Covetousness: The Different Commandment

In an article published this week in Torah.com, Jack Sasson asked an interesting question.“Why is ‘Do not covet’ in the decalogue?’”The Decalogue forbids patently reprehensible acts, but the prohibition against coveting is a potentially victimless offense and is the only one that exclusively addresses men. Moreover, this tenth commandment has no clear parallels in ancient Near Eastern law.As we trace through the Commandments in Exodus 20, all are public, outwardly discernible sins with offended parties—divine, human, or both.The first four commandments (Exodus 20:3-11) demand fealty to Jehovah. It must be exclusive—no polytheism. It must not be expressed in idol worship. He must be honored in all speech. He must be honored specifically on the Sabbath.The next five commandments in verses 12-16 are one-another commands that protect people from people. Honor your parents. Do not murder. Honor marriage and remain faithful to your spouse. Do not take what is not yours. Do not commit perjury, damaging your neighbor.But then comes that last commandment (Exodus 20:17), which is about a heart attitude—about desire. After noting that this commandment is exclusively addressed to men (It doesn’t mention coveting your neighbor’s husband, and women could not own property in the ancient Near Eastern world), Sasson says this about this commandment.Another oddity makes the Tenth Commandment stand out from the others: The previous commandments forbid patently reprehensible acts such as stealing, murdering, kidnapping, or committing perjury. By contrast, coveting in the Tenth Commandment is an emotional capitulation to intense envy, remediable only through introspection and self-examination.It is truly a commandment about jealousy and envy and is at the heart of all biblical sin. This might be one of the most important commandments of all. …For the rest of this post click here: Covetousness: The Different Commandment - Proclaim & Defend… or just listen to the podcast. Get full access to the Proclaim & Defend Podcast at proclaimdefend.substack.com/subscribe