Word Studies - "Adultery"

With divorce being so widely practiced and so easily obtained in our culture, it is no surprise that conflicts over it should arise when men try to justify themselves and others in their breaking of marriages to contract new ones. When one sees in the Scriptures strong words of disapproval of divorce and remarriage, yet he considers changing his practice (or persuading others to change theirs) to be too hard, he will often seek some way to mitigate what has been revealed by inspiration. Many times, the conflicts that arise over this subject center around semantics. We are told that some words do not mean what they appear to mean.

One such case is the teaching that the word "adultery" does not refer to sexual sin. The implication of this doctrine is that the statements of Christ in Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11; and Luke 16:18 would not require separation of those who have unjustly divorced or have been divorced by their mates and remarried. Under this teaching, it is not possible for a couple to "live in adultery," for their adultery is limited to the actions of divorcing and remarrying. It is said that Jesus thus defined "adultery" in Mark 10:11: "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her;" therefore the definitions of lexicographers should be rejected. The English word "adultery," it is averred, derives from the word "adulterate," which means "to pollute, add something foreign." (See Smith-Waters Debate, Gospel Truths Magazine, July & August, 1999)

Such an understanding of the term "adultery" will not hold up when considered in the light of its use in the Bible and other literature. Marriage is practiced among all human cultures, sexual infidelity in marriage is a universal problem, and all languages have words with which to specify it. Our English word "adultery" means, "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband." It first appeared in English literature in the fourteenth century, and it meant then what it means now. It did not derive from the word "adulterate;" that word did not appear in the language until the sixteenth century. (Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 58)

When God commanded from Mt. Sinai, "You shall not commit adultery," no definition of the word was necessary. The Israelites knew what it was. In Leviticus 20:10-21, the Lord catalogues several sexual practices which they were to shun. The first is this: "The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death." Since a man cannot divorce or marry another man's wife, it is apparent that the prohibition here was against "sexual intercourse with the wife of another man," as all lexical authorities agree that the Hebrew word "na-aph" means. Ezekiel 16:30-34 compares unfaithful Israel to a wife who commits adultery. The Lord said that if she received payment for it, it would be "harlotry." This leaves no room for doubt about what was meant by the word translated "adultery."

The Lord quoted the seventh commandment in Matthew 5:27, then added, "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." It would be extremely naive to assume that the man described here is looking upon a woman with a desire to marry her! No, the Greek word "moichaomai" means the same as the English "adultery" and the Hebrew "na-aph." The desire is for prohibited sexual relations.