The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and commandments which I have inscribed to instruct them.”
He declared to you the covenant that He commanded you to observe, the Ten Commandments; and He inscribed them on two tablets of stone.
(1) God spoke all these words, saying: (2) I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage:
לֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֑ךָ לֹֽא־תַחְמֹ֞ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֗ךָ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ וְשׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ׃ (פ)
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ וַתֹּאכַ֑ל וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ וַיֹּאכַֽל׃
When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
וְלֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֑ךָ (ס) וְלֹ֨א תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֗ךָ שָׂדֵ֜הוּ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ שׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ׃ (ס)
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not crave your neighbor’s house, or his field, or his male or female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
פְּסִילֵ֥י אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖ם תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּן בָּאֵ֑שׁ לֹֽא־תַחְמֹד֩ כֶּ֨סֶף וְזָהָ֤ב עֲלֵיהֶם֙ וְלָקַחְתָּ֣ לָ֔ךְ פֶּ֚ן תִּוָּקֵ֣שׁ בּ֔וֹ כִּ֧י תוֹעֲבַ֛ת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ הֽוּא׃
You shall consign the images of their gods to the fire; you shall not covet the silver and gold on them and keep it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared thereby; for that is abhorrent to the LORD your God.
(יט) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ אֶל־עָכָ֗ן בְּנִי֙ שִֽׂים־נָ֣א כָב֗וֹד לַֽיהוָ֛ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וְתֶן־ל֣וֹ תוֹדָ֑ה וְהַגֶּד־נָ֥א לִי֙ מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֔יתָ אַל־תְּכַחֵ֖ד מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ (כ) וַיַּ֧עַן עָכָ֛ן אֶת־יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אָמְנָ֗ה אָנֹכִ֤י חָטָ֙אתִי֙ לַֽיהוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְכָזֹ֥את וְכָזֹ֖את עָשִֽׂיתִי׃ (כא) ואראה [וָאֵ֣רֶא] בַשָּׁלָ֡ל אַדֶּ֣רֶת שִׁנְעָר֩ אַחַ֨ת טוֹבָ֜ה וּמָאתַ֧יִם שְׁקָלִ֣ים כֶּ֗סֶף וּלְשׁ֨וֹן זָהָ֤ב אֶחָד֙ חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים שְׁקָלִים֙ מִשְׁקָל֔וֹ וָֽאֶחְמְדֵ֖ם וָֽאֶקָּחֵ֑ם וְהִנָּ֨ם טְמוּנִ֥ים בָּאָ֛רֶץ בְּת֥וֹךְ הָאָֽהֳלִ֖י וְהַכֶּ֥סֶף תַּחְתֶּֽיהָ׃ (כב) וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ מַלְאָכִ֔ים וַיָּרֻ֖צוּ הָאֹ֑הֱלָה וְהִנֵּ֧ה טְמוּנָ֛ה בְּאָהֳל֖וֹ וְהַכֶּ֥סֶף תַּחְתֶּֽיהָ׃
(19) Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, pay honor to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make confession to Him. Tell me what you have done; do not hold anything back from me.” (20) Achan answered Joshua, “It is true, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did: (21) I saw among the spoil a fine Shinar mantle, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, and I coveted them and took them. They are buried in the ground in my tent, with the silver under it.” (22) Joshua sent messengers, who hurried to the tent; and there it was, buried in his tent, with the silver underneath.
וְחָמְד֤וּ שָׂדוֹת֙ וְגָזָ֔לוּ וּבָתִּ֖ים וְנָשָׂ֑אוּ וְעָֽשְׁקוּ֙ גֶּ֣בֶר וּבֵית֔וֹ וְאִ֖ישׁ וְנַחֲלָתֽוֹ׃ (פ)
They covet fields, and seize them; Houses, and take them away. They defraud men of their homes, And people of their land.
