http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, according to the Hebrew Bible, is a list of religious and moral imperatives that were given by God to the people of Israel from the mountain referred to as Mount Sinai or Horeb. The Bible describes their form as being spoken by God and subsequently as an inscription God wrote with his finger on two stone tablets, which God gave to Moses. The Ten Commandments are recognized as a moral foundation in Judaism and Christianity.
The Revelation at Sinai
According to the Bible, Moses remained 40 days and nights atop Mount Sinai, also called Mount Horeb, receiving God's revelation. Moses then conveyed God's commandments to the Children of Israel in the third month after their Exodus from Egypt. Israel's receipt of the commandments occurred on the third day of preparations at the foot of the mount.
According to Jewish tradition, God's revelation at Mt. Sinai is a critical moment in the confirmation of the covenant between God and the nation of Israel, and one of the high points of Jewish history.
The first revelation
The Ten Commandments were not the only laws revealed to Moses at Sinai. Exodus 21-23 contain a miscellany of laws conventionally called the "Book of the Covenant". These two revelations are not named until Exodus 24, which refers to a "book of the covenant"(Exodus 24:7) and "stone tablets" (Exodus 24:12) as two parts of the revelation.
