You Shall Not Covet and the Five Against Five Tablets

"You shall not covet" (Exodus 20:14), and further on it says "you shall not desire" (Deuteronomy 5:18), to make one liable for desire on its own and for coveting on its own. From where do we know that a man who desires will in the end covet? As it is said, "you shall not desire" and "you shall not covet." From where that a man who covets will in the end rob? As it is said, "and they covet fields and seize them" (Micah 2:2). Desire is in the heart, and so it says, "when your soul desires" (Deuteronomy 12:20); and coveting is in deed, and so it says, "you shall not covet the silver and gold that is on them and take it for yourself" (Deuteronomy 7:25). One might think a man may not even desire his own daughter so as to take her [in marriage]; Scripture teaches "your neighbor's wife": just as your neighbor's wife is forbidden to you, so too any matter that is forbidden to you. If so, just as your neighbor's wife is something for which one is liable to death at the hands of the court, perhaps I have only that for which one is liable to court-imposed death; Scripture teaches "his house and his field" (Deuteronomy 5:18). Or just as these are distinguished in that they are acquired by money, by deed, and by possession, perhaps I have only what is acquired by money, deed, and possession; Scripture teaches "his manservant and his maidservant." Or just as these are distinguished as things attached to the land, perhaps I have only what is attached to the land; Scripture teaches "his ox and his donkey." Or just as these are distinguished in that their safekeeping is upon you, perhaps I have only what its safekeeping is upon you. From where that he may not covet his staff, nor his shoe, nor his money-belt? Scripture teaches "and all that belongs to your neighbor." One might think a man may not say, "Would that my eye were like his eye, would that my hair were like his hair"; Scripture teaches "his ox and his donkey, his manservant and his maidservant, his house and his field": just as these are distinguished as things that could come under your hand while your fellow is left lacking, so too I have only what could come under your hand while your fellow is left lacking. Another interpretation: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, and all that belongs to your neighbor." Is there a man who covets all these things at once? Rather, because he comes upon his fellow's wife and she bears a male child, the husband supposes the child is his, and it turns out that the man bequeaths to that child his house, his field, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, and all that belongs to your neighbor. These are the Ten Commandments: "I am," "You shall have no," "You shall not take," "Remember," "Honor," "You shall not murder," "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet"; five on this tablet and five on that tablet, the words of Rabbi Hananiah ben Gamaliel. And the Sages say: ten on this tablet and ten on that tablet [each tablet bearing all ten], five corresponding to five. "You shall not murder" corresponds to "I am," teaching that whoever sheds blood, it is as if he diminishes the divine likeness. "You shall not commit adultery" corresponds to "You shall have no [other gods]," teaching that idolatry is weighed equal to adultery, and so it says, "and through the lightness of her harlotry she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and with wood" (Jeremiah 3:9). "You shall not steal" corresponds to "You shall not take [the name in vain]," for whoever steals will in the end swear falsely. "You shall not bear false witness" corresponds to "Remember," for so to speak the Holy One, blessed be He, said: if you bear false witness against your fellow, I reckon it to you as though you testified that I did not create My world in six days and did not rest on the seventh. "You shall not covet" corresponds to "Honor," for whoever covets his fellow's wife will in the end have a son by her who honors one who is not his father and curses his own mother. One might think a man is not liable until he transgresses all of them; Scripture teaches "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet," to make one liable for each and every one on its own. If so, why is it said further on, "You shall not murder, and you shall not commit adultery, and you shall not steal, and you shall not bear false witness, and you shall not covet" (Deuteronomy 5:17)? This tells you that they are all bound up with one another: when a man breaks through one of them, he will in the end break through all of them. From where that a man who murders will in the end commit adultery? As it is written, "my son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk for the innocent without cause... cast in your lot among us, let us all have one purse" (Proverbs 1:10-14). And from where that an adulterer will in the end steal? As it is written, "when you saw a thief, you joined with him, and your portion was with adulterers" (Psalms 50:18). From where that a thief will in the end come to false swearing? As it is written, "he who shares with a thief hates his own soul; he hears the adjuration but discloses nothing" (Proverbs 29:24).