וכתב הרמב"ם ז"ל, שאין שני הלאוין שהן לא תחמוד שבסדר וישמע יתרו (שמות כ, יד), ולא תתאוה שבסדר זה לאו כפולין בענין אחד, אבל הם שני עניינים. שלאו דלא תחמוד ימנענו מלקחת משום צד בין בדמים, בין שלא בדמים מה שקנה זולתינו אם איננו חפץ למכור אותו דבר. ולאו זה דלא תתאוה ימנענו אפילו התאוה בו בתוך לבינו, כי עם התאוה יבוא להתחנן לו ולהכביד עליו למכרו או להחליפו בכלי אחר על כל פנים. ואע"פ שאחד מאלו הלאוין מושך את חבירו, שנים יחשבו מכל מקום. הרי אתה רואה החילוק שביניהם. ואל תתמה לומר ואיך יהיה בידו של אדם למנוע לבו מהתאוות אל אוצר כל כלי חמדה שיראה ברשות חבירו, והוא מכולם רק וריקם. ואיך תבוא מניעה בתורה במה שאי אפשר לו לאדם לעמוד עליו. שזה הדבר אינו כן, ולא יאמרו אותו רק הטפשים הרעים והחטאים בנפשותם. כי האמנם ביד האדם למנוע עצמו ומחשבותיו ותאוותיו מכל מה שירצה. וברשותו ובדעתו להרחיק ולקרב חפצו בכל הדברים כרצונו, ולבו מסור בידו אל כל אשר יחפוץ יטנו. והש"י אשר לפניו נגלו כל התעלומות, חופש כל חדרי בטן רואה כליות ולב אין אחת קטנה או גדולה טובה או רעה בכל מחשבות האדם נעלמות ממנו, ולא נסתרת מנגד עיניו. ישיב נקם לעוברי רצונו בלבבם, ונוצר חסד לאלפים לאוהביו המפנים לעבודתו מחשבותם. שאין טוב לאדם כמו המחשבה הטובה והזכה, כי היא ראשית כל המעשים וסופן:
Maimonides writes that...The prohibition of לא תחמוד enjoins one not to acquire someone else's possession either by paying for it or by not paying for it unless the owner voluntarily agrees to sell it. We must not ask how the Torah can expect us to exercise control over our mind's desires. This is a spurious argument. Only wicked people or fools would argue in such a way. Man is a free agent and can control his desires. He can discipline himself not to desire what is forbidden. G–d is well aware of our innermost thoughts and will punish people for sinful thoughts, whereas He will reward people who have pure thoughts for up to two thousand generations. It is best if a person can train himself to have only pure thoughts, for they lead to laudable deeds.
[250-300] "You shall not covet": Rebbi says: One verse states "You shall not covet," and, another, (Devarim 5:18) "You shall not desire." How are these two verses to be reconciled? As positing liability for desiring in itself and for coveting in itself, and as teaching that if one desires, in the end he will covet, i.e., "Do not desire and you will not covet." And if he does covet, in the end, he will use force and steal, as it is written (Micah 2:2) "and they will covet fields and steal (them)."
(א) ומלת חמד בלשון הקדש מתפרשת לשני טעמים האחד גזל ועושק וקחת של אחרים בחזקה ובאונס וכך ולא יחמוד איש את ארצך כי אם אין פירושו כן הנה תהיה הארץ רעה ולא בא הכתוב אלא לשבח והטעם השני לשון תאוה בלב ולא תצא לפועל. ... ורבים אמרו כי אין עון במחשבת הלב ואין עליהם שכר ועונש ויש ראיות רבות להשיב עליהן ולא אאריך רק אראה להם לב חורש מחשבות און הטיבות כי היה עם לבבך ולישרים בלבותם ומשה אמר בסוף בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו. ועיקר כל המצות ליישר הלב, ורובם זכר והמזיד והשוגג יוכיחו:
(1) The Hebrew word ḥ-m-d has two different meanings. One meaning is robbery, oppression, taking from others through force or coercion (as in, “no man will h-m-d=attack your land” [Exodus 34: 24] -- where the verse clearly does not intend to suggest that the land is undesirable). The other meaning is internal craving or desire that is not outwardly acted on. ... Many people have said that there is no sin in thinking in your heart, and that thoughts carry neither reward nor punishment. There are too many counterproofs for me to quote them all! But see “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to God ” [Proverbs 15: 26], “You did well, insofar as it was your intention” [I Kings 8: 18], and “to those who are upright in their hearts” [Psalms 125: 4]. Moshe sums it all up when he says in the end of the Torah “in your mouth and your heart, to do it” [30: 14]. The core of all the commandments is the improvement of the heart, and most of them are essentially reminders; and the halakhic distinction between intentional and accidental sin proves this.
Do not covet etc: "Coveting" is desire for something which now belongs to others, and is consequently forbidden to us, that is, it is not for sale; and see, every desire and coveting come spontaneously into human hearts after seeing something desirable, but it is within one's capacity and will to stop that coveting as it emerges, and to distance it from one's heart when one knows that attaining the desirable thing is impossible for one, or one may keep it in his heart, and let its bonfire grow until one acts on it, when one knows that acting on it is possible. And God having said, do not commit adultery, do not steal, etc, forbidding the taking of what belongs to another, now God says, what belongs to our fellow must be in our eyes as if it were utterly unattainable by us, and having commanded us not to take what belongs to another we are now commanded not to covet it. And every one who covets is under this forbidding; violence comes lightly to him and seems possible, but anyone who reveres God's word, sees violence as prevented, and what doesn't belong to him is as if it were in the heavens, so that he cannot seize it and does not covet it. He rejoices in what he has and rejoices in his fellows' good fortune, loving them and beloved by them; but the other one spends all his days in the whirlwind of cravings and anxieties, coveting what he cannot have and aggressive toward his fellow, envious of his fellow, hating them and hated by them, and he will die in his lack of ethics; and see Ibn Ezra's words, which are apt.
