Thy Neighbor's Wife

Product Information

The Ninth Commandment, like most of the others, is presented as a negative precept: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.” But when we considered the Sixth Commandment in an earlier reflection, we pondered the words of St. John Paul II, who invites us to look at God’s word in a more positive light You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male slave or his female slave, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’ H eeeelleew. Nan breezes into the townhouse just after 7 p.m. Still holding her bags, still wearing her trench coat, she and Gay engage in a hilarious mix of high-end literary talk, couple shorthand, and gentle argument. She mentions that Terrence Rafferty raved about one of her books, The Glister, by John Burnside, in The New York Times Book Review that comes out on Sunday.

You are not to desire your neighbor's wife nor covet your neighbor's house, his fields, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, nor anything that concerns your neighbor.'" 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: For the Apostle (St. Paul) it is not a matter of despising and condemning the body which with the spiritual soul constitutes man’s nature and personal subjectivity. Rather, he is concerned with the morally good or bad works, or better, the permanent dispositions – virtues and vices – which are the fruit of submission (in the first case) or the resistance (in the second case) to the saving action of the Holy Spirit. For this reason the Apostle writes, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house: neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. These words express both our misguided belief in our unaided capacity to achieve personal holiness, and the necessity for our turning to God for all our needs, even the most basic. Our complete surrender to God is an essential element of our chastity (continence). At the same time, God’s disinterested (which must be distinguished from uninterested) love must set the pattern for all our affections.This insight is a gift we receive at Baptism, but it is only a foundation. We must strive, with God’s grace, to build on it, throughout our lives. We do so by the gifts of chastity, purity of intention, purity of vision, and prayer. The Hebrew word translated "covet" is chamad (חמד) which is commonly translated into English as "covet", "lust", and "strong desire." [11] 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. 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 L ORD forbid that I should give up to you what I've inherited from my fathers!" [21] 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 L ORD as very angry with Ahab, and the prophet Elijah pronounces judgment on both Ahab and Jezebel. [22] New Testament views [ edit ] A big smile spreads across Gay’s face. “Is that right?” Then he continues with his questioning. “Did you ever remember talking to me about it?”

For what it’s worth, Nan has no intention of meddling. “You know, I just trust Gay,” she says. “When we married I made a little vow to myself that I would never interfere with his writing—whatever he wanted to write—and so far, I’ve been okay with that.” When the host’s supply of wine ran out, Mary was reasonably concerned to provide more. No one would ever suggest that Mary was advocating drunkenness. On the other hand, she realized very clearly that a certain amount of wine was necessary if the festivities were to continue. Her intervention resulted in what was undoubtedly just the proper amount of superior wine. I’ll sit down for a second, but I’m not going to have any vodka because then I won’t be useful for the rest of the day.” That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, "Do not covet." You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. a b The Large Catechism by Martin Luther, Translated by F. Bente and W.H.T. Dau Published in: Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921) pp. 565-773 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. 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.

You are not to covet your neighbor's house. You are not to covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." 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. [29] 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. [30] The book of 1 Timothy contains a classic warning against the love of money and stresses that it's great gain to be content with food and clothing. 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.Gay, who is now out of his seat and leaning against the wall next to our table taking all of this in, has the most curious look on his face. “He never lets down his guard,” says Nan, genuinely amazed by her husband’s reaction. “He’s really happy.” I tell him that Nan did, in fact, have a different version, one that included her saying she trusts him. “Nan is very supportive. She won’t turn against me and say, ‘You can’t do that.’ On this marriage book—Jesus—she said, ‘What do you know about marriage?’ But she’s not saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ She’s cooperating. But she has a little distance, like she did with the massage parlor.” Exodus 20:1–21 and Deuteronomy 5:1–23, Ten Commandments, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Tyndale House, 1982 pp. 1174-1175 St. Thomas Aquinas describes modesty as “moderation and restraint” in bodily movement and action, and he discerns three aspects of the virtue: method, which is the capacity to grasp what we should do, or avoid doing, refinement or decorum in what we do, and gravity – the manner and quality of our conversation with our friends. (ST, II-II, 143)