The Two Tablets as Divine Literary Paradigm

The starting point for understanding the Decalogue's structure lies in the biblical description of the stone tablets. Exodus 32:15 provides a unique detail about how the tablets were inscribed: "The tablets were Elohim's work, and the writing was Elohim's writing, engraved on the tablets. The tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written" (emphasis added).

This seemingly straightforward description has puzzled commentators for centuries. Traditional rabbinic interpretations resorted to miraculous explanations, suggesting that the letters miraculously pierced through the stone and could be read from both sides, with closed letters like ם (mem sofit) miraculously suspended in mid-air.

However, the Hebrew phrase translated as "on both their sides" (משני עבריהם) deserves closer examination. The only other biblical occurrence of עברים (sides) appears in 1 Samuel 14:4, which describes "a rocky crag on the one side (מהעבר הזה), and a rocky crag on the other side (מהעבר הזה)." This parallel usage clearly indicates "side by side" rather than "front and back."

A more literal reading of Exodus 32:15 suggests that the Words were written in parallel across both tablets: the first Word on one tablet, the second Word on the other, the third returning to the first tablet, and so on. This arrangement would mean that one tablet contained the "odd" Words, and the other contained the "even" Words—creating a woven pattern across the two tablets.

This interpretation is particularly significant because the tablets represent the only text in the Torah explicitly written by Elohim Himself. As such, they provide a divine paradigm for communication—one that differs fundamentally from conventional linear text.

The Two Narratives of the Tablets: Exoteric and Esoteric Readings

Through the Decalogue, the Torah provides two distinct insights into its nature as an exoteric/esoteric composition. Both are based on a dyad of "one and many," or "the individual and the community." The first is found in the narratives detailing two different occasions when Moses received two stone tablets containing the Decalogue. The second is found in the details of the arrangement of the Words on the pair of tablets.

Let us recall some of the details as described in Deuteronomy by Moses:

So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against YHWH your deity; ye had made you a molten calf; ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which YHWH had commanded you. And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes (Deut 9:15-17)

Moses received the first tablets on Mt. Sinai. Then he brought them down to the camp and was close enough for the people to see the tablets. But instead of showing the tablets, Moses shattered them before their eyes because they had made a golden calf. Instead of seeing whole tablets, all the people could see were fragments. The second tablets were different as they were not shattered but placed in a protective box before the people could see them:

At that time YHWH said unto me: 'Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto Me into the mount; and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark.' So I made an ark of acacia-wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand. And he wrote on the tables according to the first writing, the ten words, which YHWH spoke unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and YHWH gave them unto me. And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as YHWH commanded me. (Deut 10:1-5)

By examining these narratives closely, we can deduce that the two sets of tablets were intended for two different audiences. The first tablets, intended for all the people, represent the exoteric reading available to all—but they were shattered into fragments, preventing the people from seeing their integrated structure. The second tablets, seen whole only by Moses and hidden away in the ark, represent the esoteric reading available only to the initiated few who can grasp the text as an integrated whole.

This pattern of dual reading—fragmentary/linear versus integrated/non-linear—provides the key to understanding the entire Torah's composition.

Each set of tablets is also associated with a different divine name. The tablets that were to be presented to the people were engraved by Elohim on tablets hewn by Elohim (Exod 32:16). These are the exoteric, shattered tablets. The preparation of the esoteric, second tablets was a joint venture carried out by Moses and YHWH together. Moses carved out the tablets at YHWH's command for YHWH to engrave. The esoteric tablets demanded an additional activity by Moses, the recipient of the esoteric divine teaching. This is the model for the study of the esoteric Torah; it requires the active participation of the recipient.

The Weaving Metaphor: Warp and Weft

The parallel arrangement of the commandments across two tablets suggests a metaphor from the ancient world of textiles: weaving. The two tablets function as "warp threads"—the fixed vertical elements on a loom—while the five pairs of commandments function as "weft threads" that create the horizontal connections.

