'Commandment' in the Bible

Then all the congregation of the children of Israel moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

There I will meet with you; from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, I will speak [intimately] with you regarding every commandment that I will give you for the Israelites.

Afterward all the Israelites approached him, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had said to him on Mount Sinai.

even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward throughout your generations,

Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; [the responsibility for] his wickedness and guilt will be upon him.’”

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them,

“Yet you were not willing to go up [to take possession of it], but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.

So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.

It will be [considered] righteousness for us [that is, right standing with God] if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God—just as He has commanded us.

And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you did not believe and rely on Him, nor did you obey His voice.

For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to hold tightly to Him—

so that his heart will not be lifted up above his countrymen [by a false sense of self-importance and self-reliance] and that he will not turn away (deviate) from the commandment, to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may continue [to reign] for a long time in his kingdom in Israel.

“For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.

Any man who rebels against your command and does not obey everything that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.”

Only be very careful and diligently observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord has commanded you to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul [your very life].”

If you will fear the Lord [with awe and profound reverence] and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against His commandment, then both you and your king will follow the Lord your God [and it will be well].

But if you do not listen to the Lord’s voice, but rebel against His command, then the hand of the Lord will be against you [to punish you], as it was against your fathers.

Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for [if you had obeyed] the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

To this day they act in accordance with their former [pagan] customs: they do not [really] fear the Lord, nor do they obey their statutes and ordinances, nor the law, nor the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons (descendants) of Jacob, whom He named Israel;

The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you [by the hand of Moses], you shall observe and do forever. You shall not fear (worship, serve) other gods.

And he commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers [to inquire of and for Him and seek Him as a vital necessity], and to observe the law [given to Moses] and the commandment.

Whenever any dispute comes to you from your brothers (relatives) who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, or between statutes and judgments, you are to warn [and instruct] them so that they may not be guilty before the Lord; otherwise [God’s] wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this and you will not be guilty.

Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, in accordance with the command of David [his ancestor] and of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets.

Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do that which the king and the officials had commanded by the word of the Lord.

had prepared for Tobiah a large room (chamber) where previously they had put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and [olive] oil which were given by commandment for the Levites, the singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

In each and every province that the decree and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;I have kept the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart;The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

I have seen that all [human] perfection has its limits [no matter how grand and perfect and noble];Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity].

He sends His command to the earth;His word runs very swiftly.

My son, be guided by your father’s [God-given] commandment (instruction)And do not reject the teaching of your mother;

For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching [of the law] is light,And reproofs (rebukes) for discipline are the way of life,

Whoever despises the word and counsel [of God] brings destruction upon himself,But he who [reverently] fears and respects the commandment [of God] will be rewarded.

He who keeps and obeys the commandment [of the Lord] keeps (guards) his own life,But he who is careless of his ways and conduct will die.

Then the Lord said,“Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their wordsAnd honors Me [only] with their lip service,But they remove their hearts far from Me,And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],

“The Lord is righteous and just;For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).Hear now, all you peoples,And look at my pain;My virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.

Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

So you are to know and understand that from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Messiah (the Anointed One), the Prince, there will be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [of years]; it will be built again, with [a city] plaza and moat, even in times of trouble.

The Lord has given a command concerning you [O king of Nineveh]:“Your name will no longer be perpetuated.I will cut off the carved idols and cast imagesFrom the temple of your gods;I will prepare your grave,For you are vile and unworthy.”

“Now, O priests, this commandment is for you.

He replied to them, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]?

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

This is the first and greatest commandment.

You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.”

He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations.

Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?”

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’

This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Then they went back and prepared spices and ointments and sweet-smelling herbs.And on the Sabbath they rested in accordance with the commandment [forbidding work].

I know that His commandment is eternal life. So the things I speak, I speak [in accordance with His exact instruction,] just as the Father has told Me.”

I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.

“This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you.

But sin, finding an opportunity through the commandment [to express itself] produced in me every kind of coveting and selfish desire. For without the Law sin is dead [the recognition of sin is inactive].

I was once alive without [knowledge of] the Law; but when the commandment came [and I understood its meaning], sin became alive and I died [since the Law sentenced me to death].

For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, beguiled and completely deceived me, and using it as a weapon killed me [separating me from God].

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did that which is good [the Law], then become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, in order that it might be revealed as sin, was producing death in me by [using] this good thing [as a weapon], so that through the commandment sin would become exceedingly sinful.

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and any other commandment are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Honor [esteem, value as precious] your father and your mother [and be respectful to them]—this is the first commandment with a promise—

For it would have been better for them not to have [personally] known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to have turned back from the holy commandment [verbally] handed on to them.

that you should remember the words spoken in the past [about the future] by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles [His personally chosen representatives].

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message which you have heard [before from us].

On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true and realized in Christ and in you, because the darkness [of moral blindness] is clearing away and the true Light [the revelation of God in Christ] is already shining.

And this is love: that we walk in accordance with His commandments and are guided continually by His precepts. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should [always] walk in love.