COMMANDMENTS, 613 (Heb. תַּרְיַ״ג מִצְווֹת, taryag mizwot). The total number of biblical commandments (commandments and prohibitions) is given as 613 in the rabbinic tradition. R. Simlai, a Palestinian teacher, explains: “613 commandments were revealed to Moses at Sinai, 365 are prohibitions corresponding in number to the days of sunshine, and 248 are mandates corresponding in number to the members of the human body” (Mak. 23b). (See Table 613 Submissions.) The number 613, commonly known as the Hebrew mnemonic תַּרְיַ״ג (Ta-RYa-G – ג = 3.10 = י,200 = ר,400 = ת), is already found in tannaitic times in the words of Simeon b. Eleazar (Mekh. Yitro, Ba-Ḥodesh, 5, only in the ed. by I.H. Weiss (1865), 74 [75a]), Simeon b.
Azzai (Sif. Deut 76, where the 365 prohibitions are mentioned), and Eleazar b. Yose the Galileans (Mid. Hag. in Genesis 15:1) and is apparently based on an ancient tradition (see Tanh. B., Deut. 17; Ex. R.
33:7; R. 13:15-16; 18:21; Yev. 47b), which crystallized at the school of R. *Akiva (see A.H. Rabinowitz, Taryag, 38-39). Doubts about the validity of this tradition in the eyes of Talmudic sages have been expressed by *Naḥmanides, Abraham*Ibn Ezra, Simeon b. Zemaḥ*Duran, Shechter and others, but the majority of scholars, including Naḥmanides and Duran, conclude that the tradition actually reflects the opinion of the rabbis of the Talmud. The works listing the commandments are numerous (see Jellinek, Kunteres Taryag, 1878), but the majority of the lists correspond to one of the four methods of enumeration: (1) The first lists, those of the anonymous *azharot, are simply divided into two lists of positive and prohibitive commandments, with little attention paid to internal classification, for example Attah Hinḥalta, Azharat Reshit, Emet Yehegeh Ḥikki.
(2) The triple division into positive offers, prohibitions and parashiyyot, which are found first in the list before the *Halakhot Gedolot of R. Simeon Kayyara and later in almost all enumerations of geonical times. (The basis of this subdivision is in the middle of Ps 119.1 and indirectly in PR 22:111.) The Parashiyyot section lists the commandments in which the public institution, but not the individual, is involved, such as the designation of cities for the Levites, the establishment of the shrine. (3) Classification of tenders in the tenfold headings of the Decalogue. This method of classifying commandments is at least as old as *Philo (decal), is mentioned several times in the Midrash (e.g. Num. R. 13:15/16), and is followed by *Saadiah Gaon, Isaac *Abrabanel, Ma`amar Haskel and many others. (4) Independent logical classification of the two lists of positive offers and prohibitive auctions. This is the method of Maimonides and his school.
In addition, there are many literary curiosities in this field. Elijah Ettinger tried to show that the 613 commandments are contained in the four verses of Moses` prayer (Deuteronomy 3:23-6). Shirah the Ḥayyim (Warsaw, 1817) attempts to insert the 613 commandments into the 613 letters of the song of Ha`azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-43). David Vital`s Keter Torah constructs a poem of 613 lines, each line defining a mitzvah and beginning with the letters of the Decalogue as they appear in the text. A taryag enumeration essentially amounts to a codification of the main elements of biblical law – the 613 headings under which all the details of Torah legislation can be classified. Extracting and identifying these headings from the complex corpus of biblical law is the central problem of the vast literature that has evolved around taryag enumerations. In this literature, the term mitzvah is used in the limited sense of a mandate or prohibition that meets the conditions for admission to the mitzvot members of Taryag. Since the primitive tradition does not specify precise criteria, the problem is immense and no logic system proposed previously is free from criticism.
