The text of the Decalogue, as repeated by Moses in the plain of Moab (Deut. v. 6–8), differs from the original (Exod. xx. 2–14). One of the differences, the first word of the fourth commandment—‏זכור‎, “Remember,” in Exodus, and ‏שמור‎, “Observe,” in Deuteronomy—is pointed out in Midrash and Talmud, and also in the hymn for the Eve of Sabbath, beginning, “Come, my friend” (‏לכה דודי‎). Tradition explains the first expression as referring to affirmative commandments, and the second to prohibitions; it further teaches that “both expressions were spoken by God simultaneously;” that is to say, the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy, though different in form, does not imply anything that has not been revealed by God on Mount Sinai. The same applies to all points of difference. Why did Moses introduce the alterations? Ibn Ezra, in his Commentary on the Decalogue, is of opinion that the question need not be asked, or answered if asked, because in the repetition of a Divine message the original words may be changed so long as the sense remains intact. But the addition of the phrase, “as the Lord thy God commandeth thee” in two cases, and the reference to the deliverance from Egyptian servitude, substituted (in Deut.) in the fourth commandment for the reference to the Creation (in Exod.), lead us to think that the changes were not introduced unintentionally or without any purpose. The repeated Decalogue is a portion of an address in which Moses exhorted a new generation in the plains of Moab to obey the Divine Law. It is, therefore, not unlikely that he made additions and alterations for the sake of emphasis, where he noticed a certain laxity among those whom he addressed. Having come in contact with heathen nations and observed their rites in connection with their sacred days, the Israelites may have been inclined to imitate them; they were therefore exhorted to sanctify the Sabbath in the way God commanded; hence also the more emphatic “Observe,” ‏שמור‎.—A similar reason may have caused the addition of the same phrase, “as the Lord, &c.,” to the fifth commandment. The participation of a portion of the Israelites in the licentious feasts of the Moabites and Midianites disturbed the peace of their homes and loosened the sacred family tie. Moses therefore points to the Divine origin of the law commanding obedience to parents, and also emphasises the blessings which it will yield by adding the words, “and in order that it may be well with thee.”—The change of circumstances has also caused another alteration in the fourth commandment. During the forty years which the Israelites were compelled to spend in the wilderness, they almost forgot the condition of their former servitude; the new generation did not know it at all, and they grudged their slaves the one day of rest in the week. They were therefore reminded of their servitude in Egypt, and were asked to remember it in order that they might, out of gratitude to the Almighty,