Deuteronomy 5:21
in Deuteronomy 5You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s wife; neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor’s.
KJV
Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseNeither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife,.... Here a neighbour's wife is put before his house, different from Exo 20:17 and "his field" is added, which with what follows take in everything that is a man's property; and which is not to be desired or coveted in an unlawful manner by another, and much less should any means be made use of to deprive him of it; but "lust" is the thing intended and prohibited, be it after what it may, which is another man's: see Mat 5:28, of a man's field, see Isa 5:8.
This site's exposition
Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour
The tenth word changes its order here. Exodus 20:17 names the house first and then the wife and uses one verb for both; this account names the wife first, uses desire of her and covet of the house, and adds his field to the list. John Gill reads the change as setting the person ahead of the property, and takes the added field as landed inheritance of the sort Isaiah 5:8 says was being swallowed up. Paul reaches for this commandment at Romans 7:7 as the one that showed him what sin was.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Neither shalt thou covet any thing that is thy neighbour's - The plain meaning of this is, thou shalt not desire any thing that is not thy own, any thing which thou hast not. Indeed why shouldst thou? God hath given thee whatever tends to thy one end, holiness.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
His field - This clause is not in the tenth commandment as it stands in Exo 20:17.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַחְמֹ֖ד | tachmod | you must covet | H2530 → | |
| אֵ֣שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| רֵעֶ֑ךָ ס | reekha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| וְלֹ֨א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה | titaveh | you must desire | H183 → | 26 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| רֵעֶ֗ךָ | reekha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| שָׂדֵ֜הוּ | sadehu | field his | H7704 → | 334 times |
| וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ | veavdo | and [male] servant his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ | vaamato | and female servant his | H519 → | 56 times |
| שׁוֹר֣וֹ | shoro | ox his | H7794 → | 79 times |
| וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ | vachamoro | and donkey his | H2543 → | 96 times |
| וְכֹ֖ל | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְרֵעֶֽךָ׃ ס | lereekha | [belongs] to neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תַחְמֹ֖דyou must covet
tachmodH2530 →
אֵ֣שֶׁת[the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
רֵעֶ֑ךָ סneighbor your
reekhaH7453 →188 times
וְלֹ֨אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִתְאַוֶּ֜הyou must desire
titavehH183 →26 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
רֵעֶ֗ךָneighbor your
reekhaH7453 →188 times
שָׂדֵ֜הוּfield his
sadehuH7704 →334 times
וְעַבְדּ֤וֹand [male] servant his
veavdoH5650 →799 times
וַאֲמָתוֹ֙and female servant his
vaamatoH519 →56 times
שׁוֹר֣וֹox his
shoroH7794 →79 times
וַחֲמֹר֔וֹand donkey his
vachamoroH2543 →96 times
וְכֹ֖לand all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לְרֵעֶֽךָ׃ ס[belongs] to neighbor your
lereekhaH7453 →188 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 12:15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 6:6–10
Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Hebrews 13:5
Through
Romans 13:9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
it leads to
- Exodus 20:12–17
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Matthew 22:39
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Mark 12:31
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Deuteronomy 5:16–21
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
- Exodus 20:12–17
Through
Exodus 20:17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
it leads to
- Romans 13:9
The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Romans 13:9
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.