<P> Richard Elliott Friedman argues that the Ten Commandments at Exodus 20: 1--17 "does not appear to belong to any of the major sources . It is likely to be an independent document, which was inserted here by the Redactor ." In his view, the Covenant Code follows that version of the Ten Commandments in the northern Israel E narrative . In the J narrative in Exodus 34 the editor of the combined story known as the Redactor (or RJE), adds in an explanation that these are a replacement for the earlier tablets which were shattered . "In the combined JE text, it would be awkward to picture God just commanding Moses to make some tablets, as if there were no history to this matter, so RJE adds the explanation that these are a replacement for the earlier tablets that were shattered ." </P> <P> He writes that Exodus 34: 14--26 is the J text of the Ten Commandments: "The first two commandments and the sabbath commandment have parallels in the other versions of the Ten Commandments . (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5)....The other seven commandments here are completely different ." He suggests that differences in the J and E versions of the Ten Commandments story are a result of power struggles in the priesthood . The writer has Moses smash the tablets "because this raised doubts about the Judah's central religious shrine". </P> <P> According to Kaufmann, the Decalogue and the book of the covenant represent two ways of manifesting God's presence in Israel: the Ten Commandments taking the archaic and material form of stone tablets kept in the ark of the covenant, while the book of the covenant took oral form to be recited to the people . </P> <P> European Protestants replaced some visual art in their churches with plaques of the Ten Commandments after the Reformation . In England, such "Decalogue boards" also represented the English monarch's emphasis on rule of royal law within the churches . The United States Constitution forbids establishment of religion by law; however images of Moses holding the tablets of the Decalogue, along other religious figures including Solomon, Confucius, and Mohamed holding the Qur'an, are sculpted on the north and south friezes of the pediment of the Supreme Court building in Washington . Images of the Ten Commandments have long been contested symbols for the relationship of religion to national law . </P>

What are the first two of the ten commandments