Many of the Jewish sages taught that the greatest of all the mitzvot (commandments) is the very first commandment, "I am the LORD your God" (Ex. 20:2a).

The second of the ten mitzvot (commandments) is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Why does Adonai command us not to have other gods before Him? Well, first because He is a "jealous God" (see Ex.
34:14; Deut. 4:24), which suggests that He watches us lovingly and closely, like a faithful and passionate bridegroom watches over his betrothed.

Many of the Jewish sages taught that the word translated "Name" (shem) powerfully refers to the character or reputation of the one who bears it. The revealed name of the LORD Adonai thus can be understood as the invocation for the very presence of God Himself.

We should never invoke Adonai's name in a thoughtless, careless manner (for this reason, Orthodox Jews never pronounce the literal name, but substitute the word "Adonai" or "HaShem" instead).

The word translated "remember" (zakhor) means more than merely recalling something past, but suggests actively focusing the mind upon something in the present. But what are we to "remember"?

In Genesis 2:3 we are told that Adonai rested from His creative activity and set apart the seventh day as the memorial of the work of His hands. Adonai called the seventh day "holy" (kadosh), which means set apart as sacred, as exalted, as honored.

The fifth mitzvah marks a transition from the first four (which have to do with our vertical relationship with Adonai) to the following five (which have to do with our horizontal relationship with others). In this pivotal commandment, the word translated "honor" (kabed) derives from a root word meaning "weighty," in terms of impressiveness or importance. The same word is also used to refer to our heartfelt attitude toward Adonai.

Adonai intended that the mishpakhah (family) would picture His relationship with us. Just as Adonai created both man and woman in His image (Gen. 1:27), so children are to regard their parents as divinely ordained and truly significant.

The Jewish sages note that the word retsach applies only to illegal killing (e.g., premeditated murder or manslaughter) - and is never used in the administration of justice or for killing in war. Hence the KJV translation as "thou shalt not kill" is incorrect by being too broad. Since man is made in the image of God, his life is infinitely precious-only God Himself has the right to give and take life. In the Mishnah it is written, "Why was only one man (i.e., Adam) created by God? - to teach that whoever takes a single life destroys thereby a whole world."

Adultery refers to sexual union between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse. The penalty for adultery was severe (see Deut. 22:22, Lev. 20:10).

From the verse, "The … adulterer waits for twilight saying, No eye shall see me" (Job 24:15), the Talmud identifies the adulterer as a practical atheist, since he does not say, “No man shall see me, but no eye - neither the eye of one below nor the eye of Him above.”

The Lord Jesus identified the root condition of adultery as a problem with the heart: "For out of the heart proceed…adulteries." The heart's true affections are evidenced by the use of one's eyes (see Matt. 5:27-28).

Stealing, in the sense of the Hebrew word ganav, refers to both the act of carrying off by stealth that which is not one's own (i.e., theft), but also to the deceptive inner disposition that accompanies the action. And ultimately that deceptive inner disposition is a form of self-deception.

None of us really "owns" anything at all, since God alone is the Creator and Giver of all of life. Stealing arrogantly (and vainly) attempts to seize some "thing" and to claim it for oneself - blindly disregarding the fact that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

The ninth commandment prohibits swearing falsely against your neighbor in matters of law and civil proceedings, but, on a deeper level, it implicitly indicates the responsibility to be a witness of the truth at all times. Note that the Hebrew word for "truth" (emet) is composed from the first, the middle, and the last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, thus indicating that it encompasses the first things, the last things, and everything in between. Thus, in relation to our neighbor (who is really everyone), we are to be truthful and bear witness to the truth in all our moments of life.

The word translated covet usually refers to selfish desire or lust (e.g., "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart..." Prov. 6:25), and thus speaks directly to the heart's innermost intention, which, even if unacknowledged by ourselves, is always revealed before God: "Your Father who sees in secret" (Mt. 6:6). On the other hand, selfish desire can - if we are willing to be honest with ourselves - reveal to ourselves the condition of our hearts and thus mark our need for deliverance from the power of sin. As Sha'ul (Paul) wrote to the kehillah (congregation) in Rome: "I had not known sin ...except the law had said, 'Thou shalt not covet'" (Rom. 7:7).

In Matthew 22:36 we read about an “expert in the Torah” who “tempted” the LORD Jesus by asking this very question: 
“Rabbi, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 (the Shema):

In a sense, this is a restatement of the First Commandment -- and our response to the fact that God loves us and is our God. Ultimately, the love of God is our very first duty.