This textile metaphor illuminates the structure of the Decalogue in profound ways. Just as a woven fabric is not merely a collection of threads but an integrated whole with patterns visible only when the entire cloth is examined, the Decalogue is not merely a collection of laws but an integrated composition whose full meaning emerges only when its structure is recognized.

The resulting arrangement creates a table or matrix—what we might call a "Torah weave" rather than a linear text. This understanding transforms our approach to the text, inviting us to look for patterns and connections that transcend simple sequential reading.

The weaving metaphor is particularly apt given the cultural significance of weaving in the ancient Near East. Weaving was not merely a practical craft but a metaphor for creation itself. In many ancient cosmologies, including those that influenced Israelite thought, the cosmos was described as a divine weaving. By structuring the Decalogue as a weave, the text embodies this creation metaphor at the very heart of Israelite law.

Just as Elohim's creative activity is described as speaking the world into existence over six days, creating a "woven" reality with both horizontal (chronological) and vertical (thematic) threads, the Decalogue can be understood as a textual manifestation of this same divine creative patterning. If Elohim wove the world through speech, then the text of the Decalogue demonstrates how divine speech itself is woven.

The Division into Ten Words

We now begin to investigate the question of how the divine speech should be divided into ten parts. Over the millennia, two major "schools" have been proposed based on whether the two laws that prohibit coveting should be considered one or two Words. One school is Jewish, and the other is Catholic. The Catholic division derives from St. Augustine and reads the coveting prohibitions as two Words, while Jewish sources combine them into one Word (as does Protestantism).

There is, however, another surprising source of division into ten, which may be the oldest. The Torah scrolls used in synagogues divide the text into paragraph-like divisions throughout. There are two kinds of divisions: major and minor. An "open" or major paragraph division begins on a new line, while a "closed" or minor paragraph division begins nine letter spaces after the preceding paragraph, on the same line.

When we examine the divisions in the Torah scroll, we find they separate the Decalogue into exactly ten parts, following a pattern similar to the Catholic division but with an additional flourish: there is a major paragraph break before the third Word, "Remember the Sabbath."

The Full Text of the Decalogue

Before proceeding with the analysis of the structure, let us present the full text of the Decalogue as it appears in Exodus, with the divine names preserved as they appear in the Hebrew text:

1. I am YHWH thy Elohim, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
2. Thou shalt have no other elohim before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I YHWH thy Elohim am a jealous El, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy Elohim in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto YHWH thy Elohim, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore YHWH blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which YHWH thy Elohim giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not murder.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

This familiar division, while useful for reference, does not reflect the original organization of the text on the two tablets. As we will see, the arrangement in five consecutive pairs reveals a sophisticated structure that has significant theological implications.

The Five-Pair Arrangement

When we examine the Decalogue according to these divisions and arrange it in five pairs, a remarkable pattern emerges:

Pair	Tablet 1	Tablet 2
Pair 1	A: "I am YHWH thy Elohim..."	B: "Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy Elohim in vain..."
Pair 2	A: "Remember the Sabbath day..."	B: "Honor thy father and mother..."
Pair 3	A: "Thou shalt not murder."	B: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
Pair 4	A: "Thou shalt not steal."	B: "Thou shalt not bear false witness..."
Pair 5	A: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house."	B: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife..."

This arrangement reveals that each pair shares a common subject, creating a hierarchical progression:

1. Pair 1: YHWH and His name
2. Pair 2: Sacred times and relationships
3. Pair 3: Human life and its continuation
4. Pair 4: Property and reputation
5. Pair 5: Human desire and will

This hierarchy progresses from the most transcendent (YHWH) to the most immanent (subjective human desire). The central pair (3) focuses on physical human life, serving as the interface between the divine realm (pairs 1-2) and the human realm (pairs 4-5).

The Hierarchical Flow of the Pairs

The five consecutive pairs of Words form an articulate composition that creates a hierarchy when examined closely:

Pair A: "I am," the Name

The subject of pair A is YHWH, divided between YHWH's first-person revelation of who he is, his nature, (1A) and his name (2A). Although (2A) shifts from YHWH speaking in the first person in (1A) to referring to him in the third person, the deity remains the subject.

