Komentarz do Wyjścia 20:13

לא תנאף THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY — The term ניאוף, “adultery”, is technically only applicable to the case of a married woman, as it is said, (Leviticus 20:10) […the wife of his neighbour], the נואף and the נואפת shall surely be put to death”, and it further states, (Ezekiel 16:32) “The woman that comitteth adultery, that taketh strangers instead of her husband”.

THOU SHALT NOT MURDER. THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. He is stating: “Now I have commanded you to acknowledge in thought and in deed that I am the Creator of all, and to honor parents because they joined [Me] in your formation. If so, guard against destroying the work of My hands and spilling the blood of man, whom I have created to honor Me and acknowledge Me in all these matters.⁴⁷⁷See Ramban at end of Seder Bo. And do not commit adultery with your fellow-man’s wife, because you will thereby destroy the principle of honoring parents, [causing the children] to deny the truth and acknowledge falsehood. They will not know their fathers and will thus give their honor to another, just as the idol-worshippers do, who say to a block of wood, ‘thou art my father,’⁴⁷⁸Jeremiah 2:27. and they do not know their Father who created them out of nothing.” After that, He warned against stealing a human being,⁴⁷⁹Mechilta on the verse here. for that too brings about a similar [disintegration of values].⁴⁸⁰See Ramban further, 21:15.
With respect to their stringency and penalties, the order of the commandments is as follows: after idolatry comes bloodshed, and after that adultery, and then stealing of a human being and false testimony and robbery;⁴⁸¹Since coveting also relates to action by robbery, Ramban mentions here “robbery” although the tenth commandment speaks of coveting. and he who does not covet, will never harm his neighbor. Thus, He completed all obligations that a person owes towards his neighbor. After that, [in the Seder of Mishpatim which follows], He will explain the ordinances in detail, for he who has been found guilty in any suit to pay his neighbor will pay the amount he is so obligated if he does not covet or desire that which is not his.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote⁴⁸²In his introduction to the Ten Commandments. [of the commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house… thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, etc.], that Scripture adopted a normal course of life. First, it mentioned the neighbor’s house, for an enlightened person will first acquire a house, and then marry a woman to bring her to his house, and only afterwards will he acquire a manservant or a maidservant. But in the Book of Deuteronomy,⁴⁸³Deuteronomy 5:18. it mentions the wife first, because young men desire to marry first [before they acquire a house]. It may be⁴⁸⁴This is Ramban’s own comment. that because the coveting of a neighbor’s wife is the greatest sin of all things mentioned in that verse, [it is listed first].
Thus, of the Ten Commandments, there are five which refer to the glory of the Creator and five are for the welfare of man, for [the fifth commandment], Honor thy father, is for the glory of G-d, since it is for the glory of the Creator that He commanded that one honor one’s father who is a partner in the formation of the child. Five commandments thus remain for the needs and welfare of man.
In some commandments, He mentioned their recompense, and in others He did not. Thus, in the second commandment, He mentioned a jealous G-d;⁴⁸⁵Verse 5. in the third, for the Eternal will not hold him guiltless;⁴⁸⁶Verse 7. in the fifth, that thy days may be long.⁴⁸⁷Verse 12. But in the others, He mentioned neither punishment [for transgression], nor reward [for fulfillment]. The reason for this is that the last five commandments deal with the welfare of man, and behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.⁴⁸⁸Isaiah 40:10. In other words, the recompense for the last five commandments is self-evident. If man observes them, his society will prosper, and if not, the whole fabric of society will collapse. But in the case of idolatry, a warning of punishment is needed because of its great stringency, involving as it does the glory of the Creator.
It appears to me that His saying a jealous G-d⁴⁸⁵Verse 5. refers to the commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods,⁴⁸⁹Verse 3. and that His saying, And He showeth mercy⁴⁹⁰Verse 6. refers to I am the Eternal,⁴⁹¹Verse 2. for punishment comes for [transgressing] the negative commandments, and reward for [fulfillment of] the positive commandments. [He did not mention the reward immediately in the first commandment because] the acceptance of the Kingdom of G-d, [as mentioned in the first commandment], and the admonition against the worship of anything besides Him, constitute one subject. Therefore, He first finished that entire matter and then warned the idol-worshipper of punishment, and then He assured reward for he who fulfills the commandments.
He warned of punishment in case of a vain oath, the Eternal will not hold him guiltless,⁴⁸⁶Verse 7. but He mentioned no reward [for observing it]. For profaning the Sabbath, He mentioned neither excision⁴⁹²Further, 31:14. nor any other punishment, neither did He mention a reward for him that keepeth the Sabbath from profaning it.⁴⁹³Isaiah 56:2. This is because it is included in the first two commandments. He who observes the Sabbath testifies to the Creation and acknowledges his belief in the commandment, I am the Eternal, while he who profanes the Sabbath denies the Creation and admits the eternity of the universe, thereby denying the commandment, I am the Eternal. Thus, [the punishment for profaning the Sabbath] is included in: a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity,⁴⁸⁵Verse 5. while [the reward for he who keeps the Sabbath] is included in the verse, And He showeth mercy unto the thousandth generation.⁴⁹⁰Verse 6. In the fifth commandment, which concerns the honor due to parents, He mentioned the reward because it is a positive commandment, [and as mentioned above, reward is for fulfillment of the positive commandments].
With reference to the writing on the Tablets of law, it would appear that the first five commandments were on one Tablet, for they are for the glory of the Creator, as I have mentioned, and the second five commandments were on another Tablet. Thus there were five opposite five, something like the Rabbis mentioned in the Book of Creation:⁴⁹⁴Sefer Yetzirah 1:3. This is one of the earliest books on the Cabala. Saadia Gaon was among the first great scholars to write a commentary on it. It is written in profound symbolic language. “With ten emanations,⁴⁹⁵In our version of Sefer Yetzirah: “Ten Emanations”; the word “with” is not present. intangible, as is the number of ten fingers, five opposite five, and the Covenant of the Unity placed directly in the middle.” From this it will be made clear to you why there were two Tablets, for up to Honor thy father, it corresponds to the Written Torah, and from there on it corresponds to the Oral Torah. It would appear that it is this that our Rabbis, of blessed memory, have alluded to in saying⁴⁹⁶Shemoth Rabbah 41:7. that the two Tablets correspond to heaven and earth,⁴⁹⁷Since the Torah was the instrument with which the world was created, the first Tablet containing our duties towards G-d thus corresponds to heaven, while the second Tablet which states our duties to man corresponds to earth (Eitz Yoseph, ibid.) to a groom and bride,⁴⁹⁸The symbol is that of the bestower and the bestowed. Heaven is the bestower and earth is the bestowed. So also is the relationship between G-d and man. to the two friends [of the groom and bride], and to the two worlds [this world and the World to Come]. All these constitute one allusion, and the person learned in the mystic lore of the Cabala will understand the secret.

לא תנאף, this commandment is phrased as applying to sexual intercourse with someone else’s legal wife because this is the most likely scenario; it applies to all forbidden sexual intercourse.