“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” -Exodus 20:17 Up until now, all of the preceding Words of God have dealt with persons— their lives, their marriages, their freedom, and their legal […]

The question I want to explore today is who is the “neighbor” mentioned in the 9th Word of God of “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”? See, this commandment is the first to explicitly identify the person to whom an Israelite adult male has an obligation, his “neighbor”. Well, the short, quick, and […]

In ancient Israel, legal proceedings usually took place outside at the gates of each city where the elders of the town gathered for judgment. This gave members of the local population the opportunity to observe these trials and stand witness if called to do so. The beginning of the story of Absalom’s revolt against his […]

“Do not give false evidence against your neighbor.” -Exodus 20:16 This Word of God is usually interpreted as a general prohibition against lying. While that is not necessarily incorrect in terms of the spirit of this commandment, that is not exactly what is being referred to here. Like some of the other Words, the original […]

“Do not steal.” -Exodus 20:15 The usual understanding of this commandment is that it is speaking out against theft of all sorts of personal possessions such as animals, silver and clothing etcetera. This traditional understanding is of course well attested to in Biblical law as is apparent from the following verses. “A thief must make […]