10th commandment

The 10th commandment (of the so-called Ten Commandments in the Bible) prohibits coveting of a neighbors property. Property is said to include ones house, wife, slaves, oxen, asses, and, well, "anything" else.





A very different 10th commandment from doesn't correspond with any commandments from the  and  versions:



Counter-apologetics

 * Wife is listed among property. Modern societies tend not to accept this view anymore.
 * There is no prohibition against coveting a husband. Thus men and women are viewed unequally. It does not say “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s husband’ because it is assumed that everything, including law, is directed at males.
 * Slaves are listed among property. Slavery is no longer officially sanctioned anywhere in the world.
 * Coveting is a thought crime. How can you command someone not to covet? And why would you? If stealing is wrong, then there is no need for this commandment. If I tell you that you have a beautiful house and that I wish I had it for myself, is that immoral? (Some claim that “covet” in this verse more properly means “to cast an evil eye” or spell upon something, and this should be viewed as a prohibition of sorcery. But the Hebrew word ‘chamad’ according to Strong’s Concordance, means ‘to delight in: beauty, greatly beloved, covet, delectable thing, delight, desire, goodly, lust, pleasant, precious thing.’)

In United States law

 * The 10th commandment is possibly the commandment that is most firmly not a part of U.S. law. Capitalism is the basis for the U.S. economy. The idea that "I shouldn't want the nice things my neighbor has," if actually followed, would probably cause the collapse of the entire U.S. economy. It is absurd to pretend that this commandment even remotely applies to the U.S. system of laws. (See America is a Christian nation and United States Constitution.)