Abinadi now completes his reading of what he calls “the commandments of God,” or that which we have come to know as the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue. He does not comment on “the commandments” except to say that Noah and his priests have not kept them, nor have they taught them to their people (see Mosiah 12:33-37). That they had “the commandments” available to them is evident by the fact that Abinadi is reading, not quoting them (see verse 11).
“The Commandments of God”
Though the Ten Commandments constitute an excellent standard for nations and peoples, their greater value is found in conjunction with the fulness of the gospel of which they are a part. To isolate the Ten Commandments from the God who gave them and from the spirit of revelation by which they came is to lose much of their strength and purpose. The context in which they were given was that of a covenant between God and a people that had been chosen to become “a peculiar treasure” to the Lord, even “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 5:2-3).