10 C's or 10 P's?

Are the Ten Commandments actually 'commandments'? It doesn't say they are commandments in the Bible. It says in Exod. 20 that God spoke 'words' (not commandments... However, the official Catholic Bible for U.S. liturgies, The New American Bible, slips in the word "commandments" in Ex. 20.1, even though it's not there). These ten statements are called the "Decalogue" ('ten-words') by scholars.

Let me suggest a thought-experiment. These Ten Words were given to the Israelites--they had already been 'redeemed'--set free from oppression. The Ten Words were not given, therefore, in order to be redeemed, but in order to live a redeemed life-style.

So, what if we read them this way: The Lord is saying to his people: You belong to me; you are my possession; you are a special people. Therefore, I promise you that as you live like people belonging to me you will not have other gods before you.... I promise you that as you live like you belong to me you will not make graven images.... I promise you that as you live like you belong to me you shall not manipulate my Name.... I promise you will stop work and remember who you are... you shall honor old people... you shall not murder or steal or break covenant relationships or lie in court or want what your neighbor has.... I promise you that this will be your style of living because you belong to me.

This thought-experiment helps me recover the context of those Ten Words. They are the Words of God to his covenant people, describing how they are to manifest that covenant relationship in their lives. These are not threatening words, they are promising words.

It's just a thought.