Pair B: Remember, Honor

These are the only two positive commands in the Decalogue, and they both state reasons to observe the commands which refer to YHWH. Another common element appears within these quotations; they both contain "days." While YHWH is connected to pair (B), he is not at the center of the stage, as he is in (A).

Pair C: Murder, Adultery

YHWH does not appear at all in pair C; it is completely about people. Both commandments concern capital crimes associated with the human body, defining the boundaries of human life from conception to death.

Pair D: Stealing, False Witness

This pair concerns forms of dishonesty, whether regarding material possessions (1D) or reputation (2D). Both relate to things associated with people, property and reputation, which can be included under "possessions."

Pair E: Coveting House, Coveting Possessions

The final pair distinguishes between coveting intrinsic identity (one's "house" or lineage) and coveting transferable possessions.

The structure displays "visual rhetoric" where the hierarchy flows from the divine (A) to the human (E), creating a complete spectrum from the most transcendent to the most immanent aspects of existence.

The Bidirectional Reading

One of the most intriguing aspects of this five-pair arrangement is that it allows for bidirectional reading. The text can be read either from top to bottom (from divine to human) or from bottom to top (from human to divine).

Reading from top to bottom, we trace the movement from divine sovereignty (pair 1) through divine-human relationship (pair 2), to the sanctity of human life (pair 3), to human interactions (pair 4), and finally to the innermost realm of human desire (pair 5). This reading emphasizes the divine origin of law and its application to increasingly personal dimensions of human experience.

However, the text also permits a bottom-up reading. This direction begins with human desire (pair 5), which leads to actions toward others (pair 4), which in turn affect human life (pair 3), which is sanctified through proper relationship with time and authority (pair 2), ultimately connecting to YHWH (pair 1). This reading emphasizes how human actions and intentions ultimately affect one's relationship with the divine.

This bidirectionality reveals a profound insight into the divine-human relationship: YHWH's influence flows downward to humanity, while human actions and intentions flow upward toward the deity. The two directions create a complete circuit of relationship, reflected in the structure of the text itself.

The Concentric Symmetry of the Pairs

The structure also exhibits a remarkable concentric symmetry around the central pair (C):

• The extremities, pairs A and E, share a similarity: both describe emotive beings. In A, YHWH describes himself as a "jealous Elohim," while in E people are commanded to restrain their passions, "you shall not covet."
• The adjacent pairs, B and D, both involve actions that are expressions of will (divine will in B, human will in D).
• The whole structure pivots around pair C, which concerns the sanctity of human life.

This concentric reading can be understood as:

• Pair A: Divine subject
• Pair B: Expression of divine will
• Pair C: Physical human life
• Pair D: Expression of human will
• Pair E: Human subject

The concentric and hierarchical readings exist simultaneously, creating multiple layers of meaning that cannot be accessed through linear reading alone.

Divine Dyads: The Meaning of the Two Tablets

The distinction between the two tablets reveals a fundamental dyad that pervades both the Decalogue and the created order. By examining which commandments appear on each tablet, we can identify a consistent pattern:

Tablet 1 (Odd-numbered commandments):

• Focus on the individual's relationship with the deity and others
• Concern with intrinsic aspects of reality
• Emphasize unity and separation

Tablet 2 (Even-numbered commandments):

• Focus on social institutions and communal relationships
• Concern with extrinsic aspects of reality
• Emphasize multiplicity and connection

This dyad of "individual and community" or "intrinsic and extrinsic" parallels other divine dyads in the Torah, particularly the distinction between the two three-day cycles of creation:

• Days 1-3: Creation of singular, named, separated entities
• Days 4-6: Creation of multiple, unnamed, connected entities

Similarly, the two named trees in Eden (Life and Knowledge) reflect this same dyad: the Tree of Life affected only the individual eater (intrinsic), while the Tree of Knowledge created social awareness and connection (extrinsic).