THOU SHALT NOT COVET. Many people are amazed at this commandment. They ask, how is it possible for a person not to covet in his heart all beautiful things that appear desirable to him? I will now give you a parable.276Which will aid you in understanding the commandment that prohibits coveting. Note, a peasant of sound mind who sees a beautiful princess will not entertain any covetous thoughts about sleeping with her, for he knows that this is an impossibility. This peasant will not think like the insane who desire to sprout wings and fly to the sky, for it is impossible to do so. ....The intelligent person will therefore neither desire nor covet. Once he knows that God has prohibited his neighbor’s wife to him she will be more exalted in his eyes than the princess is in the eyes of the peasant. He will therefore be happy with his lot and will not allow his heart to covet and desire anything which is not his. For he knows that that which God did not want to give him, he cannot acquire by his own strength, thoughts, or schemes. He will therefore trust in his creator, that is, that his creator will sustain him and do what is right in His sight.
Do not covet. Many wonder at this mitzvah. How can a person not covet in his heart a beautiful thing, something that his eyes see as desirable? The heart covets of itself, by it's own nature and against human choice. But see Ibn Ezra's comment...Consider that God commanded us to love saying "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart." What would have been missing from that verse if it had said, "with your heart," and what does the word "all" add? That the intention is for your heart to be entirely filled with the love of God, that is, it should be the only thing in your heart -- not that your heart should contain a mixture of loving God and craving worldly things! because then it would not be full of love of God, and if it were half for God and half for yourself we could not call call 'all your heart." See how it is with anyone who fulfills this mitzvah: once his spirit longs to rejoice with God and finally clings to God with much love every moment, seeing God's pleasantness and rejoicing in the glow of God's majesty, that one will also find great pleasure and wonderful sweetness and joy in it -- because his heart is always full of God's holiness, and is bound to God with strong bonds of love, and thus he fulfills 'all your heart,' because his heart is full to the brim with God's love! Consequently it's impossible for him to covet any desirably thing of this world, knowing that coveting is located in the heart and not any other part of us, so that once his heart is perpetually full of love of God, where is there room in the heart to crave and covet what belongs to someone else? It is like a cup full to the brim to which not a drop can be added. And so we see that nobody can transgress 'do not covet' unless he is already failing to observe the positive commandment of loving God with all our heart; he might love God indeed, but not only God - he loves God and also the desirable things of the world and the pleasures of human beings, and consequently he fails in 'all your heart.' And once that happens, the heart automatically begins to crave worldly things that are before his eyes, even if he knows its sinful and does not intentionally choose to do it; but it is the heart's nature to desire.
לא תחמוד, The thing should seem to you wholly impossible, because its our nature not to covet things that are wholly unattainable. And it's like "Nobody will covet (h-m-d) your land" - because coveting it leads to stealing it, just as in the case of Achan (Joshua 7:21), "and I coveted them and took them."
מי שהמידה הזאת מתגברת עליו, הוא מגונה מאוד. כי הקנאה מביאה לידי חימוד, כי כשאדם אינו נותן על לבו ומקנא מה שיש בידי אחרים – אז אינו חומד. אבל בעת אשר ימשוך לבו, ומקנא במה שיש ביד אחרים – אז הוא חומד. והתורה אמרה (שמות כ יד): "לא תחמוד". וכשהוא חומד – אז הוא גוזל, כדכתיב: "וחמדו שדות וגזלו כרמים". קרוב לעבור על עשרת הדברות.
Now any man who has this quality strongly within him, is very despicable, for jealousy brings a person to lust, for when a man does not pay attention to what his companion acquires, he does not lust. And the Torah said, "You shall not lust after the wife of your neighbor… and anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exod. 20:14). A man who is overpowered by lust, is very close to transgressing the Ten Commandments.
(ט) כל החומד עבדו או אמתו או ביתו וכליו של חבירו או דבר שאפשר לו שיקנהו ממנו והכביר עליו ברעים והפציר בו עד שלקחו ממנו אף על פי שנתן לו דמים רבים הרי זה עובר [ה] בלא תעשה שנאמר לא תחמוד. ואין לוקין על לאו זה מפני שאין בו מעשה.
[Rambam: 1135-1204] Anyone who covets his neighbor’s servant, house, utensils, or any saleable article of his, and pressures him through friends and implores him until he acquires it, even though he pays him well for it, violates the negative commandment of "Do not covet." He does not transgress this prohibition until he actually takes possession of the object.
Ben Zoma said:.... Who is mighty? He who subdues his [evil] inclination, as it is said: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot, as it is said: “You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors, you shall be happy and you shall prosper” (Psalms 128:2)