Intertextuality Pair

Luke 18:20 → Exodus 20:12-16

Quotation

Later text

Luke 18:20BSB

You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’”

Earlier text

Exodus 20:12-16BSB

Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square7:54

Significance

Jesus' response to the rich ruler — "You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother'" (Luke 18:20) — directly quotes the second table of the Decalogue from Exodus 20:12-16 (also Deuteronomy 5:16-20). Jesus begins with the command to honor parents and cites the commandments in a slightly different order than Exodus, but the substance is identical. The scene is not a debate about how many commandments are sufficient; it is a diagnostic encounter. The rich ruler's confident claim to have kept all these since youth (18:21) reveals the insufficiency of legal compliance as a path to eternal life. Jesus' subsequent demand — "sell everything" — exposes the idol behind the law-keeping, functioning as a Tenth Commandment test (covetousness). The scene reveals that the law rightly understood exceeds any human ability to fulfill.

Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression + Analogy

▸ The Decalogue

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