_X. "Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shall not
covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his."_
Covetousness is one of the sins that hides deep in a man's heart, and
if given way to may spoil all his happiness.
King Ahab had a palace at Jezreel; and near to the palace was Naboth's
vineyard, which was his family possession.
As the king passed to and fro, he began to covet the vineyard of Naboth
in order to make himself a garden; and at length he asked Naboth to
exchange his vineyard with him for another better one, or offered to
buy it from Naboth for money.
This seemed at first sight a reasonable offer; but Ahab knew perfectly
well that no Jew would sell his father's inheritance, and that he
valued it almost like his own life.
So Naboth refused, and the king went back to his palace heavy and
displeased, and went and lay upon his bed and would not eat.
When Jezebel found out what was the matter, she begged Ahab to get up
and eat; and she promised that she would get the vineyard for him!
And this was how it came to pass that those false witnesses swore away
Naboth's life!
When Ahab knew that Naboth was dead, he went down to take possession of
the vineyard.