Tenth Commandment

Rabbitpirate said...

The question was Why are wives listed with things like oxen, houses, asses, which are property?

Ray did not answer this question, he simply claimed that it is not the case.

And yet many verse can be found the fully support the idea of women as property.


@Rabbitpirate

Yes, that was part of the original question. But, actually, the question goes on to suggest that what the Bible is teaching that wives are considered property, because "wives" are listed in the tenth commandment. (That crux of the question was not really a question, but was really an assertion that the Bible says something.)

And Ray did, in fact, address the question, primarily by addressing the assertion.

Perhaps I can offer you a more thorough answer.

The tenth commandment prohibits "coveting". Let's review.

cov·et

(v.t.) to feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's).
(v.i.) to feel immoderate desire for that which is another's.
(v.t.) to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably.

The thrust of the commandment is prohibiting a condition of one's heart. The commandment says:

You shall not covet.

The commandment does go on to clarify the meaning of the word "covet".

You shall not covet ... ANYTHING that belongs to your neighbor.

That is, you shall not covet ANYTHING that DOES NOT BELONG to you and BELONGS to someone else.

The commandment lists some specific things that DO NOT BELONG to you: your neighbor's house and your neighbor's wife.

So, does the fact that your neighbor's car and your neighbors daughter are not in the list, that it's okay to covet them? Obviously not.

The commandment prohibits you from desiring anything that doesn't belong to you and that legitimately belongs to someone else.

That's the point. That's what God is saying in the tenth commandment.

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The purpose of the obtuse question, of course, is to distract us from what God is saying. The intent of the question is to twist Scripture, and to make us think the Bible says something that it doesn't say.

The question implies (mistakenly) that the Bible declares that a wife is considered property.

This implication is plainly wrong. As Ray already answered, this accusation against the Bible is spurious and sorely unfounded.

The Bible, in fact, does not teach that a wife is property, your unsupported claim of "many verse" notwithstanding.

The tenth commandment DOES NOT say that a wife is property, or is owned. The commandment lists "your neighbor's wife" as something you should not have a desire for.