Part VII. The Seventh and Tenth Commandments

The Seventh Commandment is, ‘‘ Thou shalt not steal,”¹² and therefore directly and explicitly it forbids theft, but implicitly it commands us to observe justice in our dealings with others. The Tenth Commandment is, ‘‘ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods,’ and so it forbids internal sins against justice. The subject-matter, then, of these commandments is the virtue of justice, of which we have now to treat.

¹ Exod. xx 15.

² Exod. xx 17.