The Ten Commandments/Do Not Covet

You shall not covet is one of the Ten Commandments, which are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars, and Post-Reformation scholars. The book of Exodus describes the Ten Commandments as being spoken by God to Moses, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, and later written on tablets by Moses. The full text of the commandment reads:

Unlike the other commandments which focus on outward actions, this commandment focuses on the human heart. It is an imperative against setting one’s desire on things that are forbidden. One commandment forbids the act of adultery. This commandment forbids the desire for adultery. One commandment forbids stealing. This commandment forbids the desire for unjust acquisition of another’s goods. The New Testament describes Jesus as interpreting the Ten Commandments as issues of the heart’s desires rather than merely prohibiting certain outward actions.

The command against coveting is seen as a natural consequence of the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The prohibition against desiring forbidden things is also seen as a moral imperative for the individual to exercise control over the thoughts of his mind and the desires of his heart.

Ancient usage
The Hebrew word translated “covet” is “chamad” which can be translated into English as “covet”, “lust”, and “strong desire.” The Hebrew Bible contains a number of warnings and examples of negative consequences for lusting or coveting. For example, when God was instructing Israel regarding the false religion of the Canaanites, he warned them not to covet the silver or gold on their idols, because this can lead to bringing detestable things into the home. The Book of Joshua contains a narrative in which Achan incurred the wrath of God by coveting prohibited gold and silver that he found in the destruction of Jericho. This is portrayed as a violation of covenant and a disgraceful thing.

The book of Proverbs warns against coveting, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The prophet Micah condemns the coveting of houses and fields as a warning against lusting after physical possessions. The Hebrew word for “covet” can also be translated as “lust,” and the book of Proverbs warns against coveting in the form of sexual lust.

Jewish interpretation
Maimonides (the Rambam) viewed the prohibition of coveting as a fence or boundary intended to keep adherents a safe distance away from the very serious sins of theft, adultery, and murder.

Maimonides’ admonition to learn from the example of Ahab and Naboth refers to the narrative in 1 Kings 21 in which King Ahab of Israel tried to convince Naboth the Jezreelite to sell him the vineyard Naboth owned adjacent to the king’s palace. Ahab wanted the land to use as a vegetable garden, but Naboth refused to sell or trade the property to Ahab saying, “The LORD forbid that I should give up to you what I have inherited from my fathers!” Ahab’s wife Jezebel then conspired to obtain the vineyard by writing letters in Ahab’s name to the elders and nobles in Naboth’s town instructing them to have two scoundrels bear false witness claiming that Naboth has cursed both God and the king. After Naboth was subsequently stoned to death, Ahab seized possession of Naboth’s vineyard. The text describes the LORD as very angry with Ahab, and the prophet Elijah pronounces judgment on both Ahab and Jezebel.

Other Jewish views portray the prohibition of coveting as having its own fundamental and independent significance apart from the other nine commandments. For example, the Bava Batra teach that a person can even harm his neighbor with his eyes. It asserts that damage caused by looking is also regarded as damage that is prohibited. Even if the covetous desire is concealed in the heart, the covetous desire in itself is regarded by the Torah as damaging to the neighbor.

Philo describes covetous desire as a kind of revolution and plotting against others, because the passions of the soul are formidable. He regards desire as the worst kind of passion, but also one over which the individual exercises voluntary control. Therefore, near the conclusion of his discourse on the Decalogue, Philo exhorts the individual to make use of this commandment to cut off desire, the fountain of all iniquity. Left unchecked, covetous desire is the source of personal, interpersonal, and international strife.

Ibn Ezra taught that a person can control his desires by training his heart to be content with that God has allotted to him.

New Testament view
The Gospel of Luke describes Jesus' warning to guard one’s heart against covetousness. "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Jesus also describes the sins that defile a person as sins from coming from untamed desires in the heart. The book of James portrays covetous desire residing in the heart as being the internal source of temptation and sin. James goes on to describe how covetous desire leads to fighting and that lack of material possessions is caused by not asking God for them and by asking with wrong motives.

The books of Ephesians and Colossians regard the sin of covetousness as a kind if idolatry and list this sin along with sexual immorality and impurity which give rise to the wrath of God.

The New Testament stresses thanksgiving and contentment as proper heart attitudes that contrast covetousness. John the Baptist exhorted soldiers to be content with their pay rather than extorting money by threats and false accusations. The book of Hebrews encourages one to keep his life free from the love of money and “be content with what you have” and depend on the promises and help of God rather than trusting in wealth. The book of 1 Timothy contains a classic warning against the love of money and stresses that it is great gain to be content with food and clothing.

Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church considers the prohibition on coveting in Deuteronomy 5:21 and Exodus 20:17 to include two commandments, which are numbered the ninth and tenth commandments in Catholic teaching. In the Catholic view, the ninth commandment is a prohibition on carnal concupiscence (or lust), and the tenth commandment prohibits greed and the setting of one’s heart on material possessions.

Prohibition of carnal concupiscence (lust)
A key point in the Catholic understanding of the ninth commandment is Jesus’ statement, “Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” There is an emphasis on the thoughts and attitudes of the heart as well as the promise that the pure in heart will both see God and be like him.

