Coveting my neighbours wife

[BibleOnly]

Exd 20:1 ¶ And God spake all these words, saying,

Exd 20:2 ¶ I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exd 20:3 ¶ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exd 20:4 ¶ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:

Exd 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;

Exd 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Exd 20:7 ¶ Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Exd 20:8 ¶ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exd 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Exd 20:10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:

Exd 20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exd 20:12 ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Exd 20:13 ¶ Thou shalt not kill.

Exd 20:14 ¶ Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Exd 20:15 ¶ Thou shalt not steal.

Exd 20:16 ¶ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Exd 20:17 ¶ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's.

Exd 20:18 ¶ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off.

Question - the last one says not to covet my neighbours wife, nor his ox, nor his house. So, the question is, I assume this is not talking about adultery ( which was covered ), but wanting to own something.

I am reminded of this parable:

Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

Mat 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

Mat 18:25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

I think it's reasonable to say this was talking about this sort of situation. I'd never thought of that before, until it was mentioned in a book I was reading. What do you guys think ?

[Bravus]

I think it just reflects the reality that a wife was considered a chattel (possession) in those days. She is listed with the house and the ox because she was considered as being in the same class, i.e. as a belonging rather than an autonomous person.

Which is just one reason why it's necessary for us to move beyond the Ten Commandments for our moral framework.

[BibleOnly]

I'm not sure the Bible actually does treat women that way. I am sure that the bible represents the first ever social welfare for widows, for example. I do think it was the reality that your wife could be treated as a belonging by someone you were in debt to.