Thou shall not COVET

tonychanyt · May 31, 2024

Genesis 2:

9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Here, H2530 was used in a positive sense.

Strong's Hebrew: 2530. חָמַד (chamad) — 28 Occurrences

BDB:

verb desire, take pleasure
a. in bad sense of inordinate, ungoverned, selfish desire
b. = take pleasure in, of idolatrous tendency
c. less often in good sense, said of God

The verb was ambiguous. It could be used negatively. Exodus 20:

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

To desire and take pleasure in something is okay. If you overdo it to the extent that you desire to possess or lust after something pleasant that does not belong to you, then it is a sin.

Like having an affair with someone's wife?

Right. See When is a thought considered a lustful thought?.

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Thou shall not COVET

tonychanyt

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