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Originally posted by DoctorScribblesIn view of the idea of "adultery of the mind" (I've actually heard the older member of the Irish Catholic part of my family define adultery as "impurity in thought and deed" ), I'd say that those among the Ten Commandments which are phrased as an injunction against some behaviour are actually prohibitions on intending to engage in the prohibited behaviour. Perhaps god thinks of assault as simply a failed attempt at murder, which is prohibited, and holds them as ethically equivalent.
Why is there no Commandment against assault? Is it more sinful to forget the Sabbath than to break thy neighbor's kneecaps with a baseball bat?
Alternatively, both gobs of Biblesauce contain numerous assaults which are held to be righteous, so perhaps 10C ethics places no blanket ban on assault.