See M. L. E. Gautier, _Biographie du général Decaen_ (Caen, 1850). (J. Hl. R.)
DECALOGUE (in patristic Gr. [Greek: hê dekalogos], sc. [Greek: biblos] or [Greek: nomothesia]), another name for the biblical _Ten Commandments_, in Hebrew the _Ten Words_ (Deut. iv. 13, x. 4; Ex. xxxiv. 28), written by God on the two tables of stone (Ex. xxiv. 12, xxxii. 16), the so-called _Tables of the Revelation_ (E.V. "tables of testimony," Ex. xxxiv. 29), or _Tables of the Covenant_ (Deut. ix. 9, 11, 15). These tables were broken by Moses (Ex. xxxii. 19), and two new ones were hewn (xxxiv. 1), and upon them were written the words of the covenant by Moses (xxxiv. 27 sqq.) or, according to another view, by God himself (Deut. iv. 13, ix. 10). They were deposited in the Ark (Ex. xxv. 21; 1 Kings viii. 9). In Deuteronomy the inscription on these tables, which is briefly called the covenant (iv. 13), is expressly identified with the words spoken by Jehovah (Yahweh) out of the midst of the fire at Mt. Sinai or Horeb (according to the Deuteronomic tradition), in the ears of the whole people on the "day of the assembly," and rehearsed in v. 6-21. In the narrative of Exodus the relation of the "ten words" of xxxiv. to the words spoken from Sinai, xx. 2-17, is not so clearly indicated, and it is generally agreed that the Pentateuch presents divergent and irreconcilable views of the Sinaitic covenant.
As regards the Decalogue, as usually understood, and embodied in the parallel passages in Ex. xx. and Deut. v., certain preliminary points of detail have to be noticed. The variations in the parallel texts are partly verbal, partly stylistic (e.g. "Remember the Sabbath day," Ex.; but "observe," &c., Deut.), and partly consist of amplifications or divergent explanations. Thus the reason assigned for the institution of the Sabbath in Exodus is drawn from the creation, and agrees with Gen. ii. 3. In Deuteronomy the command is based on the duty of humanity to servants and the memory of Egyptian bondage. Again, in the tenth commandment, as given in Exodus, "house" means house and household, including the wife and all the particulars which are enumerated in ver. 17. In Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife," comes first, and "house" following in association with field is to be taken in the literal restricted sense, and another verb ("thou shalt not desire") is used.