Thou Shall not Covet

[Ben Masada]

THOU SHALL NOT COVET

According to Halachah - Jewish law - a sin is not a sin as long as it remains in the mind and never materializes into action.

Now, if sin, by definition, is a transgression of the Law, and to covet is not a sin, how can we harmonize the apparent contradiction that "thou shall not covet" is present in the Decalogue as a commandment?

IMHO, the only way out is to refer to "thou shall not covet" as an explanation or extension to the commandment "thou shall not steal." But, then again, how to harmonize another apparent contradiction of Decalogue with nine and not ten commandments, if we cancel out "Thou shall not covet" as a commandment?

It happens that, once, Jesus was asked which was the first of all the commandments. That's in Mark 12:28,29. Jesus answered with the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4. "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One." Hence, comes the first commandment: Thou shall have no other gods before Me, which would explain the Shema.

The second commandment would be about idolatry: Thou shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth.

Now, as an exeption, so to speak, as if for the sake of Art, one were to engrave as a sculptor by profession, the third commandment would be thou shall not bow down to graven images with the intent to serve them in terms of prayers, sacrifices and worship.

From then on, we have the one not to take the name of God in vain as the 4th, the Shabbat as a day of rest for the 5th, to honor one's parents as the 6th, not to kill as the 7th, not to commit adultery as the 8th, not to steal as the 9th, and not to bear false witness as the 10th commandment.

This way, we have the Decalogue without having "Thou shall not covet" as a commandment but a fence around the Torah to prevent stealing anything that belongs to another. Therefore, Halachah is thus, harmonized with the Decalogue.

Ben

 

[showme]

You are kidding, right?

The last entry in the commandments is according to Dt 5:21," You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his manservang, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor"

You can number the commandments anyway you want, but you cannot throw them away. You start throwing them away, you are as a Gentile, and heaven forbid, you don't want to be like one of those.

Sometime your arguements remind me of Catholic apologists. You definitely don't want to be like one of those.

Yeshua already explained that sin is conceived in the heart. (Mt 5:28)

 

[Cohen]

(Exodus 20:14):You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

According to the commands of thought, speech, and action, and according to relations between human and Gd, human and his family, and human and human, reaching :
"Thou shalt not steal." Action between Human and Human

 

[Ben Masada]

You are kidding, right?

The last entry in the commandments is according to Dt 5:21," You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his manservang, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor"

You can number the commandments anyway you want, but you cannot throw them away. You start throwing them away, you are as a Gentile, and heaven forbid, you don't want to be like one of those.

Sometime your arguements remind me of Catholic apologists. You definitely don't want to be like one of those.

Yeshua already explained that sin is conceived in the heart. (Mt 5:28)

No, I am deadly serious. "You shall not covet" is a fence around the commandment not to steal, or to kidnap any thing that belongs to our neighbor; and I am not throwing away that commandment. I am just saying that to avoid breaking the commandment not to steal, we must avoid coveting.

Yes, sin is conceived in the heart. A child is also conceived in the womb, but it is not a child until it is born. As a child can be aborted , covetness ought to be aborted (or avoided) before it becomes a fact. So, to prevent the effect, one must avoid the cause. The point is that to covet in the mind is not a sin until it becomes a sin on the paper.
Ben

 

[Ben Masada]

(Exodus 20:14):You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

According to the commands of thought, speech, and action, and according to relations between human and Gd, human and his family, and human and human, reaching :
"Thou shalt not steal." Action between Human and Human

There is no relation between Adonai and the sins of men, as God cannot be affected by what man does. We affect only ourselves with our wrongdoings.
Ben

 

[showme]

No, I am deadly serious. "You shall not covet" is a fence around the commandment not to steal, or to kidnap any thing that belongs to our neighbor; and I am not throwing away that commandment. I am just saying that to avoid breaking the commandment not to steal, we must avoid coveting.

Yes, sin is conceived in the heart. A child is also conceived in the womb, but it is not a child until it is born. As a child can be aborted , covetness ought to be aborted (or avoided) before it becomes a fact. So, to prevent the effect, one must avoid the cause. The point is that to covet in the mind is not a sin until it becomes a sin on the paper.
Ben

In this you are wrong. One can commit adultery in their heart (Mt 5:28). And except in the minds of liberal Democrats and in the mind of a guy named Ben, a child in the womb is still a child. Kill a pregant woman, and you risk being charged for a double murder. North Carolina Man Charged for Killing Pregnant Woman, Baby | LifeNews.com
To enter the kingdom of God, you must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. (Mt 5:20)
To not be able to accept a simply expressed commandment, seems to be on par with the "Christian" concept of accepting the commandments. Whereas both the jews and the "Christians" have problems with the traditions of men, you would at least think the jewish thought would have been a little more clear, not less clear.

 

[Ben Masada]

In this you are wrong. One can commit adultery in their heart (Mt 5:28). And except in the minds of liberal Democrats and in the mind of a guy named Ben, a child in the womb is still a child. Kill a pregant woman, and you risk being charged for a double murder. North Carolina Man Charged for Killing Pregnant Woman, Baby | LifeNews.com
To enter the kingdom of God, you must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. (Mt 5:20)
To not be able to accept a simply expressed commandment, seems to be on par with the "Christian" concept of accepting the commandments. Whereas both the jews and the "Christians" have problems with the traditions of men, you would at least think the jewish thought would have been a little more clear, not less clear.

Now, read Luke 17:21. The kingdom of God is esoteric. Jesus himself said that it is within ourselves and not a place to go to. And I tell you this: Please, do not take this as an offense, but by promising a fictitious heaven, instead of promoting a paradise on earth, the NT only seeks to make complete idiots out of the masses in this world. Let us be real and live this life the best way we can because that's the only one we have.
Ben