Overview

The tenth commandment completes the second table by reaching into the heart, where all the others begin. This section gives the commandment (Q146), the duties it requires — full contentment and a charitable frame toward our neighbor (Q147), and the sins it forbids — discontent, envy, and all inordinate desire for what is our neighbor’s (Q148). It is the commandment that, more than any other, exposes the heart and silences self-righteousness.

The Questions & Answers

Q146. Which is the tenth commandment? A. The tenth commandment is, 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.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“You shall not covet…” (Exod. 20:17, ESV)

Q147. What are the duties required in the tenth commandment? A. The duties required in the tenth commandment are, such a full contentment with our own condition, and such a charitable frame of the whole soul toward our neighbour, as that all our inward motions and affections touching him, tend unto, and further all that good which is his.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“…for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Phil. 4:11, ESV)

“Rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Rom. 12:15; cf. 1 Tim. 6:6, ESV)

Further proofs: Heb. 13:5; 1 Cor. 13:4–7; Esth. 10:3; Job 31:29.

Q148. What are the sins forbidden in the tenth commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are, discontentment with our own estate; envying and grieving at the good of our neighbour, together with all inordinate motions and affections to any thing that is his.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“…for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” (James 3:14–16, ESV)

“I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Rom. 7:7–8, ESV)

Further proofs: 1 Kings 21:4; Esth. 5:13; Deut. 5:21; Col. 3:5; Ps. 73:3.

Exposition: The tenth commandment is unique among the ten: where the others can be broken by outward act, this one forbids the inward desire itself — “all inordinate motions and affections” (Q148). It thus exposes the heart-root from which every other sin grows. Paul testifies that this was the commandment that slew his self-righteousness: until the law said “You shall not covet,” he thought himself blameless (Rom. 7:7). Q147’s positive requirement is profound: not merely the absence of envy but “such a charitable frame of the whole soul toward our neighbour” that all our inward affections “tend unto, and further all that good which is his.” This is the opposite of covetousness — a heart so content in God and so loving toward neighbor that it actively delights in others’ good (Rom. 12:15). Covetousness, Scripture says, is idolatry (Col. 3:5): a heart craving as life what God has not given.

Connections

• WSC Q79–81 — the tenth commandment, its duties and sins.
• WLC Q149 and WSC Q82 (no one can keep the commandments perfectly — the tenth especially proves it); WCF 6 (original sin, which covetousness reveals).
• Loci: The tenth commandment; contentment; covetousness as idolatry; the heart as the root of sin.

Pastoral & Practical Significance

The tenth commandment is where the law finally corners every one of us. We may keep the others outwardly and congratulate ourselves — but who can claim a heart entirely free of all coveting, all envy, all discontent? This commandment shows that God’s law is spiritual, reaching to the desires no human eye can see (WLC Q99, rule 2), and so it strips away self-righteousness and drives us to Christ (Rom. 7:7–11). Its positive cure is contentment — not passive resignation, but the settled trust that the infinitely wise and good God (Q7) has appointed our lot, so that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6). The antidote to covetousness is not getting more but treasuring God more: when He is our portion (Ps. 73:25–26), the relentless craving loosens its grip. And the “charitable frame of the whole soul” Q147 requires — actively rejoicing in others’ good rather than resenting it — is the fruit of a heart secure in God’s love, no longer needing to measure itself against its neighbor. In a culture engineered to manufacture envy at every turn, the contented Christian is a quiet miracle of grace, a living witness that Christ is enough. The same commandment that humbles us by exposing the heart also points us to the only cure: a heart so satisfied in God that it can love its neighbor’s good as its own.

For Memory & Reflection

• Memorize Q146, Q147, and Q148; anchor verses: Philippians 4:11 and Romans 7:7–8.
• The tenth commandment exposed even Paul’s hidden sin. What does it expose in me that the others, judged outwardly, might miss?
• Q147 requires me to further my neighbor’s good with my whole soul. Do I rejoice in others’ blessings, or secretly grieve at them?