--One reason for thinking of it as two commands is that in both versions, there’s a grammatical structure of you shall not covet one particular thing, and then a distributed you shall not covet several things.
--Another reason for separating it is that there seems to be a really profound danger in putting women in together with possessions and livestock as all properly belonging to the same category.
--But if there is such a danger, it’s precisely a danger created by the text. See, Catholics and Lutherans each break the Tenth Commandment into the 9th and 10th Commandments. But, oddly, they don’t do it quite the same way.
--Catholics say the 9th is “do not covet your neighbor’s wife,” following Deuteronomy 5 and then making everything else (material possessions) the 10th Commandment.
--This has the nice advantage of separating a wife made in the image of God from livestock.
--On the other hand, Lutherans say the 9th is “do not covet your neighbor’s house,” following the original Exodus 20 version.
--But even if you say that separating women from things is good, there’s still an obvious problem. Slaves (male and female both itemized) are still lumped in with possessions.
--So, the reason non-Lutheran Protestants follow the Jewish numbering here and make it all one commandment are several:
1. It solves the problem of trying to decide which list to follow in separating them.
2. It doesn’t try to force a separation into the text that may or may not accomplish the goal of honoring man above things.
3. It simplifies the whole subject by saying don’t covet anything that belongs to your neighbor, including these examples.
4. It makes the commands each address a particular thing, murder, adultery, theft, perjury, and coveting.
--Another reason for separating it is that there seems to be a really profound danger in putting women in together with possessions and livestock as all properly belonging to the same category.
--But if there is such a danger, it’s precisely a danger created by the text. See, Catholics and Lutherans each break the Tenth Commandment into the 9th and 10th Commandments. But, oddly, they don’t do it quite the same way.
--Catholics say the 9th is “do not covet your neighbor’s wife,” following Deuteronomy 5 and then making everything else (material possessions) the 10th Commandment.
--This has the nice advantage of separating a wife made in the image of God from livestock.
--On the other hand, Lutherans say the 9th is “do not covet your neighbor’s house,” following the original Exodus 20 version.
--But even if you say that separating women from things is good, there’s still an obvious problem. Slaves (male and female both itemized) are still lumped in with possessions.
--So, the reason non-Lutheran Protestants follow the Jewish numbering here and make it all one commandment are several:
1. It solves the problem of trying to decide which list to follow in separating them.
2. It doesn’t try to force a separation into the text that may or may not accomplish the goal of honoring man above things.
3. It simplifies the whole subject by saying don’t covet anything that belongs to your neighbor, including these examples.
4. It makes the commands each address a particular thing, murder, adultery, theft, perjury, and coveting.
--But it’s important to note that the numbering, however you do it, is ultimately just a reference tool not something given clearly by the text. So don’t fight about these things too much.
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