It is to be observed, in the first place, that these two precepts,
which were delivered last in order, furnish a general principle for the
observance of all the rest. What is commanded in these two amounts to this,
that if we wish to observe the preceding precepts of the law, we must be
particularly careful not to covet. For he who does not covet, being content
with what he has, will not desire what belongs to others, but will rejoice in
their prosperity, will give glory to the immortal God, will render Him
boundless thanks, and will observe the Sabbath, that is, will enjoy perpetual
repose, and will respect his superiors. In fine, he will injure no man in word
or deed or otherwise; for the root of all evil is concupiscence, which hurries
its unhappy victims into every species of crime and wickedness. Keeping these
considerations in mind, the pastor should be more diligent in explaining this
Commandment, and the faithful more ready to hear (his instruction). {a}
We have united these two Commandments because, since their subject-matter
is similar, they may be treated together. However, the pastor may explain them
either together or separately, according as he may deem it more effective for
his exhortations and admonitions. If, however, he has undertaken the exposition
of the Decalogue, he should point out in what these two Commandments are
dissimilar; how one covetousness differs from another a difference noticed
by St. Augustine, in his book of Questions on Exodus. 2 The one covetousness looks
only to utility and interest, the other to unlawful desire and criminal
pleasure. He, for instance, who covets a field or house, pursues profit rather
than pleasure, while he who covets another man's wife yields to a desire of
pleasure, not of profit.
The promulgation of these two Commandments was necessary for two
reasons. The first is to explain the sixth and seventh Commandments. Reason alone
shows that to prohibit adultery is also to prohibit the desire of another man's
wife, because, were the desire lawful, its indulgence must be so too;
nevertheless, many of the Jews, blinded by sin, could not be induced to believe
that such desires were prohibited by God. Nay, even after the Law had been
promulgated and become known, many who professed themselves its interpreters,
continued in the same error, as we learn from these words of our Lord recorded
in St. Matthew: You have heard that it was said to them of old: "Thou
shalt not commit adultery," but I say to you, etc. 3
The second reason (for the promulgation) of these two Commandments is
that they distinctly and in express terms prohibit some things of which the
sixth and seventh Commandments do not contain an explicit prohibition. The
seventh Commandment, for instance, forbids an unjust desire or endeavor to take
what belongs to another; but this Commandment further prohibits even to covet
it in any way, even though it could be acquired justly and lawfully, if we
foresee that by such acquisition our neighbour would suffer some loss.
But before we come to the exposition of the Commandments, the faithful
are first to be informed that by this law we are taught not only to restrain
our inordinate desires, but also to know the boundless love of God towards us.
By the preceding Commandments God had, as it were, fenced us round with
safeguards, securing us and ours against injury of every sort; but by the
addition of these two Commandments, He intended chiefly to provide against the
injuries which we might inflict on ourselves by the indulgence of inordinate
desires, as would easily happen were we at liberty to covet all things
indiscriminately. By this law then, which forbids to covet, God has blunted in
some degree the keenness of desire, which excites to every kind of evil, so
that by reason of His command these desires are to some extent diminished, and
we ourselves, freed from the annoying importunity of the passions, are enabled
to devote more time to the performance of the numerous and important duties of
piety and religion which we owe to God.
Nor is this the only lesson of instruction which we derive from these
Commandments. They also teach us that the divine law is to be observed not only
by the external performance of duties, but also by the internal concurrence of
the heart. Between divine and human laws, then, there is this difference, that
human laws are fulfilled by an external compliance alone, whereas the laws of
God, since He reads the heart, require purity of heart, sincere and undefiled
integrity of soul.
The law of God, therefore, is a sort of mirror, in which we behold the
corruption of our own nature; and hence these words of the Apostle: I had
not known concupiscence, if the law did not say: "Thou shalt not
covet." 4 Concupiscence, which is the fuel of sin, and which originated in
sin, is always inherent in our fallen nature; from it we know that we are born
in sin, and, therefore, do we humbly fly for assistance to Him, who alone can
efface the stains of sin.
