No Coveting

No Coveting

"No coveting your neighbor’s wife. And no lusting for his house, field, servant, maid, ox, or donkey either - nothing that belongs to your neighbor!" - Deuteronomy 5:21, The Message (MSG)

"No lusting after your neighbor’s house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbor’s." - Exodus 20:17, The Message (MSG)

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One Bible commentator said all public crime would cease if this one law was kept. Another said every sin against one's neighbor springs from the breaking of this commandment, whether of word or deed.

Of the 10 commandmants, this may be the most important of all. Robert I. Kahn writes: "The first commandment deals with foundations; the last with motivations. The first deals with the Rock of ages; the last with the surging tides of desire. The first is an affirmation of the divine source of morality; the last deals with the well-springs of immorality. The first implies that right thought will lead to right action; the last reminds us that wrong ideas will lead to wrong action."

The last commandment is unique among the ten, and its position in last place is surely no accident. While the others concern actions, this one deals with attitudes. The others prohibit external deeds while this one focuses on internal thoughts. Like an x-ray aimed on the mind, it seeks to curb the restless, greedy, avaricious, jealous, and envious fountain of the human heart. It gets my vote as the most difficult to keep, since breaking it is the most widespread of humanity's moral faults.
- John W. Ritenbaugh, http://www.theberean.org/





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