What does covet your neighbors wife mean?

The Biblical prohibition against coveting is the prohibition against wanting the possessions of another. For covering a wife, it is necessary to understand that until recently a wife was a chattel (a possession) of the husband, not a person. She was lumped in with livestock and other physical possessions. It is assumed that you would be coveting if you just wanted to have sex with her, not own her.Interestingly the Christian god has not bothered to impose the "no coveting" restriction on wives that lust after other women's husbands.