111. Ten Commandments: What Are We Desiring?

God’s Image • Commandment 10: Do Not Covet

We have reached the final commandment in our study. Its wording brings our attention to desire and to what belongs to another.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house”

— Exodus 20:17, LSB, excerpt

The verse continues by naming the neighbor’s wife, male and female slaves, ox, donkey, and anything belonging to the neighbor.

What Does the Hebrew Say?

In Exodus 20:17, the expression translated “you shall covet” is תַחְמֹד — taḥmod, from חָמַד — ḥamad (H2530). The prohibition places לֹא — lo, meaning “not,” before it.

The same verb appears twice: first concerning the neighbor’s house, then concerning the neighbor’s wife and the remainder of the list. Read Exodus 20:17 with the Hebrew text.

The root concerns desire or taking pleasure in something. Its use must be examined in context; the English word covet should not cause us to treat every occurrence of the Hebrew root as an identical wrongful act.

Here, the command identifies the object of the prohibited desire: what belongs to our neighbor.

Compare Deuteronomy Carefully

Deuteronomy 5:21 preserves details worth noticing.

It names the neighbor’s wife first, using the same root, ḥamad. It then uses תִתְאַוֶּה — tit’avveh, from אָוָה — avah (H183), concerning the neighbor’s house and the remaining items. This second root also concerns desire or longing.

Deuteronomy also explicitly includes the neighbor’s field. Read Deuteronomy 5:21 with the Hebrew text.

We should preserve these differences: the order changes, a second verb appears, and the field is named. Both passages conclude by extending the prohibition to anything belonging to the neighbor.

Desiring and Taking

Earlier, we examined the command against stealing. Here, the wording directs us to examine desire itself.

As we continue, we will compare passages that name coveting and taking separately. This will help us follow their relationship without treating them as interchangeable words.

The starting question is simple:

Does wanting something give me a right to it?

The command requires us to recognize another person’s relationship to what we desire. Our wanting does not remove the repeated words identifying it as our neighbor’s.

Returning to Love

Jesus places love for God and love for our neighbor at the center of the Law and the Prophets. That connection remains before us as we begin this final commandment. Read Matthew 22:37–40.

Our examination must therefore include how our desires affect our treatment of another person.

• Am I recognizing what belongs to another, or thinking mainly about what I want?

• Have I allowed something desirable to become something I believe I am entitled to possess?

• Would satisfying this desire require disregarding another person?

• Am I willing to examine a desire before defending or acting upon it?

• Have I been taught to desire something—and am I unwilling to let it go even after learning that it is not mine to keep?

Threads to Follow

• Desire in context: Compare Genesis 2:9 and Psalm 19:7–10 to examine other uses of the root ḥamad.

• Seeing, coveting, and taking: Follow the actions named in Joshua 7:21.

• Coveting and oppression: Examine Micah 2:1–2, preserving the distinction between desiring fields and seizing them.

• The commandment and sin: Consider Paul’s discussion in Romans 7:7–8.

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