While baptism confers upon the Christian purification of sins, the baptized must continue to struggle against disordered desires and the lust of the flesh. By God’s grace he can prevail 1) by virtue of the gift of chastity which empowers love with a undivided and upright heart 2) by purity of intention which seeks to find and fulfill the will of God in everything 3) by purity of vision which disciplines the feelings and imagination and refuses complicity with impure thoughts, and 4) by prayer which looks to God for help against temptation and casts one’s cares upon God.

Adherence to the ninth commandment’s requirement of purity requires modesty, which protects the intimate center of the person. Modesty refuses to unveil what should remain hidden. Modesty is a servant of chastity and guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in protective conformity with the dignity of the human person. Modesty encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships, requiring that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman be fulfilled to one another. It is a decency that inspires one’s clothing. Modesty is discrete and avoids unhealthy curiosity.

In addition to personal purity and modesty, the Catholic Church teaches that Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. Communications media ought to demonstrate respect and restraint in their presentations which should be free from widespread eroticism and the inclination to voyeurism and illusion. Moral permissiveness rests on a wrongheaded understanding of human freedom. Education in the moral law is necessary for the development of true freedom. Educators should be expected to give young people “instruction respectful of the truth, the qualities of the heart, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man.”

Prohibition of greed and envy of possessions
Catholic teaching on the prohibition of greed and envy center around Christ’s admonishments to desire and store up treasure in heaven rather than on earth, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The tenth commandment is regarded as completing and unfolding the ninth. The tenth commandment forbids coveting the goods of another, as the root of the stealing and fraud forbidden by the commandment, “You shall not steal.” "Lust of the eyes" leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by the commandment, “You shall not murder.” Covetousness, like sexual immorality, originates in the idolatry prohibited by the first three commandments. The tenth commandment summarizes the entire law, by focusing on the intentions and desires of the heart. Covetous desires create disorder because they move beyond satisfying basic human needs and “exceed the limits of reason and drive us to covet unjustly what is not ours and belongs to another or is owed to him.” Greed and the desire to amass earthy goods without limit are forbidden. Avarice and passion for riches and power are forbidden. “You shall not covet” means that we should banish our desires for whatever does not belong to us. Never having enough money is regarded as a symptom of the love of money. Obedience to the tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. Envy is a capital sin that includes sadness at the sight of another’s goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself. The baptized person should resist envy by practicing good will and rejoicing and praising God for material blessings granted to neighbor and brother. God warns man away from what seems "good for food . . . a delight to the eyes . . . to be desired to make one wise," and law and grace turn men’s hearts away from avarice and envy and toward the Holy Spirit who satisfies man’s heart. Catholic teaching reminds that Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them "renounce all that [they have]" for his sake and that of the Gospel. Jesus gave his disciples the example of the poor widow of Jerusalem who gave out of her poverty all that she had to live on. Detachment from riches is portrayed as obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" represents the expectation that those who do not receive all their physical longings are more inclined to seek fulfillment of their spiritual longings through Jesus Christ. “The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods.” "I want to see God" expresses the true desire of man. The water of eternal life quenches the thirst for God. Attachment to the goods of this world are a bondage. The Scriptural remedy is the desire for true happiness that is found in seeking and finding God. Holy people must struggle, with grace from on high, to obtain the good things God promises. Christ’s faithful put to death their cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the seductions of pleasure and power. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his own soul?

Reformation and Post-Reformation views
Martin Luther views sinful human nature such that no person naturally desires to see others with as much as oneself, each acquiring as much as he can while pretending to be pious. The human heart, Luther says, is deceitful, knowing how to adorn oneself finely while concealing one’s rascality.

Luther further explains that the tenth commandment is not intended for the rogues of the world, but for the pious, who wish to be praised and considered as honest and upright people, because they have not broken any of the outward commandments. Luther sees covetousness in the quarreling and wrangling in court over inheritances and real estate. He sees covetousness in financiering practiced in a manner to obtain houses, castles, and land through foreclosure. Likewise, Luther sees the tenth commandment as forbidding contrivances to take another man’s wife as one’s own and uses the example of King Herod taking his brother’s wife while his brother was still living.

John Calvin views the tenth commandment as a demand for purity of the heart, above and beyond the outward actions. Calvin distinguishes between making an explicit design to obtain what belongs to our neighbor and a covetous desire in the heart. For Calvin, design is a deliberate consent of the will, after passion has taken possession of the mind. Covetousness may exist without such a deliberate design, when the mind is stimulated and tickled by objects on which we set our affection.

In explaining the prohibition on covetousness, Calvin views the mind as either being filled with charitable thoughts toward one’s brother and neighbor, or being inclined toward covetous desires and designs. The mind wholly imbued with charity has no room for carnal desires. Calvin recognizes that all sorts of fancies rise up in the mind, and he exhorts the individual to exercise choice and discipline to shifting one’s thoughts away from fleshly desires and passions. Calvin asserts that God’s intention in the command is to prohibit every kind of perverse desire.

Matthew Henry sees the tenth commandment striking at the root of many sins by forbidding all desire that may yield injury to one’s neighbor. The language of discontent and envy are forbidden in the heart and mind. The appetites and desires of the corrupt nature are proscribed, and all are enjoined to see our face in the reflection of this law and to submit our hearts under the government of it.