על עשרת הדברות ל״בOn the Decalogue 32
א׳
1[168] The first set having each of them the form of a summary contains these five and no more, while the number of the special laws is considerable. In the other set the first head is that against adultery, under which come many enactments against seducers and pederasty, against dissolute living and indulgence in lawless and licentious forms of intercourse.
ב׳
2[169] The characteristics of these he has described, not to show the multiform varieties which incontinence assumes, but to bring to shame in the most open way those who live a disreputable life by pouring into their ears a flood of reproaches calculated to make them blush.
ג׳
3[170] The second head forbids murder, and under it come the laws, all of them indispensable and of great public utility, about violence, insult, outrage, wounding and mutilation.
ד׳
4[171] The third is that against stealing under which are included the decrees made against defaulting debtors, repudiations of deposits, partnerships which are not true to their name, shameless robberies and in general covetous feelings which urge men openly or secretly to appropriate the possessions of others.
ה׳
5[172] The fourth against bearing false witness embraces many prohibitions. It forbids deceit, false accusation, cooperation with evil-doers and using honesty as a screen for dishonesty, all of which have been the subjects of appropriate laws.
ו׳
6[173] The fifth blocks that fount of injustice, desire, from which flow the most iniquitous actions, public and private, small and great, dealing with things sacred or things profane, affecting bodies and souls and what are called external things. For nothing escapes desire, and as I have said before, like a flame in the forest, it spreads abroad and consumes and destroys everything.
ז׳
7[174] And there are many ordinances which come under this head intended for the admonition of those who are capable of reformation and the punishment of the rebellious who have made a lifelong surrender to passion.