But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
  31. ↩Exod.20.14;Deut.5.18 — You shall not commit adultery. Deut.5.18 — and you shall not commit adultery
  32. ↩Deut.25.13-Deut.25.16;Prov.11.1 — You shall not have in your bag two kinds of stone weights, a large one and a small one. Deut.25.14 — You shall not have in your house two differing measures, a large and a small. Deut.25.15 — A full and just stone-weight shall be yours, a full and just ephah shall be yours, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Deut.25.16 — For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD your God — all who act unjustly. Prov.11.1 — A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.
  33. ↩Lev.19.13;Deut.24.14-Deut.24.15;Jas.5.4 — You shall not oppress your neighbor, and you shall not rob. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you until morning. Deut.24.14 — You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who is in your land within your gates. Deut.24.15 — On the same day you shall pay him his wages, and the sun shall not go down on it, for he is poor and his life depends on it; otherwise he will cry out against you to the LORD, and it will be counted as sin against you. Jas.5.4 — Look! The wages of the workers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
  34. ↩Exod.22.25;Lev.25.35-Lev.25.37;Deut.23.19-Deut.23.20;Ps.15.5;Luke.6.34-Luke.6.35 — If you take your neighbor's garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. Lev.25.35 — And if your brother becomes poor and his hand falters beside you, then you shall support him — whether a sojourner or a resident alien — and he shall live with you. Lev.25.36 — Do not take from him interest or increase, but fear your God, so that your brother may live beside you. Lev.25.37 — You shall not give him your money at interest, and at a profit you shall not give him your food. Deut.23.19 — You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the price of a dog into the house of the LORD your God for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God. Deut.23.20 — You shall not charge your brother interest — interest on silver, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent. Ps.15.5 — He does not lend his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken. Luke.6.34 — And if you lend from those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so as to receive back the same amount. Luke.6.35 — But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
  35. ↩Exod.20.16;Deut.5.20 — You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Deut.5.20 — And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  36. ↩Exod.20.16;Deut.19.15-Deut.19.21 — You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Deut.19.15 — A single witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; on the evidence of two witnesses or on the evidence of three witnesses a matter shall stand. Deut.19.16 — If a malicious witness rises against a man to testify against him falsely, Deut.19.17 — then the two men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. Deut.19.18 — and the judges shall investigate thoroughly, and behold, if the witness is a false witness—he has testified falsely against his brother— Deut.19.19 — then you shall do to him as he had planned to do to his brother, and you shall purge the evil from among you. Deut.19.20 — And those who remain will hear and fear, and will no longer do again such an evil thing among you. Deut.19.21 — And your eye shall not pity — life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
  37. ↩Gen.3.19 — By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
  38. ↩2Cor.5.17 — So if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
  39. ↩1Cor.13.13 — And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
  40. ↩Isa.42.8;Rom.11.36;1Cor.8.6 — I am the LORD; that is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to idols. Rom.11.36 — For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. 1Cor.8.6 — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
  41. ↩Matt.5.3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  42. ↩Exod.20.12;Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and so that it may go well with you on the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  43. ↩Exod.20.13;Deut.5.17 — You shall not murder. Deut.5.17 — You shall not murder.
  44. ↩Matt.5.44;Luke.6.27 — But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Luke.6.27 — But I say to you who are listening: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
  45. ↩Rom.13.8-Rom.13.10;Gal.5.14;Matt.22.37-Matt.22.40 — Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves the other has fulfilled the law. Rom.13.9 — For the commandments — 'You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet' — and every other commandment are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Rom.13.10 — Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Gal.5.14 — For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matt.22.37 — And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Matt.22.38 — This is the great and first commandment. Matt.22.39 — And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matt.22.40 — On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩"Abgötter bey den Heyden" (idols among the pagans): Luther's point is that even pagan idol-worship shows nature's expectation of a deity who gives good and helps in evil—not an endorsement of idols.
  2. 2 ↩Oberkeit is rendered as “authority” (collective public and household rule). Herrn und Frawen are household superiors (masters and mistresses), not merely aristocratic “lords and ladies.”
  3. 3 ↩Early modern billig means fair/just/reasonable, not cheap; gleich means equal/even-handed rather than merely 'the same'.
