What are the strengths and weaknesses of the 10 commandments?

The major weakness is, They were made for an entirely different culture where men have multiple wives and concubines, women are no better than slaves and could not own property, so we have adapted the Ten Commandments to meet the changes in society that have occurred during the last 3,500 years. That is why some commandments appear to cover the same sin twice.

The meaning of several words have changed over the centuries, so we apply new meaning to the commandment. For example 3,500 years ago, Adultry meant marrying outside your Tribe and Religion. Today it means having an affair with someone you are not married to. That is why you have a commandment forbidding Adultry and a commandment against Coveting Thy Neighbors Wife (Adultry as we know it today).

Some religious cultures still apply the original meanings to the commandments, such as Islam and some Christian Sects. They still consider marrying outside your Religion a Sin and a Crime. Some go so far as to kill each other over the way the other groups worship the same God.

Their strengths lie in still being able to provide a basis for laws for society in which people do not kill each other to gain possessions.