Maybe the question is more about coveting than about house The meaning of the latter gets a fair coverage in the article Coveting is basically envy or desiring something that one doesn t have I m not sure why the translations never use envy and so whether there s additional nuance to the meaning of covet Maybe the meaning of coveting should be explained in the article somewhere but I m not sure whereabouts Notably Maimonides distinguishes the Exodus use of the word covet and the Deuteronomy desire saying that the former is only violated if there is an associated physical action including buying the desired object whereas the latter is in the heart