"Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's House, Thou Shalt Not
Covent Thy Neighbor's Wife, Nor His Manservant, Nor His Maidservant, Nor His
Ox, Nor His Ass, Nor Any Thing That Is Thy Neighbor's."
~ Exodus 20:17 ~
prepared by Don R. Hender
To Covet is to yearn to possesss something, that is
to want something not only that you do not have but that is not yours to
have. The concept is that there is not more than one 'home' or 'house' that
thy neighbors lives in, that is if you take your neighbor's house were doe
he live. Likewise there is only one person that is they neighbor's wife,
manservant, maidservant, ox, ass, or any such thing that is unique that is
they neighbor's. In short you are not to desire after that which is uniquely
thy neighbor's. But here after it becomes a bit sticky, for we live in a
world of duplication. Thus one asks, is it okay to want a thing like unto
that which thy neighbor has?
And where there is a duplication of items it seems perfectly okay to want a
thing like what thy neighbor has. If your neigbor has a house, a wife, a
manservant, a maidservant, an ox, an ass, or whatever is particular and unique
to they neighbor; as long as it not that exact same unique item of thy
'neighbor's', it is alright for you to 'want one too or also'. And that is
as long as it is not that which is thy neighbor's. If you can go and have your
own, as long as your neighbor may still have his, it is okay. You just cannot
lust after anything that is paticularlly owned by thy neighbor, for therein
lies the seeds of stealing, committing adultry, and even murder, which was the
slippery slop which King David slide down. And when that seed of coveting
has grown into the braking of such othere commandments, then to lie to cover
up the acts of sin and even to disobey God in the greater commandments but
follows.
And in this 'law' of not to covet it is well but to think of it as NOT
WANTING THAT WHICH YOU CANNOT HAVE. For to even what an item that you cannot
afford is still but wanting that which is thy neighbor's which you cannot
afford to buy. And that is where the law may come back and bit you in the end.
For in our world even that which can be duplicated is still someone else's
until and when you can afford to buy it and can rightfully pay for it.
Revised October 12, 2013
|