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There are three emphatic portions of this structure. Lists normally do not have a preferential order unless the Bible tells us differently. In this case, the two elements with substructures serve as ones that give that precedence because it makes those two commandments much longer.
1) The first emphatic portion is the OPENING SUMMARY in verse 2, reminding us that it was the Lord God that spoke these words.
2) The second commandment is an AMPLIFICATION as it builds on why idol were not to be formed in the chiasm substructure. The SUBSTRUCTURE SUMMARY shows His passion: You shall not worship idols or any other likeness, the CENTER POINT looks with lovingkindness upon the past sins, and the FIRST/LAST emphasis is an IMPERATIVE command for obedience to what He, the Lord God, instructs. Have no idols.
3) The fourth commandment also is an AMPLIFICATION as it explains why the sabbath is to be kept holy in the parallel symmetry substructure. The two b elements add meaning to the a elements: for His rest is greater than the work. The work is temporal but the seventh day is everlasting. The CENTER POINT in verse 10A describes that work. The SUBSTRUCTURE SUMMARY emphasizes that the sabbath is holy and to be kept holy.
LIST:
... The Decalogue (better known as the Ten Commandments) ...
a divine oracle
BEGINNING MARKER: Then God spoke all these words, saying, (v1)
OPENING SUMMARY: I am the Lord your God
SUM
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (v2)
no other gods
1
“You shall have no other gods before Me. (v3)
no idols
2
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. (v4)
SUBSTRUCTURE SUMMARY: say NO! to idols
sum
“You shall not worship them or serve them; (v5A)
the Lord covets our worship of Him
a
for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, (v5B)
sees their iniquities
b
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, (v5C)
shows lovingkindness
b′
but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me (v6A)
IMPERATIVE: obey My words
a′
and keep My commandments. (v6B)
the Lord′s name
3
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (v7)
the sabbath day
4
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (v8)
work for six days
a
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (v9)
rest on seventh day
b
but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; (v10A)
do not do the work of this world
x
in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. (v10B)
six days
a′
“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, (v11A)
seven days
b′
and rested on the seventh day; (v11B)
SUBSTRUCTURE SUMMARY: seventh day is holy
sum
therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (v11C)
father and mother
5
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. (v12)
murder
6
“You shall not murder. (v13)
adultery
7
“You shall not commit adultery. (v14)
steal
8
“You shall not steal. (v15)
false witness
9
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (v16)
coveting
10
“You shall not covet your neighbor′s house; you shall not covet your neighbor′s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (v17)