What is the meaning of 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor goods'?

Answer 1

AnswerEarly Hebrew society was intensely patriarchal, so the Ten Commandments were written for men, not for women. Adultery with another man's wife was proscribed, but there was no prohibition on a married man having sex with a single woman or a widow. The commandment did not prohibit an available woman from coveting another woman's husband, although, as in all societies, a girl's virginity was important if she wished to marry well.

In the Old Testament, a neighbour was a fellow-Hebrew. So coveting or desiring a gentile's wife or goods was not proscribed.