G-d established rules for the behavior of Man and, at the root of them, are these ten:
The text (in bold); following the text are some comments -
1. "I am Hashem, your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence." (Shemot 20,2)
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (RAMBAN) asks, "Why did Hashem introduce Himself to the Jewish People as the One Who had taken them out of slavery in Egypt. Great as that was, wasn't He also the One Who had done something even greater; namely, created the universe? And RAMBAN answers that while it's true that Hashem had created the universe, there had been no human witnesses present at that event! Whereas, there had been millions of witnesses to the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. And these witnesses were expected to pass that testimony onward from generation to generation, till our day.
The Ten Commandments are written as commands to individuals, so that each individual should know and realize that the Commandments are meant for him, and he cannot say, "let them be fulfilled by others."
Since Hashem had appeared to the Jewish People at the Sea as a warrior, and at Sinai as a Teacher of Torah, and He would appear to them in the time of Shlomo as a young man, and in the time of Daniel as an old man full of mercy - the Holy One Blessed be He said to them, "Although you see different manifestations, you should realize that I Was the One at the Sea, I Am the One here at Sinai, I Am the One at all times - I Am the L-rd your G-d."..[they won't spell out "God" on the internet, but will kill on the Sabbath with "justification"..talk about missing the forest for the trees in the way....]
.. 4. "Remember the Day of Shabbat to sanctify it. Six days shall you work and accomplish all your work; but the seventh day is Shabbat to Hashem, your G-d; you shall not do any work - you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your animal, and your convert within your gates - for in six days Hashem made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, Hashem blessed the Day of Shabbat and sanctified it." (Shemot 20:8-11)..
...6. "You shall not murder!" (Shemot 20:13)
This is one of the three cardinal sins in Judaism, for which an individual is obligated to give up his life. This means that if Person A approaches Person B and says to him, "I will kill you if you do not kill person C," Person B should allow himself to be killed, rather than murder Person C....
..You shall not covet your fellow's house. You shall not covet your fellow's wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your fellow!" (Shemot 20:14)
In the Devarim version of the Utterances, or Commandments, a different verb is used. Here the prohibition is "Lo Tachmod!," "Do not actively desire!" There, in Devarim, the verb is "Lo Titaveh!," "Do not desire in your heart!" For there is a causal chain - if one allows himself to desire someone else's property, etc., that will lead to more active desire, which will lead to stealing, etc., etc.
How is it possible to command someone concerning his or her emotions? First of all, it is possible, as we see from other commands, positive (such as "You shall love your neighbor as yourself!") and negative ("You shall not hate your neighbor in your heart!"). Alternatively, the meaning here is that one should distance the thought of possessing some "thing" "belonging" to someone else so far outside the realm of possibility, that the thought actually recedes from one's imagination...
Source:
http://www.ou.org/chagim/shavuot/aseret.htm
