Light has been shed on all these issues by the discovery of ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties, most of which share certain features and forms.
Next come the stipulations, first in general outline, then in specific detail.
The first three – no other gods besides Me, no graven images, and no taking of God’s name in vain – are about God, the author and authority of the laws.
The greatest challenge of any society is how to contain the universal phenomenon of envy: the desire to have what belongs to someone else.
So the prohibition of envy is not odd at all.
We are here because God wanted us to be. We have what God wanted us to have.