Although they were preceded by the logical systems of Saadiah Gaon and Ḥefeẓ b. Yaẓli`aḥ, and later criticized by Naḥmanides, the main method of enumerating mitzvot is that defined by *Maimonides in his Sefer ha mitzvot. Maimonides introduced the work with a long treatise in which he established 14 guiding principles for the inclusion or exclusion of a mitzvah in a taryag enumeration. This treatise served as the basis for later literature on the subject, and the divergence of Taryag`s various lists, before and after Maimonides, is due to disagreements over these principles. Taryag lists are in no way limited to halakhic treatment. They range from the fields of ethics (Aaron of Barcelona and Isaiah Hurwitz, among others), homiletics (Aḥai Gaon), philosophy (Moreh Nevukhim) and mysticism (David b. Solomon ibn Abi Zimra). An entire (though incomplete) section of the Zohar, the “Ra`aya Meheimna” (“Faithful Shepherd”), is devoted to Taryag`s enumeration and offers a mystical interpretation of the commandments.
Taryag`s lists also entered the liturgy, during the Geonic period, in the form of Azharot, which are an integral part of the festive prayer book. Moshe ben Maimon was a scholar of the Holy Scriptures in the 12th century. Commonly known as Maimonides or “the Rambam” (pronounced RAHM bahm), he was the first to document the commandments given in the Bible. 1. Know that there is a God. (Exodus 20:2) 2. Having no other gods. (Exodus 20:3) 3. Know that He is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4) 4.
Love him. (Deuteronomy 6:5) 5. Fear it. (Deuteronomy 10:20) 6. Sanctify His name. (Leviticus 22:32) 7. Do not desecrate His name. (Leviticus 22:32) 8. Worship Him as He commanded, and not destroy sacred objects.
(Deuteronomy 12:4) 9. Listen to the true prophet. (Deuteronomy 18:15)10. Do not test the prophet. (Deuteronomy 6:16)11. To imitate his mannerisms. (Deuteronomy 28:9)12. To be with those who only worship Him. (Deuteronomy 10:20)13. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18)14. Loving is converted.
(Deuteronomy 10:19)15. Do not hate your brother in your heart. (Leviticus 19:17)16. To reprimand your brother if necessary. (Leviticus 19:17)17. Do not embarrass others. (Leviticus 19:17)18. Do not remove the weak. (Exodus 22:21)19. Do not be slandered.
(Leviticus 19:16)20. Do not take revenge. (Leviticus 19:18)21. Don`t blame it. (Leviticus 19:18)22. Teach your children the Torah. (Deuteronomy 6:7)23. Respect and submit to the elders. (Leviticus 19:32)24. Do not turn to the ways of idolatry.
(Leviticus 19:4)25. Let the fringes of your clothes remind you to behave purely. (Numbers 15:39)26. Do not blaspheme or curse a judge. (Exodus 22:27).27 Do not worship idols. (Exodus 20:5).28 Do not bow to idols. (Exodus 20:5)29. Do not make an idol. (Exodus 20:4)30. Do not take or throw away a photo. (Leviticus 19:4)31. Do not make gods out of silver or gold.
(Exodus 20:20)32. Do not make a popular idolatry. (Exodus 23:13)33. Destroy a city that has turned to idolatry. (Deuteronomy 13:17)34. Not to rebuild this city. (Deuteronomy 13:17)35. In order not to enjoy this city. (Deuteronomy 13:18)36. Do not proselytize to a person with idolatry. (Deuteronomy 13:12)37.
Not loving the missionary. (Deuteronomy 13:9)38. Don`t stop hating him. (Deuteronomy 13:9)39. Not to save him. (Deuteronomy 13:9)40. Do not speak in his defense. (Deuteronomy 13:9)41.
Do not give up on overwhelming him. (Deuteronomy 13:9)42. Do not prophesy in idolatry. (Deuteronomy 18:20)43. Ignoring the false prophet. (Deuteronomy 13:4).44 Do not prophesy falsely in the name of God. (Deuteronomy 18:20)45. Don`t be afraid to kill a false prophet. (Deuteronomy 18:22)46. Never swear in the name of an idol.
(Exodus 23:13)47. Do not appear or recognize as those who claim to channel minds. (Leviticus 19:31)48. Do not act or consult as a fortune teller. (Leviticus 19:31)49.