In common with the other Commandments, however, these two are partly mandatory, partly prohibitory.
With regard to the prohibitory part, the pastor should explain what
sort of concupiscence is prohibited by this law, lest some may think that which
is not sinful to be sinful.
Such is the concupiscence of the spirit against the flesh; 5. Or that which David so earnestly desired, namely, to long after
the justifications of God at all times. 6
Concupiscence, then, is a certain commotion and impulse of the soul,
urging men to the desire of pleasures, which they do not actually enjoy. As the
other propensities of the soul are not always sinful, neither is the impulse of
concupiscence always vicious. It is not, for instance, sinful to desire food
and drink; when cold, to wish for warmth; when warm, to wish to become cool.
This lawful species of concupiscence was implanted in us by the Author of
nature; but in consequence of the sin of our first parents it passed the limits
prescribed by nature and became so depraved that it frequently excites to the
desire of those things which conflict with the spirit and reason.
However, if well regulated, and kept within proper bounds, it is often
still the source of no slight advantage. In the first place, it leads us to
supplicate God continually, and humbly to beg of Him those things which we most
earnestly desire. Prayer is the interpreter of our wishes; and if this lawful
concupiscence did not exist within us, prayer would be far less frequent in the
Church of God. It also makes us esteem the gifts of God more highly; for the
more eagerly we desire anything, the dearer and more pleasing will be its
possession to us. Finally, the gratification which we receive from the
acquisition of the desired object increases the devotion of our gratitude to
God.
If then it is sometimes lawful to covet, it must be conceded that not
every species of concupiscence is forbidden. St. Paul, it is true, says that concupiscence
is sin; 7
but his words are to be understood in the same sense as those of Moses, whom he
cites, 8 as
the Apostle himself declares when, in his Epistle to the Galatians he calls it the
concupiscence of the flesh, for he says: Walk in the spirit, and you
shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. 9
Hence that natural, well-regulated concupiscence which does not go beyond
its proper limits, is not prohibited; still less do these Commandments forbid
that spiritual desire of the virtuous mind, which prompts us to long for those
things that war against the flesh, for the Sacred Scriptures themselves exhort
us to such a desire: Covet ye my words, 10 Come
over to me all ye that desire me. 11
It is not, then, the mere power of desire, which can move either to a
good or a bad object that is prohibited by these Commandments; it is the
indulgence of evil desire, which is called the concupiscence of the flesh,
and the fuel of sin, and which when accompanied by the consent of the
will, is always sinful. Therefore only that covetousness is forbidden which the
Apostle calls the concupiscence of the flesh, that is to say, those
motions of desire which are contrary to the dictates of reason and out-step the
limits prescribed by God.
This kind of covetousness is condemned, either because it desires what
is evil, such as adultery, drunkenness, murder, and such heinous crimes, of
which the Apostle says: Let us not covet evil things, as they also coveted;
12 or because, although the
objects may not be bad in themselves, yet there is some other reason which makes
it wrong to desire them, as when, for instance, God or His Church prohibit
their possession; for it is not permitted us to desire these things which it is
altogether unlawful to possess. Such were, in the Old Law, the gold and silver
from which idols were made, and which the Lord in Deuteronomy forbade anyone to
covet. 13
Another reason why this sort of vicious desire is condemned is that it
has for its object that which belongs to another, such as a house, maidservant,
field, wife, ox, ass and many other things, all of which the law of God forbids
us to covet, simply because they belong to another. The desire of such things,
when consented to, is criminal, and is numbered among the most grievous sins.
For sin is committed the moment the soul, yielding to the impulse of corrupt
desires, is pleased with evil things, and either consents to, or does not
resist them, as St. James, pointing out the beginning and progress of sin,
teaches when he says: Every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being
drawn away and allured; then, when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin; but sin, when it is completed, begetteth death. 14
When, therefore, the Law says: Thou shalt not covet, it means that we are
not to desire those things which belong to others. A thirst for what belongs to
others is intense and insatiable; for it is written: A covetous man shall
not be satisfied with money; 15 and of such a one Isaias says: Woe to you that
join house to house, and lay field to field. 16 {b}
But a distinct explanation of each of the words (in which this
Commandment is expressed) will make it easier to understand the deformity and
grievousness of this sin.
