DECALOGUE

[`dekəlɔg]

десять заповедей, декалог

Decalogue: translation

(Dekalog, 1988)

   A ten-part series of contemporary television films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski for the film studio Tor. Kieslowski's series is loosely inspired by the Ten Commandments, which are not illustrated but referred to in ten anecdotes, each with two or three leading characters. Decalogue was produced with the involvement of Kieslowski's regular collaborators: scriptwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, composer Zbigniew Preisner, and nine leading Polish cinematographers (Piotr Sobociński worked on parts 2 and 9), which resulted in slightly different visual styles in the various parts of Decalogue.The enigmatic, angel-like character (Artur Barciś) glues the series together and adds an almost metaphysical dimension. He appears in some decisive scenes of Decalogue, when the fates of the protagonists are determined.

   Despite its apparent religious connotations, Decalogue is not only an exploration of religious or metaphysical issues, but also an acute analysis of the mental condition of Polish society before 1989. The ugliness and grayness of the dehumanized urban setting dominate the filmic landscape, together with close-ups of the people who endure these harsh conditions. The series introduces undistinguished characters, mostly intelligent professionals, dwarfed by an oppressive political system. The viewer watches them in situations that require immediate and vital decisions and is introduced to their moral dilemmas. The open structure of Decalogue invites the viewer to interpret the actions of Kieslowski's protagonists, to follow their struggles with destiny in an abundance of chance encounters, symbols, allusions, ambiguity, deliberately slow pacing, laconic dialogue, and a number of recurring motifs.

   Kieślowski also produced extended versions of two parts of Decalogue to be shown in cinema theaters. The feature versions of Decalogue 5, A Short Film about Killing (Krótki film o zabijaniu, 1988), and Decalogue 6, A Short Film about Love (Krótki film o miłości, 1988), were exceptionally well received in Europe.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof

Decalogue: translation

Decalogue

• The term employed to designate the collection of precepts written on two tables of stone and given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai

Catholic Encyclopedia.Kevin Knight.2006.

Decalogue

    Decalogue

    ^{† Catholic_Encyclopedia ► Decalogue}

    (Greek deka, ten and logos, word).

    The term employed to designate the collection of precepts written on two tables of stone and given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.The injunctions and prohibitions of which it is composed are set forth in Exodus (20:1-17) and in Deuteronomy (5:6-21). The differences discernible in the style of enumerating them in Exodus as contrasted with Deuteronomy are not essential and pertain rather to the reasons alleged for the precepts in either instance than to the precepts themselves. The division and ordering of the commandments in use in the Catholic Church is that adopted by St. Augustine (Quæstiones in Exodum, q. 71). That which is commonly in vogue amongst Protestants (Protestantism) seems to have Origen for its sponsor. He regarded Exodus 20:3-6, as containing two distinct commandments and in this hypothesis in order to keep the number ten, verse 17 would have but one. The practice now universally adhered to among Catholics is just the reverse. See COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.

    JOSEPH F. DELANY

    Transcribed by Marcia L. Bellafiore

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company.Nihil Obstat.1910.

Decalogue: translation

   The name given to the Ten Commandments and derived from the Greek word, dekalogos, meaning the Ten Words or discourses. They are divided into two tables; the first four commandments set forth our duty towards God, and the last six our duty towards man. The reading of the Ten Commandments in the Communion Office is peculiar to our Liturgy and were added in the year 1552, together with the response after each commandment, "Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law." While the commandments were originally introduced to our Liturgy as a warning and safeguard against the lawlessness of extreme Puritans, they are, nevertheless, helpful to all as a preparation for the right reception of the Holy Communion; leading the congregation to an examination of their "lives and conversation by the rule of God's commandments." The translation of the Decalogue used in the Communion Office is not that of the present Authorized version, but that of the "Great Bible" of 1539-40, which was retained because the people had grown familiar with it. To the Commandments is added our Lord's Summary of the Law, which may be read at the discretion of the Minister.

Decalogue: translation

   The name given by the Greek fathers to the ten commandments; "the ten words," as the original is more literally rendered (Ex. 20:3-17). These commandments were at first written on two stone slabs (31:18), which were broken by Moses throwing them down on the ground (32:19). They were written by God a second time (34:1). The decalogue is alluded to in the New Testament five times (Matt. 5:17, 18, 19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Rom. 7:7, 8; 13:9; 1 Tim. 1:9, 10).

   These commandments have been divided since the days of Origen the Greek father, as they stand in the Confession of all the Reformed Churches except the Lutheran. The division adopted by Luther, and which has ever since been received in the Lutheran Church, makes the first two commandments one, and the third the second, and so on to the last, which is divided into two. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house" being ranked as ninth, and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife," etc., the tenth. (See Commandments.)

decalogue: translation

Ten Commandments, Zeitgeist, axiology, behavioral norm, business ethics, code, code of ethics, code of morals, ethic, ethical system, ethics, ethos, legal ethics, medical ethics, moral climate, moral code, moral principles, morals, new morality, norm, normative system, principles, professional ethics, social ethics, standards, value system

Decalogue [ˊdekəlɒg] n

библ. де́сять за́поведей, декало́г