Does God really consider wives the property of their husbands in the Tenth Commandment?

Answer 1

The Tenth Commandment says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

Let's just say that the author of the Book of Exodus considered wives to be the property of their husbands, in the same way as houses, slaves (euphemistically translated as servants), oxen and donkeys. Whether he was speaking for God is a matter of faith. This was written at a time when houses could take pride of place in the list and when Israelites were settled and could have slaves - in other words long after the establishment of Israel. It was not something handed down by God while they wandered in the desert.

Answer 2

If we look at the wording, we note the terms "male and female servants". While in some cases it would refer to slaves (in which case such persons would be property) and in other cases it would refer to free employees (i.e. employees with freedom to leave or get paid). In the latter case, such employees could not be considered property, which means that the issue in the Tenth Commandment is not as much property control as relationship control. One person should not attempt to poach the wife, laborer, or property of another man. In this case it is not clear whether a woman is property or not, but given that laborer is one level up from property, it should follow that wife (mentioned first) is one level up from laborer.