"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, o his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17b)
After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the tenth commandment means in this way:
"We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor's wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty."
Okay, here's a good illustration of coveting: The movie Indecent Proposal stars Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore as a young couple deep in debt. Robert Redford offers the character played by Harrelson a million dollars to sleep with his wife. Obviously they go through with it (or the movie wouldn't sell tickets, sadly) and the experience forces a rift between the young couple, a rift that Robert Redford's character is only too happy to step into, trying to take Demi Moore's character for himself. Now there are probably a half-dozen sins to sort out in just this short description, but what Robert Redford's character is doing is coveting. He wants what God has given to Woody Harrelson's character.
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