Oklahoma Legislator Erects Ten Commandments Monument With Spelling Errors

Well, this must be embarrassing:

An Oklahoma state lawmaker oversaw the installation of a 2,000-lb. granite block depicting the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol Friday, amid fears that the monument will spark a costly legal battle over its constitutionality.

But before state Rep. Mike Ritze (R), who sponsored the initial bill and whose family donated $10,000 to fund the project, worries about fielding a suit from the state’s American Civil Liberties Union, he first needs to deal with spelling errors, The Oklahoman reports.

The rose-stone block reads “Sabbeth” instead of “Sabbath.”

And at its base, the tenth commandment reads, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidseruent.” It should read “maidservant.”

It kind of reminds me of this:

Ooops

FILED UNDER: Humor, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. al-Ameda says:

    Oklahoma is oh-khay

  2. PJ says:

    And at its base, the tenth commandment reads, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidseruent.” It should read “maidservant.”

    It looks a lot more like maidseruant and not maidseruent. And the u looks a lot like a v with, I guess, a tail. They just need to have it filled… 🙂

  3. de stijl says:

    Cargo cult Christianity.

  4. michael reynolds says:

    What kind of kinky sh!t were those Hebrews up to? I get coveting a wife. I can see coveting a maidservant — I mean, lonely hotel nights, you’re away from home, you’ve got the mini-bar key . . . But cattle? I’ve heard the tales of sheep, but cattle seems a bit ambitious, quite frankly. That cow’s previous lover was a 900 pound bull. I don’t care who you are, you’re going to be a disappointment.

  5. Anderson says:
  6. James in LA says:

    No math, no science make Homer something something….

  7. Joe says:

    “u,” “v,” hard to see, but isn’t the last “neighbors” supposed to be “neighbor’s”? They got the first possessive correct, so I think they get the rule of grammar.

  8. Jen says:

    Instead of trying to push legal battles, looks like they’d be better served taking time to review copy (and yes, the final “neighbors” should be possessive “neighbor’s”).

  9. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Spelling has a liberal bias.

  10. OzarkHillbilly says:

    And quit suppressing their freedom of speech(or is it press?)! They can misspell it anyway they want!

  11. sam says:

    And it’s Neighbor’s not Neighbors — as it is correctly two lines above. One out of two ain’t bad, I guess, if you despise education.

  12. sam says:

    See Joe got there first.

  13. gVOR08 says:

    It’s Oklahoma, who was going to notice?

    @michael reynolds: J. K. Galbraith, the Paul Krugman of the 60’s, used to tell a story about his youth on a farm on the Canadian prairie. He was sitting on a fence rail with a girl he was fond of from a neighboring farm. They were watching a bull and a cow go at it. He says suggestively, ‘Doesn’t that look like a lot of fun?’ Without batting an eyelash she replies, ‘Go ahead, it’s your cow.’

  14. Davebo says:

    @gVOR08:

    Hilarious!