The Sum of Sacred Divinity, Book 1 · Chapter 14
CHAP. XIIII.
Of the tenth Commandement.
THE third way that men offend in theſeThis is vprightneſſe: Contentedneſſe is to reſt fully ſatiſfied with that which God beſtoweth. outward things, is, by coueting and longing after that which is another mans, when yet we would not either by wrong or cunning meanes hauehave it from him, but in an vnordinate ſort deſire it for our money, as Ahab did Naboths Vineyard; not conſidering whether our Neighbour bee willing to forgoe it or no, but onelyonly becauſe our teeth water at it; whereas GOD bleſſing our Neighbour with any thing that is good, and wherein hee taketh comfort and delight, Chriſtian louelove requireth, that we ſhould bee as glad in his behalfe, as if we our ſelues inioyed it. And this ſinne is forbidden in the tenth and laſt Commandement.
The ſumme therefore of the tenth Commandement is, that eueryevery one reſt fully pleaſed with that portion which God ſeeth good to beſtow vponupon him, reioycing and taking comfort in it, whether it bee great or ſmall. Let nHeb. 13. 5.your conuerſation bee without couetouſneſſe, being content with that you hauehave: for he himſelfe hath ſaid, I will not leaue thee, nor forſake thee. Hauing o1. Tim. 6. 8.meate and drinke, and clothing, let vsus therewith be content. I pPhilip. 4. 11.hauehave learned in what eſtate ſoeuer I am, therewith to be content. I know how to bee brought low, and how to abound, eueryevery way, in all things, I am inſtructed, both to be full, and to be hungry, and to abound, and to want. The contrary whereof is couetouſneſſe, longing after that which is our Neighbours, or none of ours, though it bee without any ſeeking of vnlawfull meanes to come by it, as Ahab did, 1. King. 21. 2. GiueGive me thy Ʋineyard, that it may be a Garden of Herbes for me, for it is neere my houſe: and I will giuegive thee a better Ʋineyard then it; or if it ſeeme better in thine eyes, I will giuegive theemony to the full value of it.
He that is ſo effected, will reioyce in anothers good,Reioycing in anothers good as in our own, which is the top and perfection of louelove. as in his owne, Rom. 12. 15. Reioyce with them that reioyce, and weepe with them that weepe: which is the top and perfection of louelove. And heereupon I take it, by conference of both the Euangeliſts, MATTHEW and MARKE, that our Sauiour, Mat. 19. 19. noteth out the tenth Commandement by theſe words, Thou ſhalt louelove thy Neighbour as thy ſelfe. Which elſe-where is made the whole ſumme of all the ſecond Table.
The contrary hereof is, firſt, Selfe-louelove: In q2. Tim. 3. 2.the latter dayes men ſhall be louers of themſelues.
Secondly, Enuie: maligning the good things of another, condemned, r1. Tim. 6. 4. He is puffed vp, and knoweth nothing, but doteth about queſtions, and ſtrife of words, whereof commeth Enuie, Strife, Raylings, euill Surmiſes, &c.1. Tim. 6. and the firſt of ſ1. Pet. 2. 1. Wherefore laying aſide all maliciouſneſſe, and all guile, and diſſimulation, and enuie, and all euill ſpeaking.Peter 2.
Thirdly, Reioycing at his hurt. The Pſalmiſt complayneth of this, Pſalme 70. 34. Let them be turned backward and confounded, that delight in my hurt, let them goe backward for a reward of their ſhame, that ſay, There, there. And tObad. v. 12.OBADIAH reprehendeth the Edomites for it: Thou ſhouldeſt not hauehave beene glad of the day of thy Brother, (meaning his affliction;) the day when hee was made a ſtranger: neither ſhouldeſt thou hauehave reioyced at the Iewes what day they periſhed.
This Commandement hath commonly another ſence of forbidding onelyonly the firſt luſts and motions of ſinne, but the reaſons to confirme the Interpretation which I hauehave giuen, I take it (vnderunder reformation) are plaine and pregnant, which notwithſtanding I offer; without preiudice of other mens opinions, ſubmitting my ſelfe and them to thoſe that can better iudge.
Firſt, The plaine euidence of the words: Thou ſhalt not couet thy Neighbours houſe: which is to be inforced by the conference of the reſt of the Commandements: Honour thy father and thy mother: Thou ſhalt not kill: Thou ſhalt not ſteale: thou ſhalt not commit adultery: thou ſhalt not beare falſe witneſſe: hauing all of them a common and a familiar vnderſtanding, ſuch as eueryevery man at the firſt hearing doth conceiue. This therefore muſt hauehave the like. And it is a thing in this point worthie to be obſerued, which the Talmudiſts cite ſo oft. The uforeignLaw, they meane the Scripture, ſpeaketh according to common vſe. Now, let any man, indued onelyonly with reaſon and vnderſtanding, be asked what this ſhould meane, Thou ſhalt not couet thy Neighbours houſe; he will certainly anſwere, We muſt be content with our owne.
Secondly, The word that Moſes hath in xDeut. 5. 27. foreign Thou ſhalt not long after thy Neighbours houſe, &c.Deuteronomie, ſignifieth, To long after a thing, and, To hauehave ones teeth water at it: for ſo you ſhall finde it vſed, Mach. 7. 1. and in many other places.
Thirdly, The particular inſtances, Thy Neighbours Houſe, Wife, Man ſeruant, Maide, Oxe, Aſſe, or any thing that is his, declare manifeſtly, that goods and poſſeſſions are the proper ſubiect of this Commandement: for which cauſe, Exodus 20. 17. the Wife of our Neighbour (his moſt yPro. 19. 14.precious poſſeſſion) commeth not in the firſt place, but is ſet in the middeſt of other poſſeſſions, that by the very marſhalling of the words, it might appeare, that this Commandement reacheth not to the deſiring of ones Wife for filthineſſe and vncleanneſſe ſake.
Fourthly, The order of the Commandements, going by degrees from the greater to the leſſe, and ſo continually falling, till you come to this ſinne of couering, which is the firſt ſtep and beginning of all wrong and deceit, and yet differeth in nature from them both.
Fiftly, Adde hereunto that which I hold as a certayne ground, and is prooued before at large, that the corruption both of nature and deſire, is forbidden in eueryevery one, ſo as this cannot be reſtrayned to a ſeuerall degree of ſin, but a differing and diſtinct kinde of ſinne from thoſe that went before.
Sixtly, and laſtly, our Sauiour Chriſt, the beſt Interpreter of the Law, doth ſo expound it, Marke 10. 9. when reckoning vp all the Commandements of the ſecond Table, in ſtead of Thou ſhalt not couet, he ſaith, Thou ſhalt not depriue (or bereaue a man of ought hee hath) that is, couet or deſire to hauehave any thing that is his, though it be neither by wrong nor fraude, which two are forbidden in the words next before, but reſt in that which God hath giuen thee, which in effect is to louelove our Neighbour as our ſelfe, as zMat. 19. 19.Matthew hath it. For that this muſt needs be the ſence of that place, Marke 10. 19. I gather firſt, becauſe (no doubt) our Sauiours purpoſe was to reckon vp al the Commandements, without leauing out any one.
Secondly, Elſe in ſo few words hee ſhould make a ſuperfluous repetition, and not onelyonly ſo, but alſo ſpeake darkly and obſcurely that, which was more cleerely taught before: for Thou aforeign.ſhalt not bereaue, cannot bee brought to explaine, Thou ſhalt not ſteale: Thou ſhalt not beare falſe witneſſe: it being a great deale more queſtionable what is meant by that word, then by the other two.