Please enlighten me as to what the difference is between fornication and adultery.\u00a0 A few of us had quite a discussion about it after our midweek services this evening.<\/p>\n\t
The Greek word translated as fornication, or sexual immorality, is\u00a0porneia<\/em>. The Greek word translated as adultery is\u00a0moicheia<\/em>.<\/p>\n In classical Greek,\u00a0porneia<\/em>\u00a0was used to refer to prostitution. As the word evolved, it denoted unchastity or illicit sexual relations\u00a0of any kind<\/strong>\u00a0in later writings. [Source:\u00a0The Complete Biblical Library: Greek-English Dictionary<\/em>].<\/p>\n In the Septuagint,\u00a0porneia<\/em>\u00a0was used metaphorically to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness to her husband, the Lord. In Jehu’s charge, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?<\/em>” (II Kings 9:22), the word “harlotries” was translated as\u00a0porneia<\/em>\u00a0in the Greek Septuagint. In Ezekiel, God speaks of “marrying” Israel, ““Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD<\/em>” (Ezekiel 16:8). But Israel became unfaithful and committed harlotries (porneia\u00a0<\/em>in the Greek) (Ezekiel 16:15, 22). In Hosea, the prophet was told to marry a prostitute. “When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD”<\/em>” (Hosea 1:2). Once again “harlotry” in this verse is\u00a0porneia\u00a0<\/em>in the Septuagint; thus, the sexual acts she commit before marriage were\u00a0porneia<\/em>. But later she continued to be unfaithful to her husband and God used this to represent His relationship with Israel. “Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts<\/em>” (Hosea 2:2). Once again, “harlotries” is\u00a0porneia<\/em>\u00a0and is made equivalent to “adulteries” in this verse.<\/p>\n In\u00a0Theological Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em>, it notes that in “Later Judaism shows us how the use of\u00a0porneia<\/em>, etc. gradually broadened as compared with the original usage. In the first instance\u00a0porneia<\/em> is mostly ‘harlotry,’ ‘extra-marital intercourse,’ … often with adultery, … Materially, however, it often means ‘adultery,’ …”<\/p>\n In the New Testament, we can make this general observation: When\u00a0porneia<\/em> is used independently, it refers to all immoral sexual acts. When it is used in a list with\u00a0moicheia<\/em> (the Greek word for “adultery”), it takes on a narrower definition of immoral sexual acts before marriage, and\u00a0moicheia<\/em>\u00a0refers to immoral sexual acts after marriage.<\/p>\n Walter Baurer’s\u00a0A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature <\/em>defines\u00a0porneia<\/em> as “unlawful sexual intercourse, prostitution, unchastity, fornication … the sexual unfaithfulness of a married woman.” He further notes that in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 “The specific word for adultery does not appear in the exceptive phrase simply because a general expression occurs in Deuteronomy [24:1].”<\/p>\n The fact that fornication includes adultery when it is used independently is not the desire of people wishing to broaden the definition so they can have more excuses for remarriage after divorce. It is simply an acknowledgment of how the word is used in that time. As A. T. Robertson stated in Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/em>, after examining many competing objections to the exception phrase in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, “it is plain that Matthew represents Jesus in both places as allowing divorce for fornication as a general term (porneia<\/em>) which is technically adultery (moicheia <\/em>from moicha\u00f4 <\/em>or moicheu\u00f4<\/em>).”<\/p>\n The fact that Jesus permitted an exception that allows remarriage after divorce in the case of sexual immorality does not translate into a loose view of marriage. The disciples saw Jesus’ statement as being severely strict. “His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry”<\/em>” (Matthew 19:10). Divorce is hated because sin is being committed by one or both parties.<\/p>\n “And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and crying; so He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. “For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”<\/em>” (Malachi 2:13-16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There is a reason that Jesus used a broader term than adultery for the exception. It would include incest, bestiality, homosexuality, and other sexual sins, as well as adultery. All these sins break the terms of the marriage covenant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Please enlighten me as to what the difference is between fornication and adultery.\u00a0 A few of us had quite a discussion about it after our midweek services this evening. Answer: The Greek word translated as fornication, or sexual immorality, is\u00a0porneia. The Greek word translated as adultery is\u00a0moicheia. In classical Greek,\u00a0porneia\u00a0was used to refer to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[66,1572,76],"class_list":["post-13530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-adultery","tag-fornication","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22301,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-sexual-immorality-porneia-include-masturbation\/","url_meta":{"origin":13530,"position":0},"title":"Does “sexual immorality” (porneia) include masturbation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to just say in\u00a0some previous answers\u00a0you have said that masturbation is not mentioned as a sin, but it is. We are told in Acts 15:20 to flee from sexual immorality. Today, most of the world sees masturbation as sexual immorality, and it has always been considered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-husband-abuses-his-wife-during-sex-is-that-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":13530,"position":1},"title":"If a husband abuses his wife during sex, is that fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a man abuses his wife during sex, or takes her in a way that is unloving and clearly destructive, can this be considered fornication? This would be sinning against one's own body as fornication is described as being in I Corinthians 6:18, considering the wife's body is his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-included-in-porneia\/","url_meta":{"origin":13530,"position":2},"title":"What is included in porneia?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! I have been studying sex and the Bible. What I am really confused about is that the Bible does not mention oral sex or mutual masturbation. It only mentions anal sex and vaginal sex. Thus, how are oral sex and mutual masturbation a sin? How is it sexual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-committed-adultery-in-my-mind-does-that-mean-i-cant-divorce-and-remarry\/","url_meta":{"origin":13530,"position":3},"title":"If I committed adultery in my mind, does that mean I can’t divorce and remarry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My wife is having an affair and tells me she is in love with the other person. I have never committed adultery physically; however, a few years back I committed adultery in my mind (not physically). I have quit that practice and asked for forgiveness. Does that incident prohibit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9596,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-looking-at-pornography-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":13530,"position":4},"title":"Is looking at pornography fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When a man is involved in porn on the net, does that qualify as fornication? May a woman put her husband away when this happens? Answer: \"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41438,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-sexual-immorality-in-matthew-199\/","url_meta":{"origin":13530,"position":5},"title":"What is “Sexual Immorality” in Matthew 19:9?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Kyle Butt, M.A. via\u00a0Apologetics Press Copied by permission. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible repeatedly stresses the fact that God designed the institution of marriage (Genesis 2:22-25). He has, from the beginning of human history, given very specific ideas about what composes a divinely approved marriage (Matthew 19:1-4), consisting of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/What-Is-Sexual-Immorality-300x158.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}