covet – Ministry of Grace Church

For, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not bear false witness," "Do not covet," and if there is any other commandment, they are all summed up in this saying, namely, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Truth to Learn

Fully paying our love debt fulfills the second table of the Law.

Behind the Words

“Commit adultery” is from moicheuō, which refers to “sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse.”

The word “murder” is from the Greek word phoneuō, meaning “to intentionally take the life of another person without due process of law.”

“Steal” is from the Greek verb kleptō, which means “to take that which does not rightfully belong to you.” It is the word from which we get our English word kleptomaniac (someone who habitually steals).

“Bear false witness” is translated from pseudomartureō, which is made up of poseudes, meaning “untrue” and martureō, meaning “to give testimony as a witness.”

The word “covet” is translated from epithumeō, meaning “to have an overly strong desire or lust for something.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Paul told us that we are indebted to each other, a debt that we should always be striving to pay. This debt is a debt of love. He ended the previous verse with, “for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law.” He now proceeds to explain what he means by that expression. You will notice that the five commandments that Paul refers to in this verse correspond to five of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses. The Ten Commandments are often separated into The First Table (commandments 1 – 4) dealing with our relationship to God and The Second Table (commandments 5-10) dealing with our relationship to others. The commandments that Paul references in the current verse are all from the second table, the commandment to honor our parents having been omitted. These commandments encompass all that is included in our relationship with our fellow man.

Paul’s point is that all of these can be summed up in, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In fact, when Jesus was challenged by one of the scribes to proclaim which is the greatest commandment in the Law, here’s what He said:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

Application

If we were constantly paying our debt of love to those around us, then we would be living as God intended all of mankind to live. In doing so we would be fulfilling the second table of the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, as people with a sin nature, we are not able to behave this way all the time. However, that should not stop us from trying to do so.

In God's service, for His glory,

You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and are not able to obtain. You fight and battle. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

Truth to Learn

Our own selfish desire to have is the reason why we fight.

Behind the Words

The word translated “lust” is the Greek word epithumeō which is a compound of epi which means “upon, above, or over” and a form of thumos, meaning “a strong passion of the mind.” Hence, epithumeō refers to “overly strong desires” or “lusts.” This is different word that the one translated “passions” in the previous verse.

“Murder” is from phoneuō, meaning “to kill unjustly” or “to murder.”

The word translated “covet” is dzeloō which means “strong feelings” and can be either for or against something. The translation of “covet” is better than the “desire to have” which is how it is translated in the KJV because of the strong feeling implied in this word.

Machomai is translated as “fight.” It literally means, “to fight as in a battle or a war.” As used here, it probably means a physical confrontation in a private quarrel. Whereas the word translated “battle” means,“ to go to war against an enemy.

As we have shown it here in our translation, James probably intended a grammatical stop after battle. If this is so, the verse reads thus:

You lust and do not have – you murder. And you covet and are not able to obtain – you fight and battle. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

Meaning Explained

In the previous chapter James warned against the desire for an eminent position in the church such as being a teacher. He now talks about the problem of an inordinate desire for things.

He says that the lusting for things is why we kill and that our covetousness (untempered desire for something that someone else has) is why we fight.

“But,” you say, “I’ve never killed anyone, and I certainly don’t go to battle, so this verse really isn’t for me.” However, Jesus equated unjustified anger with killing, as Matthew recorded in his gospel account:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, “Do not commit murder, and whoever commits murder will be in danger of the judgment.” But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment. (Matthew 5:21, 22a)

James also talks about fighting being the result of our coveting, so I’m sure that this verse applies to every one of us. We all get angry and we all covet. We are all guilty before the Lord.

In the final analysis, James tells us that the reason we don’t have what we want is because we don’t ask. And when we do ask, we often do so with wrong motives. James will get into that in the next verse. So, how do we have our desires satisfied? Here’s what the psalmist said:

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4)

Application

Let’s each one of us take a few minutes right now to confess our inappropriate anger and covetousness to our God and Father. And, instead of making our delight be the possession of things and getting what we deserve, let’s make our merciful Lord and Savior our delight and thank Him that we don’t get what we truly deserve.

In God's service, for His glory,

Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: covet

Romans 13:9 – Living The Second Table

James 4:2 – Fighting from Desire