20:17 “You shall not covet 1 your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 2
21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she 3 dies as a result of the blow, 4 he will surely be punished. 5
1 tn The verb חָמַד (khamad) focuses not on an external act but on an internal mental activity behind the act, the motivation for it. The word can be used in a very good sense (Ps 19:10; 68:16), but it has a bad connotation in contexts where the object desired is off limits. This command is aimed at curtailing the greedy desire for something belonging to a neighbor, a desire that leads to the taking of it or the attempt to take it. It was used in the story of the Garden of Eden for the tree that was desired.
2 sn See further G. Wittenburg, “The Tenth Commandment in the Old Testament,” Journal for Theology in South Africa 21 (1978): 3-17: and E. W. Nicholson, “The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God,” VT 27 (1977): 422-33.
3 tn Heb “so that he”; the words “or she” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “under his hand.”
5 tn Heb “will be avenged” (how is not specified).