If you are a Christian or a Jew, you have heard of the word commandment.  In the Old Testament alone, there are 613 commandments.  Many of them no longer apply because they have to do with sacrificial offerings and activity  required at the Temple.  Since there isn’t a Temple, these commandments are set aside.

You may be surprised to know that there are 1,050 commandments in the New Testament.  But all of these commandments along with those of the Old Testament are covered in the two commandments that Jesus spoke in Matthew 22:34-40

³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, we can say, all God’s commandments are directed toward loving God and loving others.  But what does the word commandment mean?

The word commandment is pronounced ‘mitsvah’ in Hebrew and it looks like this: and it is Strong’s # 4687

It appears 177 times in the Old Testament.

The root word for Commandment is Strong’s #6680 and it looks like this:

This word appears 430 times in the Old Testament.  And it means to give command, to commission, to give charge, to set in order.

One very familiar scripture where we find this word is in * Joshua 1:9:

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Let’s look at the individual letters:

Tzade 90 = Humility. Picture-Fishhook.  Means: Righteousness, to pull toward, Desire, Trouble, Harvest

Vav  6 =  Man.  Means: Nail or Hook, to Secure, Pin together, Connect -Yeshua

Hey  5 = Grace.  Means: Revelation – 5 is the number of Torah, Behold, Give Attention – (at the end of a word: comes from letter before)

Putting all of this together we see that the word Commandment, or command, or commanded, means:

A Commandment is instruction for righteousness (Tzade) that secures you in God (Vav).  A commandment will give you revelation you need to pay attention to and grace to walk it out (Hey).

David loved God commandments and spoke of them often.

Psalm 119:98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me.

Psalm 119:127 Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold!

Psalm 119:151 You are near, O Lord, And all Your commandments are truth.

Psalm 119:172 My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.

May you be blessed as you meditate on His commandments and put them to action in your life.

*If you’d like a full breakdown of the treasure in Joshua 1: Start Here