  4. 4 ↩Standalone chapter numeral completing the abbreviated citation 'Matth.' from the previous sentence (Matthew 7).
  5. 5 ↩seinen Namen einem andern lassen: let another take his name/credit/reputation; rendered as credit for his name to capture both honor and recognition.
  6. 6 ↩vnkeuscheit seines Weibes keeps the husband's-perspective framing of the adultery command in Luther's catechetical list; not generalized away.
  7. 7 ↩Early modern Wieder here is wider, “against,” not “again”; with the following section on sorcery and the devil’s league, this is a heading for offenses against the First Commandment.
  8. 8 ↩In this early-modern catalogue of forbidden practices, Briefe, Zeichen, Wörter, and Segen are superstitious charms and formulas (written amulets, magical marks, spell-words, folk blessing-charms), not ordinary correspondence, tokens, speech, or Christian blessing.
  9. 9 ↩Early modern folk-magic terms: Wündschruten = dowsing/divining rods; Schatzbeschwerungen = conjuring/binding spells for buried treasure; Cristallen sehen = scrying in crystals; Mantel fahren = the superstition of flying by cloak; Milch stelen = magically stealing milk from neighbors' cattle.
  10. 10 ↩Early New High German beschweret here is the conjuring/adjuring sense (cf. beschwören), not mere burdening: superstitious charm-prayer rather than ordinary blessing.
  11. 11 ↩Early modern German heim tragen (carry back home) is a spiritual idiom for referring adversity and blessing back to God as their source, not a physical act of transport.
  12. 12 ↩williger gelassenheit is rendered as 'willing resignation' (ready surrender to God's will). Gelassenheit here is composed acceptance, not emotional detachment or indifference.
  13. 13 ↩Early modern 'Wieder' = 'Wider' (against). 'das Ander' is the Second Commandment; terse heading style retained. Neighboring sections confirm: first-commandment sins before, misuse of God's name (swearing) after.
  14. 14 ↩hoffertige Heiligen: not canonized saints as such, but proud people who present themselves as holy; rendered as “proud so-called saints” to keep the irony of the source.
  15. 15 ↩Source sentence is truncated mid-phrase: «Wer nicht wehret andern die Gottes». Neighboring sections concern praising God's name (53) and dishonoring/falsely using the name (55). Rendered as a Second-Commandment duty to restrain others who misuse God's name; the completed object «Namen» and the misuse sense are inferred from context, not present in the supplied string.
  16. 16 ↩Early modern German 'Wieder' here is the older spelling of 'wider' ('against'), not 'again'; the section introduces offenses against the Third Commandment (see following material on hearing/teaching God's Word).
  17. 17 ↩Early NHG lesser = lassen: 'let/allow all his works to be God's works' (surrender of one's deeds so they stand as God's work, not mere self-driven activity).
  18. 18 ↩Early NHG gelassen stehet names spiritual Gelassenheit: resigned, non-grasping readiness under God’s will—not mere calm or indifference.
  19. 19 ↩Early modern German 'Wieder' = 'Wider' ('against'), not modern 'wieder' ('again'). 'Das Vierde' is the Fourth Commandment in this Ten Commandments exposition.
  20. 20 ↩Early Modern Wieder here is wider ('against'), not modern wieder ('again'); a section head for what violates the Fifth Commandment (Lutheran numbering: you shall not kill).
  21. 21 ↩Racha/Raca is the Aramaic term of contempt from Matt. 5:22, kept as the traditional biblical form rather than paraphrased.
  22. 22 ↩Early New High German henget is taken as hängt (hangs/executes by hanging), parallel to zusammen hetzt (incites/sets people on one another). In this Decalogue list it names violent harm to neighbor, not a figurative hanging of blame.
  23. 23 ↩Early New High German Wieder here is the common spelling of wider, “against,” introducing sins that violate the Sixth Commandment (Lutheran numbering: you shall not commit adultery), as the following section’s sexual-sin catalogue confirms. Not modern wieder, “again.”
  24. 24 ↩German stumme Sünden (Latin peccata muta): traditional catechetical label for shameful sexual sins so rarely spoken of that they are called 'silent' or 'mute,' especially unnatural vice.
