Moses was merely rehearsing God’s commandment in the way of a reminder. The Ten Words also appear elsewhere in still other variations, for they were often quoted or cited along with other instructions by Bible writers of both the Hebrew and Christian Greek Scriptures.—Ex. 31:14; 34:14, 17, 21; Lev. 19:3, 11, 12; Deut. 4:15-19; 6:14, 15; Matt. 5:27; 15:4; Luke 18:20; Rom. 13:9; Eph. 6:2, 3.

The Ten Words were God-given, hence comprise a perfect law code. When a man, “versed in the Law” asked Jesus Christ, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”, Jesus quoted a command that, in effect, epitomized the first four (or possibly five) of the Ten Commandments, saying: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” The rest of the Decalogue Jesus then summed up in the few words of another command: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”—Matt. 22:35-40; Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18.

CHRISTIANS NOT UNDER DECALOGUE

Jesus was born under the Law, and kept it perfectly, finally giving up his life as a ransom for mankind. (Gal. 4:4; 1 John 2:2) Furthermore, by his death on the torture stake, he freed those under the Law (including the basic Ten Words or Commandments) “by becoming a curse instead” of them. His death provided for the ‘blotting out of the handwritten document,’ it being nailed to the torture stake.—Gal. 3:13; Col. 2:13, 14.

Nevertheless, a study of the Law with its Ten Words is essential for Christians, for it reveals God’s viewpoint of matters, and it had “a shadow of the good things to come,” of the reality that belongs to the Christ. (Heb. 10:1; Col. 2:17; Gal. 6:2) Christians are “not without law toward God but under law toward Christ.” (1 Cor. 9:21) But they are not condemned as sinners by that law, for the undeserved kindness of God through Christ provides forgiveness for their errors due to fleshly weakness.—Rom. 3:23, 24.

TERAH

(Teʹrah) [ibex].

1. Abraham’s father, the eighth generation from Shem. (Luke 3:34; Gen. 11:10-24; 1 Chron. 1:24-26) Terah, through his sons Abraham, Nahor and Haran, became a forefather of numerous tribes. (Gen. 11:27; 22:20-24; 25:1-4, 13-15; 1 Chron. 1:28-42; 2:1, 2) Terah began having children at seventy. While Abraham is listed first, this appears to be because he is the most famous of Terah’s sons rather than the firstborn. When Terah died at 205, Abraham was only seventy-five, so Terah must have been 130 when Abraham was born. (Gen. 11:26, 32; 12:4) Sarah was Abraham’s half sister, likely a daughter of Terah by a different wife. (Gen. 20:12) Terah’s firstborn was most likely Haran, whose daughter was old enough to marry Terah’s other son Nahor.—Gen. 11:29.

Terah lived in Ur of the Chaldeans and there his family grew up. (Gen. 11:28) According to Joshua 24:2, Terah at one time worshiped gods other than Jehovah, perhaps the moon-god Sin, the favored deity of Ur. Nonetheless, when Jehovah called Abraham to leave Ur, Terah as family head went along to Haran where they all lived until after his death about 1943 B.C.E.—Gen. 11:31, 32; Acts 7:2-4.

2. One of the campsites during Israel’s wilderness wandering; its location is unknown.—Num. 33:27, 28.

TERAPHIM

Family gods or idols. (Gen. 31:30, 34) Although in the plural, the designation “teraphim” can also apply to a single idol. At least some of these idols may have been the size and shape of a man. (1 Sam. 19:13, 16) Others must have been much smaller, able to fit inside a woman’s saddle basket. (Gen. 31:34) The teraphim were, on occasion, consulted for omens.—Ezek. 21:21; Zech. 10:2.

The findings of archaeologists in Mesopotamia and adjacent areas indicate that the possession of the teraphim images had a bearing as to who would receive the family inheritance. According to one tablet found at Nuzi, the possession of the household gods entitled a son-in-law to appear in court and claim the estate of his deceased father-in-law. Perhaps Rachel, with this in mind, reasoned that she was justified in taking the teraphim because of her father’s deceptive dealings with her husband Jacob. (Compare Genesis 31:14-16.) The importance of the teraphim with respect to inheritance rights would also explain why Laban was so anxious to recover them, even to the point of pursuing Jacob in company with others for a distance of seven days’ journey. (Gen. 31:19-30) Of course, what Rachel had done was completely unknown to Jacob (Gen. 31:32), and there is no indication that he ever attempted to use the teraphim to gain the inheritance from Laban’s sons. Jacob had nothing to do with idols. At the latest, the teraphim would have been disposed of when Jacob hid all the foreign gods turned over to him by his household under the big tree that was close by Shechem.—Gen. 35:1-4.

In Israel the idolatrous use of teraphim existed in the days of the judges as well as the kings. (Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17, 20; Hos. 3:4) It is not likely, though, that the teraphim served for purposes of inheritance in Israel, in view of God’s express command against the making of images. (Ex. 20:4) Also, the prophet Samuel spoke of teraphim in parallel with uncanny power, comparing the use of both to pushing ahead presumptuously (1 Sam. 15:23), and the teraphim were among the appendages of idolatry cleared out of Judah and Jerusalem by faithful King Josiah. (2 Ki. 23:24) Hence, the fact that Michal, the wife of David, had a teraphim image among her possessions suggests that her heart was not complete with Jehovah and that David either did not know about her having the teraphim image or else he tolerated it because she was the daughter of King Saul.—1 Sam. 19:12, 13.

TERESH

(Teʹresh) [possibly, desire].

One of two doorkeepers in the Persian palace who conspired against King Ahasuerus. Upon learning of the plot, Mordecai informed Queen Esther who, in turn, revealed it to the king. Teresh and his accomplice were hanged on a stake, and the incident was entered in the royal records.—Esther 2:21-23; 6:1, 2.

TERTIUS

(Terʹtius) [third].

The writer or transcriber of Paul’s letter to the Romans, and the only one of Paul’s “secretaries” identified by name. Tertius inserts his own personal greetings to the Romans.—Rom. 16:22.

TERTULLUS

(Terʹtul·lus) [from Tertius, third].

A public speaker who presented the Jews’ case against Paul before Governor Felix in Caesarea. Of what Luke recorded, much of Tertullus’ statement personally praises Felix, with only a very brief accusation against Paul, attempting to implicate him with the frequent seditions against Rome. (Acts 24:1-8) Nothing definite is known as to Tertullus’ nationality, whether Jewish or Roman.

TESTICLES

God’s law to Israel barred from the priesthood a man having his testicles broken, as one of several disqualifying physical defects. (Lev. 21:17-21, 23) This high standard for the priesthood was in harmony with the holiness of the office of the priests as representatives of Jehovah’s holiness before Israel. It likewise accords with the fact that Israel’s priesthood symbolized the heavenly priesthood of Christ and his congregation of underpriests, among whom there is found no blemish. (Heb. 7:26; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 14:1, 5; 20:6) Furthermore, God wanted priests who could have children to succeed them. The Law provided, however, that such a defective person could eat of the holy things provided for the sustenance of the priesthood.—Lev. 21:21, 22.

For similar reasons an animal having its testicles squeezed, crushed, cut off or pulled off could not be