The connection between the tablets and the trees is reinforced by the appearance of cherubim guarding both. The cherubim were attached to the cover of the ark containing the tablets, described with their wings outspread as "covering" or "protecting" the Ark (Exodus 25:20). Similarly, cherubim were placed outside the Garden of Eden to "protect" or "guard" it (Genesis 3:24). This parallel, along with the presence of the divine voice in both locations, suggests a deep connection between the two tablets and the two trees.

The function of the tree of life is to maintain the life of the person who eats from it: "And YHWH Elohim said: 'Behold, HaAdam is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever...'" The effects of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and bad can be observed via the change that took place within the people who ate from it. Before eating from the tree, they were naked, but they were not ashamed. After eating, they were ashamed and covered themselves with fig leaves.

One of the differences between the two trees is the tree of life has a purely personal existential effect (life), while the tree of knowledge of good and bad has a social effect, on relationships. This distinction parallels the difference between Tablet 1, focused on the individual, and Tablet 2, focused on relationships.

Tablet 1: The Individual

When we examine the composition on Tablet 1, we find it presents a five-part image of an integrated individual:

• Word 1A: YHWH as divine source
• Word 1B: The human spirit (sabbath observance as spiritual act)
• Word 1C: The physical body (prohibition of murder protects physical life)
• Word 1D: Property (possessions as extension of the individual)
• Word 1E: Identity/clan (house/lineage as defining identity)

These five elements form a nested structure, with each element "containing" the previous one, moving from the innermost divine source to the outermost social identity. The divine (1A) is "wrapped" in four garments: human spirit (1B), physical body (1C), property (1D), and clan identity (1E).

If we continue the imagery of nesting, we should see 1A as nested in 1B and 1E as providing a nest for 1D. It is hard to argue against the imagery of the "house," 1E, being a nest! But still, we should look at the specifics. If 1D is a protective garment shielding the bare individual in 1C, then the clan, or family in 1E must be a super garment, for it protects and even engulfs everything pertaining to the propertied individual in 1D.

The full series is: the holy deity is the source (1A); the deity's holiness nests in the human spirit (1B), which nests in a body (1C), which nests in property (1D), which nests within the clan (1E). The rule is each element in the series after 1A is a garment, or nest, for the previous element.

Tablet 2: Relationships

Tablet 2 presents five types of relationships arranged hierarchically according to their strength and durability:

• Word 2A: Divine name and its bearer (inseparable connection)
• Word 2B: Parents and children (blood relationship)
• Word 2C: Husband and wife (marriage connection)
• Word 2D: Witnesses in court (circumstantial connection)
• Word 2E: Owner and possessions (transferable connection)

This arrangement presents a social vision, showing how these relationships build upon one another from the most foundational (property rights) to the most elevated (knowledge of the divine name).

The five Words on tablet 2 are ordered according to the strength of connections, from the strongest (divine name) to the weakest (ownership). This creates a potential reading as a series of social dependencies:

• Knowledge of the Divine Name (2A)
• Depends on Familial Piety/Social Stability (2B)
• Depends on Marriage (2C)
• Depends on Law (2D)
• Depends on Property Rights (2E)

The Words 2B, 2C, and 2D are based on interpersonal relationships: parents and children in 2B, husband and wife in 2C, and colluding witnesses in 2D (witnessing was done in pairs or threes). Progressively less-durable connections bind together the three sets of people. Word 2B contains a blood relationship, 2C a connection through marriage, and 2D a connection through circumstance.

By focusing on the social connections in 2B-D, we can integrate 2A and 2E into a five-part social vision. The stability of marriage based on 2C is a precondition for multigenerational stability in 2B. This may indicate we can read tablet 2 from the bottom-up. If we do, we begin with the desire for private property in 2E. This desire in 2E leads to the development of legal institutions in 2D, which leads to the stability of marriages in 2C, which leads to familial devotion; in 2B, with concomitant social stability "that thy days may be long upon the land which YHWH thy Elohim giveth thee." A stable society can devote energy to the pursuit of wisdom, knowledge of the divine name, 2A.

