על עשרת הדברות כ״טOn the Decalogue 29
א׳
1[154] Enough on this subject, but also we must not forget that the Ten Covenants are summaries of the special laws which are recorded in the Sacred Books and run through the whole of the legislation.
ב׳
2[155] The first summarizes the laws on God’s monarchical rule. These laws declare that there is one First Cause of the World, one Ruler and King, Who guides the chariot and steers the bark of the universe in safety, and has expelled from the purest part of all that exists, namely heaven, those mischievous forms of government, oligarchy and mob-rule, which arise among the vilest of men, produced by disorder and covetousness.
ג׳
3[156] The second sums up all the enactments made concerning the works of men’s hands. It forbids the making of images or wooden busts and idols in general produced by the baneful craftsmanship of painting and sculpture, and also the acceptance of fabulous legends about the marriages and pedigrees of deities and the numberless and very grave scandals associated with both of these.
ד׳
4[157] Under the third he includes directions as to all the cases where swearing is forbidden and as to the time, place, matters, persons, state of soul and body which justify the taking of an oath, and all pronouncements concerning those who swear truthfully or the reverse.