10 Commandments

The "10 Commandments" map to the 13 tribes. The map is possible when the opening thought for the commandments is given to the first tribe and the commandments with a double "thou shalt not" (2 & 10) are shared. The following table explores.

Tribe Commandment
Judah Opening
2"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Exodus 20:2 (Exodus 20:2 NIV)
6"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 5:6 NIV)
Reuben 1
3"You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 (Exodus 20:3 NIV)
7"You shall have no other gods before me. (Deuteronomy 5:7 NIV)
Gad 2
4"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Exodus 20:4-6 (Exodus 20:4 NIV)
8"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Deuteronomy 5:8 NIV)
Asher 2
5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6 NIV)
9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:9-10 NIV)
Naphtali 3
7"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Exodus 20:7 (Exodus 20:7 NIV)
11"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Deuteronomy 5:11 NIV)
Manasseh 4
8"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11 (Exodus 20:8-11 NIV)
12"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12-15 NIV)
Simeon 5
12"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12 (Exodus 20:12 NIV)
16"Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16 NIV)
Levi 6
13"You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13 (Exodus 20:13 NIV)
17"You shall not murder. (Deuteronomy 5:17 NIV)
Issachar 7
14"You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14 (Exodus 20:14 NIV)
18"You shall not commit adultery. (Deuteronomy 5:18 NIV)
Zebulun 8
15"You shall not steal. Exodus 20:15 (Exodus 20:15 NIV)
19"You shall not steal. (Deuteronomy 5:19 NIV)
Joseph 9
16"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16 (Exodus 20:16 NIV)
20"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Deuteronomy 5:20 NIV)
Benjamin 10
17"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17 (Exodus 20:17 NIV)
21"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Deuteronomy 5:21 NIV)
Dan 10
17"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17 (Exodus 20:17 NIV)
21"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Deuteronomy 5:21 NIV)

Notes

Judah as the opening thought needs more study.

Reuben needs more study.

Gad and Asher share the second commandment about abstaining from idols. The command has a double "thou shalt not" so it's a natural command to split across two tribes. Gad and Asher are brothers, born to Zilpah. Gad is a raider whose tendency is to seek treasure, like gold and silver. He's told not to make idols, presumably of gold and silver. Asher's feet would be bathed in oil, as per Deuteronomy 33, and he's not to bow to idols (as in bow to their feet). So this commandment is a good fit with these two tribes.

Naphtali is the tribe with "goodly words" as per Jacob's blessing in Genesis 49. The German language is a manifestation of this design in modern times. Here he's told not to misuse God's name. In other words, don't misuse language in general, but especially God's name.

Manasseh lands on the command to keep the Sabbath, which is six days of work and one of rest. Manasseh is tribe number six so this seems to confirm the general map. Manasseh is also the double portion holder, so he gets more text here than the other tribes.

Simeon made a mistake when he didn't obey his father Jacob and attacked Shechem, putting everyone to the sword. Here Simeon is reminded to honor his parents (where "honor" probably means obey).

Levi was not to be counted in the army because he was not to go to war. In modern times we see that Levi is neutral, as Switzerland, but even here, in the 10 commandments, he's told not to kill. A good match.

Issachar is not to commit adultery, but where adultery means breaking a contract or being unfaithful, even in business. Issachar's holiday is Tabernacles, which is really a trade fair, or more specifically, a time for "supporting the growth of contracts" in business when you look at the letter by letter spelling of tabernacles. It is wrong to be unfaithful to one's spouse, and that may be part of what's in view in this command, but it likely has this wider application in mind given the way it maps to Issachar.

Zebulun is not to steal. Elsewhere in the tribal grid Zebulun maps to Jephthah, the guy who hangs out with thieves. Also Zebulun aligns with the prerequisite for elders that says not to be into "filthy profit." The verbiage is odd, but given the grid we can postulate what's really being said is elders must not be people who make money by robbery.

Joseph is not to give false testimony against his neighbor. In that Joseph is two tribes in one, and Ephraim is a "community of nations," this command seems to play to community directly when it says "neighbor." Joseph also must confess the sins of the nation on the head of the atonement scapegoat, so this theme of speaking for the whole community or neighbors in court or before a judge is a good fit.

Benjamin and Dan are told not to covet, but it's difficult to say what exactly each tends to covet because the two "thou shalt nots" are reversed in Deuteronomy (or Exodus).

In general I would think Benjamin is not to covet his neighbor's wife. The reason being, Benjamin is the one tribe not rightly married, in that modern Israel is the one nation in the whole set without a Christian history. Israel, or the Jews more broadly, have yet to acknowledge Jesus as a group, as a tribe. Whereas their neighbors, Joseph and the other tribes, have all wedded to Jesus to some degree in history and display a Christian tradition (aside from how riddled with problems such traditions are and how much idolatry is present within). I think of the end of Judges, where the Benjamites rape the Ephraimite's concubine as an example in scripture where Benjamin needs to be reminded not to covet his neighbor's wife.

Dan, on the other hand, should not covet his neighbor's land, because Dan of all tribes had the most difficulty taking land.