  25. 25 ↩willigen means willing/consenting, not merely involuntary: thoughts one deliberately entertains or assents to, as distinct from fleeting temptation.
  26. 26 ↩Early NHG müssigkeit is read as Müßigkeit (idleness), not Unmäßigkeit (intemperance); the latter would partly duplicate fressen/sauffen, and idleness fits the following faulheit/schlaffen cluster as occasions of unchastity.
  27. 27 ↩Early modern Wieder can stand for wider ('against') or wieder ('again'). In this commandment-exposition series it functions as a section head introducing sins against the Seventh Commandment; rendered as 'Against the Seventh' to match the catechetical catalog that follows.
  28. 28 ↩Early New High German 'auffsatz' here is taken as interest/surcharge (usury), not a written composition; 'borget' and 'leihet' are near-synonyms for lending, kept as a pair to match the source's double wording.
  29. 29 ↩Early New High German 'Wieder' = 'Wider' ('against'/'concerning'). In this Ten Commandments exposition it functions as a section heading for the Eighth Commandment (false witness); 'Gebot' is understood from chapter context.
  30. 30 ↩ENHG versicht is taken as versieht from versehen (attend to / uphold / see to). The clause is parallel to neighboring 'Wer…' lists of who sins against truth-telling speech.
  31. 31 ↩Early NHG 'Wieder' can mean 'again/further,' which fits this transitional heading into the last two commandments (see next section). If the intended form is 'Wider' (against), the sense would be 'Against the last two [commandments],' a common catechetical heading pattern.
  32. 32 ↩Early New High German 'ziel vnd mahl' pairs goal with a mark/boundary-marker (a target or landmark). Rendered as 'goal and mark' to keep both terms without modern paraphrase.
  33. 33 ↩Early modern German frembde Sünde (fremde Sünde) names participation in another’s sin—the traditional catechetical category of sharing in someone else’s wrongdoing by ordering, counseling, or aiding them.
  34. 34 ↩Early New High German 'ruffende' = rufende (crying out / calling); 'stumme' = mute/silent. In catechetical German these often mark open sins that 'cry out' versus secret or silent sins (including sin by silence).
  35. 35 ↩Early New High German compresses both poles into Liebe: the commandments command true love and forbid love gone wrong (self-love), as the next sentence makes explicit with 'böse Liebe'.
  36. 36 ↩Early New High German gelassen stehen carries Gelassenheit: yielded, unclinging composure before God, not mere calmness. bloß / lauter means bare and unmixed trust—nothing else to lean on.
  37. 37 ↩Early New High German genitive heading Des Andern. — 'of the second (commandment),' understood from chapter context (Auslegung der Zehen Gebot) and the following section on the name of God.
  38. 38 ↩Parenthetical Early New High German aside: jhres = what is hers/its; (nicht sein) most naturally = not His (God's). Sense: the soul poor in spirit lays down what she claims as her own, so God alone may work and put His Name in her. Less likely: a printer's or editorial clarification of the reading.
  39. 39 ↩Heading for the Fourth Commandment (Lutheran numbering: Honor your father and mother). The following section treats willing obedience and submission to authority.
  40. 40 ↩Surface form WEdult is read as Gedult (patience), matching neighboring Gedult and the usual early modern spelling; likely a decorative or typographic initial for G.
  41. 41 ↩Mildigkeit can mean gentleness of character or liberality/generosity; with the neighboring clauses on lending and giving, liberality is also plausible. Gentleness keeps the broader moral sense; generosity would stress the property-ethic angle.
  42. 42 ↩Luther’s pair fremde/gemeine Liebe contrasts self-seeking private love with love directed outward to another (fremde) and to the common good (gemeine); rendered here as 'other-directed, shared love.'
  43. 43 ↩allerergesten = aller ärgsten, 'worst of all' (superlative of arg).
  44. 44 ↩als ein Mensch frames human incapacity under the law: no one, as mere human, can live well / fulfill the commandments by himself.
  45. 45 ↩wo wirs nemen sollen = where we should take/get it from—the source of power to live well and fulfill the commandments (bridging into faith/Gospel).

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