<P> The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Hebrew Bible, in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy . Modern scholarship has found likely influences in Hittite and Mesopotamian laws and treaties, but is divided over exactly when the Ten Commandments were written and who wrote them . </P> <P> In biblical Hebrew, the Ten Commandments are called עשרת הדברים ‬ (transliterated aseret ha - d'varîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות ‬ (transliterated aseret ha - dibrot), both translatable as "the ten words", "the ten sayings", or "the ten matters". The Tyndale and Coverdale English translations used "ten verses". The Geneva Bible used "tenne commandements", which was followed by the Bishops' Bible and the Authorized Version (the "King James" version) as "ten commandments". Most major English versions use "commandments ." </P> <P> The English name "Decalogue" is derived from Greek δεκάλογος, dekalogos, the latter meaning and referring to the Greek translation (in accusative) δέκα λόγους, deka logous, "ten words", found in the Septuagint (or LXX) at Exodus 34: 28 and Deuteronomy 10: 4 . </P> <P> The stone tablets, as opposed to the commandments inscribed on them, are called לוחות הברית ‬, Lukhot HaBrit, meaning "the tablets of the covenant". </P>

Where can the ten commandments be found in the bible