Not to covet and scheme to acquire another's possession
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This Mitzvah's Summary
It is forbidden to covet another person’s possessions in a way that leads one to pressure, scheme, or negotiate to obtain them.
This mitzvah commands that a Jew must not desire another’s property to the point of actively pursuing acquisition — persuading, pressuring, or scheming until the owner agrees to sell or give it (Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos Lo Ta’aseh 266; Hilchos Gezeilah 1:9–10).
The Torah here addresses machshavah ha’ra’ah — desire that becomes strategic pursuit. Even if payment is offered and full financial exchange occurs, the act remains prohibited because the origin is a corrupt desire (Tanchuma Va’eschanan 10).
The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 38) explains: Hashem grants each Jew a unique lot. When a person covets, he silently declares:
“Hashem, You misallocated blessing.”
This erodes both emunah and shalom — the foundations of Jewish society.
Chazal describe ta'avah as planting seeds of robbery (Avos d’Rebbi Nosson 2:10). The Torah therefore uproots covetous scheming before it becomes theft.
Commentary & Classical Explanation
- Rambam — Hilchos Gezeilah 1:9–10
Defines lo sachmod as pressuring to sell or give until success occurs — even with money exchanged. - Sefer HaMitzvos (Lo Ta’aseh 266)
Prohibits not only desire but arrangements made to acquire the desired item. - Talmud — Sanhedrin 25a
Coveting leads to gezailah; therefore Torah cuts off the sin at its root. - Talmud — Makos 23b–24a
Lists this among the Ten Commandments foundational laws — guarding the purity of heart. - Sefer HaChinuch 38
The purpose is cultivating bitachon that one’s portion is Divinely designated. - Rashi — Shemos 20:14
Explains lo sachmod applies when action is taken based on desire. - Ramban ad loc.
Root corruption here is inner craving weaponized into manipulation.
Contrast with Mitzvah 477 (Not to desire another’s possession)
- Mitzvah 476 (Lo Sachmod) — desire + action + pursuit
→ Leads to pressuring or scheming to obtain it - Mitzvah 477 (Lo Sisaveh) — desire alone
→ Purely internal craving (Hilchos Gezeilah 1:10)
Like illness vs. symptom:
Lo Sisaveh is the spark; Lo Sachmod is the fire.
Parallel with Mitzvah 475 (Not to withhold wages or fail to repay a debt)
- Both protect property rights and prevent economic coercion.
Both affirm that ownership is a halachic boundary not subject to manipulation.
Commentaries
Applying this Mitzvah Today
Internal Boundaries in Business
- Rambam (Gezeila 1:9) defines lo sachmod as pursuit driven by improper desire — even if the transaction is fully legal and paid for. In today’s professional environments, “closing the deal” through pressure tactics, emotional leverage, or guilt violates this mitzvah. Torah demands clean hands and a clean heart — yosher in intention, not only outcome.
Real Estate, Advertising & Consumer Persuasion
- Avos 5:10 warns that the heart inclined toward envy leads to property violation. Real estate competition, aggressive offers to buy a neighbor’s home, and targeted ads playing on jealousy all risk transgressing lo sachmod by weaponizing desire.
Digital Age Envy
- The Chofetz Chaim writes that the eyes are the entrance to chemdah (Shmiras HaLashon Sha’ar Tzion 7). Social media’s curated success displays create constant temptation to crave someone else’s life. Mussar urges: Guard the eyes → Guard the heart → Guard the hands.
Marriage & Emotional Boundaries
- Ibn Ezra famously explains that coveting another’s wife shows a fantasy that reality itself can be bent to desire. This mitzvah establishes emotional fences that protect shalom bayis and personal dignity (Maharal, Netzach Yisrael 11).
Personal Identity & Joy in One’s Chelek
- Twentieth-century masters (Rav Wolbe, Alei Shur I:110) emphasize cultivating same’ach b’chelko as spiritual immunity. By affirming that my blessings are from Hashem — and are exactly what I need — one stands in genuine freedom from envy.
Economic Ethics & Derech Eretz
- When Torah prohibits the thought before the act, it demands a society built on trust. Rav Hirsch (Shemos 20) writes that lo sachmod preserves the social fabric — a community where success is celebrated rather than resented.
Notes on this Mitzvah's Fundamentals
Faith – אֱמוּנָה
- Believing that “Hashem provides each person what is fitting for him” (Berachos 17a). Coveting whispers that Hashem misassigned blessing — a subtle form of kofer b’hashgachah (denying Divine Providence). Rav Dessler: authentic faith is measured by whether one rejoices in another’s success (Michtav MeEliyahu I).
Thought – מַחֲשָׁבָה
- Torah legislates desires, making Judaism a religion of the heart, not only behavior. “A person’s thoughts are judged” (Chagigah 5b). This mitzvah demands mastery over imagination — the birthplace of both sin and kedushah.
Reverence – יִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם
- True awe is expressed in hidden devotion (Berachos 28b). When a Jew uproots covetousness unseen by others, he declares: Hashem sees the heart (I Shmuel 16:7).
Justice – צֶדֶק
- Rambam: Coveting is theft in its incipient stage. The Torah enforces justice not only in courts but in the impulses that lead to injustice.
Community – קְהִלָּה
- Kinah, ta’avah, kavod destroy fellowship (Avos 4:21). Communities collapse when success breeds resentment; they flourish when brachah for one becomes simchah for all.
Between a person and their fellow – בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ
- Coveting pressures a fellow Jew into discomfort or loss — even when he ultimately consents (Rambam Gezeila 1:9). Torah demands respect for another’s portion both externally and internally.
Between a person and G-d – בֵּין אָדָם לְמָקוֹם
- Hashem Himself assigns livelihoods (Beitzah 16a). Accepting another’s gift from Hashem without competition is a sacred act of Avodas Hashem.
Holiness – קְדֻשָּׁה
- Kedushah means choosing boundaries beyond the permitted (Ramban, Vayikra 19:2). Sanctity of thought — resisting desire — transforms the heart into a mikdash me’at.
Love – אַהֲבָה
- Love of another means wanting their blessing to remain theirs. Rabbeinu Yonah writes that rejoicing in a fellow’s success is the highest form of gemilus chasadim of the heart (Shaarei Teshuvah 3:43).
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