Untitled Sermon

Definition - Matt 5:32

The word rendered fornication strictly denotes sexual intercourse between unmarried people, and some have seen that meaning here. On this view Jesus is saying that if two people get married and it is subsequently found that prior to the marriage one of them had committed fornication, then the marriage may be dissolved. But that seems to be confining the meaning in a way that is not common in the New Testament; the word is used for all sorts of sexual sins. It is much more likely that in this passage it signifies adultery than something that happened before the marriage. Improper sexual relations on the part of a married person mean that the marriage may be dissolved. If fornication is interpreted in the way murder is understood in verse , the ground for divorce may be somewhat wider than appears in most of our translations. It is important to understand that the divorced woman is made to commit adultery and that the man who marries her is also made to commit adultery.126 Among the Jews a man was not held to have committed adultery by engaging in sexual acts outside marriage unless his partner was herself a married woman. But Jesus does not distinguish between the man and the woman: either may commit adultery. It seems to have been a Christian idea that a man could commit adultery; others regarded sexual adventures as a normal part of life for a man. Jesus lays down the highest standard for both sexes. Divorce might happen, but it was not meant to be. Marriage is for life.

Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew (pp. 121–122). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

Porneias

(; ; ). Among the Jewish leaders were two schools of thought regarding the matter of divorce (). Those who followed Hillel said it was permissible for a husband to divorce his wife for any reason at all, but the other group (those following Shammai) said divorce was permissible only for a major offense. In His response, the Lord strongly taught that marriage is viewed by God as an indissoluble unit and that marriages should not be terminated by divorce. The “exception clause,” except for marital unfaithfulness (porneias), is understood in several ways by Bible scholars. Four of these ways are: (a) a single act of adultery, (b) unfaithfulness during the period of betrothal (), (c) marriage between near relatives (), or (d) continued promiscuity. (See comments on .)

Barbieri, L. A., Jr. (1985). Matthew. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 31). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Adultery

Adultery. Biblically, adultery is a breach of the “one flesh” relationship of marriage. It describes any act of sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband, and all sexual intercourse involving a married man and another man’s wife or fiancée.

In OT times, polygamous unions were not considered adulterous (cf. ). Nor was a husband branded as an adulterer if he had intercourse with a slave woman (; ) or a prostitute ()—though the latter was, of course, condemned as immoral ().

The cave of Adullam, where David hid from Saul.

Any imbalance between the sexes was dispelled by Jesus in his teaching on divorce and remarriage. While he did not rule out the possibility of divorce in cases of sexual unfaithfulness (; ), he warned that in all other circumstances remarriage involves both (ex-)husband and (ex-)wife in adultery. Paul added that the charge of adultery only applies if the remarried person’s original partner is still alive (, ).

Jesus also sharpened the OT’s definition of adultery by applying it to a man’s thought life. Any man who fantasizes in lust (as distinct from just being tempted) has committed adultery in mind and intention, he taught, even though there is no physical contact (, ; cf. , ).

The Bible’s condemnation of adultery is written into the heart of the OT law, prophecy, and wisdom literature. The Ten Commandments ban it unequivocally (; ). The prophets list it among offenses which attract God’s anger and judgment (; ; ). And the Book of Proverbs scorns it as a senseless act by which a man destroys himself (; cf. ).

The NT echoes that clear condemnation. Where there is no repentance, adultery excludes those who practice it from God’s kingdom (). It is the very opposite of love of one’s neighbor (, ), and it stands under the judgment of God himself ().

In the OT the penalty for adultery is death—for both the man and the woman (; ). The same applies if the woman is single but engaged to another man, assuming she has not been raped (in which case only the man is to be executed—). The refrain, “You shall purge the evil from the midst of you” (v ) shows that adultery was considered a serious threat to society’s health, not simply an attack on the family lives of the two people involved.

With such serious consequences, it was important to establish guilt beyond doubt. In cases of serious suspicion, but insufficient evidence, the wife concerned was put through an elaborate ritual test which included taking an oath and drinking bitter water. The result was not a matter of chance because she stood “before the Lord” ().

In Roman times adultery was taken off the list of capital offenses. This fact helps to illuminate Jesus’ famous confrontation with the woman caught in the act of adultery (). Jesus did not turn a blind eye to her wrongdoing, but the gentle way he dealt with her implied that adultery is not at the very top of God’s league of sin. Nor is it an offense which cannot be pardoned after repentance.

In both the OT and NT, the language of adultery is used figuratively to describe human unfaithfulness to God. The OT prophets likened God’s covenant relationship with his people to marriage (; cf. ); so in their eyes the breaking of that relationship, especially by idolatry, was equivalent to spiritual adultery (, ; ; ).

Jesus used the same imagery to characterize those who either rejected his claims or showed their lack of faith in him by demanding unnecessary extra signs of his deity (; ; ). And in another vivid NT passage James describes God as a loving, jealous husband coming to deal with his adulterous people who have become “good friends” with the world and its false standards ().

This is the special theme of the prophet Hosea. God used the prophet’s own experience of a marriage broken by adultery to teach the seriousness of his people’s unfaithfulness to him () and his keen longing for a full reconciliation (). Spiritual infidelity, like physical adultery, brings God’s judgment. But in both cases his overwhelming desire is for a mended relationship following sincere repentance (; ).

David H. Field

Field, D. H. (1988). Adultery. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 32–34). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.