Mar 12, 2026

The Tenth Commandment

I have been teaching through the Decalogue at my church. As many are aware there are two "versions" in the Bible, one in Exodus and the other in Deuteronomy. I use a software analogy and call them version 1.0 and version 2.0. While there are mostly similar, they are not identical. One difference can be seen in the final (in the order that I am following) commandment. Here Exodus uses the word "covet" twice and Deuteronomy uses "covet" and a related word, "desire." Also  "neighbor's house" is listed first in Exodus but "neighbor's house is listed second, after "neighbor's wife" in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy has a reference to a neighbor's "field" but this is not found in Exodus. Even with these differences, there is little, if any, real difference between the two commands. Here is a simple table that I created (the English translation is the ESV).

Exodus 20:17

Deuteronomy 5:21

“Covet” (md) 2x

“Covet” (md) and “desire” (ʾwh)

neighbor’s house

neighbor’s wife

neighbor’s wife

neighbor’s house

 

his field

his male servant

his male servant

his female servant

his female servant

his ox

his ox

his donkey

his donkey

anything that is your neighbor’s

anything that is your neighbor’s

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