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# commandment

«commandment» in Mova's school dictionary: **a rule given by God; the Ten Commandments are rules God…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a commandment, commandments)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (Bible) A commandment is a rule given by God; the Ten Commandments are rules God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, such as "Do not steal" and "Honour your father and your mother". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#m1)

2) (formal) A commandment is any strong rule or order. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In RE and Sunday school children learn the Ten Commandments, carved on two stone tablets; Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself. In everyday jokes people speak of "the eleventh commandment" for a family rule. Phrases: the Ten Commandments, keep the commandments, break a commandment, the greatest commandment.

### examples

- Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x1)
- "You shall not steal" is one of the commandments. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x2)
- Jesus said, "Love one another" was a new commandment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x3)
- Our class made a poster of the Ten Commandments. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x4)
- Mum's eleventh commandment is "Thou shalt not leave wet towels on the floor." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x5)
- Keeping the commandments is hard sometimes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x6)
- The Caliph's commandment fell upon me like a thunderbolt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/#x7)

### note

Countable; plural commandments. Spelling: command + ment (two m's after the co). Old-style "thou shalt" means "you shall". A command is any order; a commandment is usually a solemn, lasting rule.

### In the corpora

- [God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, written on two stone tablets.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/7-the-ten-commandments/5/)
- [The first commandments are about loving God, and the rest about loving other people.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/7-the-ten-commandments/6/)
- [Christians believe God is truthful and wants people to be honest too; one of the Ten Commandments forbids lying about others.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/41-dilemmas-about-truth-and-friendship/15/)
- ["You shall not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:15).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/42-finders-keepers-and-what-belongs-to-whom/6/)
- [Exodus is one of the five books of the Torah, so Jews and Christians share the Ten Commandments.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/42-finders-keepers-and-what-belongs-to-whom/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «commandment» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/commandment/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.