The Paradigm Applied: The Torah's 86 Woven Units

The paradigm established by the Decalogue extends to the entire Torah. Literary analysis reveals that the Torah consists of 86 distinct literary units, all of which exhibit the same tabular structure as the Decalogue.

These units are not defined by the chapter divisions familiar from printed Bibles (which were added in medieval times) but by inherent literary markers within the text itself. Each unit functions as a table or matrix with both horizontal and vertical organizing principles.

The five-part pattern observed in the Decalogue recurs at multiple levels throughout these units. For example, Leviticus 19—often called the "Holiness Code" and containing fragments of many of the Ten Commandments—is itself organized into five pairs of components according to the same pattern as the Decalogue.

This pattern also appears at the macroscopic level. The five books of the Torah themselves follow a similar pattern, with Genesis and Deuteronomy functioning as outer pillars (like pairs 1 and 5 of the Decalogue), Exodus and Numbers as intermediate elements (like pairs 2 and 4), and Leviticus as the central focus (like pair 3).

Even within individual Words of the Decalogue, we find this same pattern. The third Word (Remember the Sabbath) contains a five-part structure that mirrors the larger five-pair arrangement of the Decalogue itself, creating a fractal-like repetition of the pattern at multiple scales.

The entire Torah can also be viewed as a concentric arrangement reflecting the structure of the Israelite encampment in the wilderness. The tabernacle material in Leviticus forms the core, surrounded by complementary tabernacle material in Exodus and Numbers, which is in turn surrounded by historical narrative in the first part of Exodus and latter part of Numbers. This arrangement mirrors the physical layout of the Israelite camp, with the Tabernacle at the center, surrounded by concentric rings of Levites and tribal camps.

Conclusion

The five-pair arrangement of the Decalogue according to the MT division reveals a sophisticated literary structure that serves as a paradigm for the entire Torah. This structure is not merely aesthetic but communicates profound theological and philosophical concepts through its very form.

The Decalogue teaches both content and method—both what to believe and how to read the Torah. Its two-dimensional, tabular format reveals a mode of divine communication that transcends linear human speech, while its bidirectional reading illustrates the reciprocal nature of the divine-human relationship.

The distinction between the two tablets and the two sets of tablets establishes a paradigm for understanding the Torah's dual nature as both exoteric and esoteric text. The fragmentary, linear reading available to all represents the "shattered tablets," while the unified, structural reading available to the initiated represents the "whole tablets" hidden in the Ark.

This analysis invites us to read beyond the linear text into the woven structure of the Torah—to see it not merely as a collection of laws and narratives but as an integrated composition whose full meaning emerges only when its structure is recognized. The Torah is truly a "weave of weaves," with patterns recurring at multiple levels from individual verses to entire books.

The divine speech recorded in the Decalogue is thus not merely different in content from human speech but different in mode—it communicates in multiple dimensions simultaneously. This multi-dimensional quality of divine communication provides a model for understanding how the entire Torah functions as a sacred text, with layers of meaning accessible only to those who grasp its woven structure.

The reader thus becomes a partner in revelation, an ever-flowing spring. Just as Moses and Joshua were the only ones, according to the narrative, to possess the esoteric knowledge of divine writing (having seen the intact tablets), the knowledge of the Torah's woven structure remains available only to those who approach the text with an awareness of its multi-dimensional nature.

Each set of tablets is also associated with a different divine name. The tablets that were to be presented to the people were engraved by Elohim on tablets hewn by Elohim. The preparation of the esoteric, second tablets was a joint venture carried out by Moses and YHWH together. This distinction in divine names provides another clue to understanding the dual nature of the Torah's text—with Elohim associated with the exoteric, universal reading and YHWH with the esoteric, covenant-specific understanding that requires the reader's active participation.