The pastor, therefore, should teach that by the word house is to be
understood not only the habitation in which we dwell, but all our property, as
we know from the usage and custom of the sacred writers. Thus when it is said
in Exodus that the Lord built houses for the midwives, 17 the meaning is that He
improved their condition and means.
From this interpretation, therefore, we perceive, that we are forbidden
to indulge an eager desire of riches, or to envy others their wealth, or power,
or rank; but, on the contrary, we are directed to be content with our own
condition, whether it be high or low. Furthermore, it is forbidden to desire
the glory of others since glory also is comprised under the word house.
The words that follow, nor his ox, nor his ass, teach us that
not only is it unlawful to desire things of greater value, such as a house,
rank, glory, because they belong to others; but also things of little value,
whatever they may be, animate or inanimate.
The words, nor his servant, come next, and include captives as
well as other slaves whom it is no more lawful to covet than the other property
of our neighbour. With regard to the free who serve voluntarily either for
wages, or out of affection or respect, it is unlawful, by words, or hopes, or
promises, or rewards to bribe or solicit them, under any pretext whatever, to
leave those to whose service they have freely engaged themselves; nay more, if,
before the period of their contract has expired, they leave their employers,
they are to be admonished, on the authority of this Commandment, to return to
them by all means.
The word neighbour is mentioned in this Commandment to mark the
wickedness of those who habitually covet the lands, houses and the like, which
lie in their immediate vicinity; for neighborhood, which should make for
friendship, is transformed by covetousness from a source of love into a cause
of hatred.
But this Commandment is by no means transgressed by those who desire to
purchase or have actually purchased, at a fair price, from a neighbour, the
goods which he has for sale. Instead of doing him an injury, they, on the
contrary, very much assist their neighbour, because to him the money will be
much more convenient and useful than the goods he sells. {c}
The Commandment which forbids us to covet the goods of our neighbor, is
followed by another, which forbids us to covet our neighbor’s wife a law
that prohibits not only the adulterer's criminal desire of his neighbor’s wife,
but even the wish to marry her. For of old when a bill of divorce was
permitted, it might easily happen, that she who was put away by one husband
might be married to another. But the Lord forbade the desire of another's wife
lest husbands might be induced to abandon their wives, or wives conduct
themselves with such bad temper towards their husbands as to make it necessary
to send them away.
But now this sin is more grievous because the wife, although separated
from her husband, cannot be taken in marriage by another until the husband's
death. He, therefore, who covets another man's wife will easily fall from this
into another desire, for he will wish either the death of the husband or the
commission of adultery.
The same principle holds good with regard to women who have been
betrothed to another. To covet them is also unlawful; and whoever strives to
break their engagement violates one of the most holy of promises.
And if to covet the wedded wife of another is entirely unlawful, it is
on no account right to desire in marriage the virgin who is consecrated to
religion and to the service of God. But should anyone desire in marriage a
married woman whom he thinks to be single, and whom he would not wish to marry
if he knew she had a husband living, certainly he does not violate this
Commandment. Pharaoh 18 and Abimelech, 19 as the Scripture informs
us, were betrayed into this error; they wished to marry Sarah, supposing her to
be unmarried, and to be the sister, not the wife of Abraham. {d}
In order to make known the remedies calculated to overcome the vice of
covetousness, the pastor should explain the positive part of the Commandment,
which consists in this, that if riches abound, we set not our hearts upon
them, 20
that we be prepared to sacrifice them for the sake of piety and religion, that
we contribute cheerfully towards the relief of the poor, and that, if we
ourselves are poor, we bear our poverty with patience and joy. And, indeed, if
we are generous with our own goods, we shall extinguish (in our own hearts) the
desire of what belongs to another.
