The Ninth Day in Lent- The Tenth Commandment

"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

In some numbering of the commandments, #9 and #10 are combined as one, making "you shall not covet" the last commandment.  This makes some sense, as both are about coveting a neighbor's property.  Keep in mind that at the time the commandments were given, a wife was the property of her husband, along with slaves, livestock, etc.  But their is something different about coveting a house, in the 9th commandment, versus coveting a person and other living things in commandment 10.  As the devotion suggests, there is potential for adultery, breaking the 6th commandment, as well as harming other  relationships that exist in our neighbor's families.  Instead, Luther again wants  us to support our neighbor's families, rather than take from them.  Rather than entice people away from their families, we ought "urge them to stay and fulfill their responsibilities to our neighbors."  May we heed these words and do all we can to befriend, love, and support our neighbor's and their families.