10th Commandment: You Shall Not Covet - Life, Hope & Truth

10th Commandment

God recorded the 10th Commandment for us in Exodus 20:17:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

When the 10 Commandments are listed again in Deuteronomy 5, the order of the items not to be coveted is slightly different (wife before house), which argues against breaking this into two commandments as the Catholics do.

Deuteronomy 5:21 says: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

In modern terms, coveting often includes our neighbor’s cars, electronic gadgets, money, prestige, etc.

What does covet mean?

To covet means “to feel inordinate [immoderate, excessive] desire for what belongs to another” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary).

It is feeling “I have to have that!” when we have no right to have it.

The heart of the matter and the spirit of the law

Jesus Christ made clear in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout His teachings that God’s law involves more than just our actions. Really obeying the 10 Commandments involves our thoughts and attitudes and approaches.

Even before Christ expanded on the laws, this 10th Commandment added depth to all the commandments by drawing attention to our hearts and motives. Coveting, and all sin, begins in our hearts.

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man” (Matthew 15:18-20).