Concerning the praises of poverty and the contempt of riches, the pastor
will find little difficulty in collecting abundant matter for the instruction
of the faithful from the Sacred Scriptures and the works of the Fathers.
Likewise this Commandment requires us to desire, with all the ardor and
all the earnestness of our souls, the consummation, not of our own wishes, but
of the holy will of God, as it is expressed in the Lord's Prayer. Now it is His
will that we be made eminent in holiness; that we preserve our souls pure and
undefiled; that we practice those duties of mind and spirit which are opposed
to sensuality; that we subdue our unruly appetites, and enter, under the
guidance of reason and of the spirit, upon a virtuous course of life; and
finally that we hold under restraint those senses in particular which supply
matter to the passions.
In order to extinguish the fire of passion, it will be found most
efficacious to place before our eyes the evil consequences of its indulgence.
Among those evils the first is that by obedience to the impulse of
passion, sin gains uncontrolled sway over the soul; hence the Apostle warns us:
Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts
thereof. 21 Just
as resistance to the passions destroys the power of sin, so indulgence of the
passions expels God from His kingdom and introduces sin in His place.
Again, concupiscence, as St. James teaches, 22 is the source from which
flows very sin. Likewise St. John says: All that is in the world is the
concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of
life. 23
A third evil of sensuality is that it darkens the understanding.
Blinded by passion man comes to regard whatever he desires as lawful and even
laudable.
Finally, concupiscence stifles the seed of the divine word, sown in our
souls by God, the great husbandman. Some, it is written in St. Mark, are
sown among thorns; these are they who hear the word, and the cares of the
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust after other things,
entering in, choke the word, and it is made fruitless. 24
They who, more than others, are the slaves of concupiscence, the pastor
should exhort with greater earnestness to observe this Commandment. Such are
the following: those who are addicted to improper amusements, or who are
immoderately given to recreation; merchants, who wish for scarcity, and who
cannot bear that other buyers or sellers hinder them from selling at a higher
or buying at a lower rate; those who wish to see their neighbour reduced to
want in order that they themselves may profit in buying or selling; soldiers
who thirst for war, in order to enrich themselves with plunder; physicians, who
wish for the spread of disease; lawyers, who are anxious for a great number of cases
and litigations; and artisans who, through greed for gain, wish for a scarcity
of the necessaries of life in order that they may increase their profits.
They too, sin gravely against this Commandment, who, because they are
envious of the praise and glory won by others, strive to tarnish in some degree
their fame, particularly if they themselves are idle and worthless characters;
for fame and glory are the reward of virtue and industry, not of indolence and
laziness. {e}
1>
Exod.
xx. 17
2>
Qućst.
77
3>
Matt.
v. 28.
4>
Rom.
vii. 7.
5>
Gal.
v. 17.
6>
Ps.
cxviii. 20.
7>
Rom.
vii. 20.
8>
Exod.
xx. 17.
9>
Gal.
v. 16.
10> Wis. vi. 12.
11> Eccl. xxiv. 26.
12> I Cor. x. 6.
13> Deut. vii. 25, 26.
14> James i. 14.
15> Eccl. v. 9.
16> Isa. v. 8.
17> Exod. i. 21.
18> Gen. xii.
19> Gen. xx.
20> Ps. lxi. 11.
21> Rom. vi. 12.
22> James i. 14.
23> 1 John ii. 16.
24> Mark iv. 18.
{a}
On the ninth and tenth Commandments see Summa Theol. 2a. 2ć. cxxii. 6; clxx.;
St. Alphonsus, Theol. Mor. iii. tr. 6. c. 2.
{b}
On concupiscence see Summa Theol. 1a. 2ć. xxx.; 2a. 2ć. lxxxii. 3.
{c}
On avarice see Summa Theol. 2a. 2ć. cxviii.
{d}
On internal sins of impurity see Summa Theol. 2a. 2ć. clxx.
{e}
On internal sins in general see Summa Theol. 1a. 2ć. lxxiv. 8; xx.