My Neighbour's Keeper

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Deuteronomy 5:21).

It is commonly understood that the fourth commandment, the one about resting on the Sabbath, is the glue that binds the ten together. It reaches back, gathering our relationship with God into full expression on this day of joyous rest. “Joyous?” you ask. It was meant to be. As God delighted in his creation in Genesis, so his covenant people were invited, once a week, to delight in God’s sustaining of his creation.

However, this commandment also reaches forward and sets the stage for the last six. The second half of the ten explore what it means to love our neighbour, culminating in the prohibition against coveting our neighbour’s possessions. It anticipates a peaceable household and neighbourhood and sets out a discipline of mind and a limit on accumulation of possessions that will serve that peace. Without this discipline and limit, neighbourhoods get destroyed as coveting generates mistrust and sets neighbours against each other.

Some have suggested that this tenth commandment is different from the others because it involves only intent. But that is limiting the scope of the Biblical language. In the biblical tradition, coveting includes both an attitude of craving and a forceful action to secure what is craved. Surely the commandment includes both the discipline, not allowing our minds to desire something that is not ours, and the limit, not taking something that belongs to our neighbour.

House and wife are included in this commandment according to ancient understanding, not our estimation of them. House refers to all that belonged to a village household which could include various buildings, animals, land, servants and several generations of descendants. Wife should not be considered as property but as belonging with the male head of the household. The poem regarding ‘A Noble Wife’ in Proverbs 31 presents a severe conundrum for Biblical interpreters, but it does give a sense of the value a wife might have in Israel, giving insight into why she is mentioned here.

The entire list of items mentioned in this commandment refer to a household’s economic viability—the means of production. In view is probably an agrarian village with many vulnerable peasants who lived with little margin for loss. Three times the term neighbour is dropped into this command. It is all about respecting the neighbour and by extension preserving, honouring and enhancing the neighbourhood.

As we enjoy God’s sustaining graces on the Sabbath, we are invited to ponder what it means for us to help sustain our neighbours. Some questions we might ponder: how is my accumulation of possessions hindering the welfare of my neighbours? What thing(s) am I craving? What am I doing to promote the welfare of my neighbourhood?

Jesus reminds us that loving our neighbour is the second greatest commandment. This is not primarily a feeling of goodwill, but an active contribution to my neighbour’s life on this planet.

As you journey on, hear Jesus’ invitation:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).