Exodus 20:17

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.””

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Exodus 20:17 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.””

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“`Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which <FI>is<Fi> thy neighbour's.'”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Exodus 20:17 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Genesis 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
  2. Genesis 14:23that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
  3. Genesis 34:23Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”
  4. Joshua 7:21When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
  5. 1 Samuel 15:19So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
  6. 2 Samuel 11:2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
  7. Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
  8. Job 31:9If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
  9. Psalms 10:3For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
  10. Psalms 119:36Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.
  11. Proverbs 4:23Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
  12. Proverbs 6:24to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
  13. Ecclesiastes 4:8There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
  14. Ecclesiastes 5:10He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
  15. Isaiah 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
  16. Isaiah 57:17I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart.
  17. Jeremiah 5:8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
  18. Jeremiah 22:17“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
  19. Ezekiel 33:31So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
  20. Amos 2:6This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
  21. Micah 2:2They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.
  22. Habakkuk 2:9Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
  23. Matthew 5:28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
  24. Matthew 20:15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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