The New Testament Greek Lexicon<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\nPorneia<\/em>\u00a0(fornication) “is used of illicit sexual intercourse\u2026.” [W. E. Vine,\u00a0Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words<\/em>]<\/p>\nFornication: “illicit sexual intercourse in general \u2026 distinguished from adultery (moicheia<\/em>) in\u00a0Matthew 15:19\u00a0\u2026 used of adultery \u2026 in\u00a0Matthew 5:32;\u00a019:9\u00a0[Henry Thayer,\u00a0Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon<\/em>, pg. 532].<\/p>\nFornication: “The New Testament is characterized by an unconditional repudiation of all extra-marital and unnatural intercourse” [Theological Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em>, Vol. 6, pg. 590].<\/p><\/blockquote>\nYou can also go through the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament to see what Hebrew words were translated to\u00a0porneia<\/em>\u00a0to get an idea of what the word meant. You will find:<\/p>\n\n- zanah<\/em>\u00a0– to lie down like a prostitute (Jeremiah 2:20;\u00a0Micah 1:7)<\/li>\n
- zenunim<\/em>\u00a0– Harlotry, prostitution (Hosea 1:2;\u00a0Nahum 3:4)<\/li>\n
- zenuth<\/em>\u00a0– Unfaithfulness, prostitution (Numbers 14:33;\u00a0Jeremiah 3:2;\u00a0Hosea 4:11)<\/li>\n
- taznuth<\/em>\u00a0– Harlotry, lust (Ezekiel 16:15;\u00a023:7,\u00a011)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Notice that the dictionaries include homosexuality and lesbianism under the category of\u00a0porneia<\/em>. That is because if anal sex is involved with homosexual men, the penis is entering the anus. If oral sex is involved, then the penis is entering the mouth or the tongue is entering the vagina. That is why in English “sex” is included in the description of oral and anal sex. But because another person is bringing a person to orgasm and ejaculation, both oral sex and mutual masturbation would be properly included under the term “fornication.”<\/p>\nAdultery (moicheia<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:\u00a0adultery<\/strong>, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, …<\/em>” (Galatians 5:19).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n“Moicheia\u00a0<\/em>is the word for ‘adultery’; i.e., ‘illicit intercourse in which one of the parties is married.'” [The Complete Biblical Library Greek – English Dictionary<\/em>]<\/p>\nUncleanness (akatharsia<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“But fornication and all\u00a0uncleanness<\/strong>\u00a0or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator,\u00a0unclean<\/strong>\u00a0person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:3-5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAkatharsia<\/em>\u00a0can refer to the unclean animals and behaviors mentioned in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament in some contexts, such as here in\u00a0Ephesians 5:3-5, it is broadened to mean morally impure behavior, particularly of the sexual nature. “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves<\/em>” (Romans 1:24). Examples are given in\u00a0Ephesians 5:4. “Filthiness” is what we commonly call dirty talk today. It is talking about sex or sexual practices for the purpose of getting another person sexually aroused. “Foolish talk” is treating what should be a serious matter as if it was a joke. “Coarse jesting” is telling jokes where sex is involved in the punch line. All of these would be examples of uncleanness because they are morally impure behavior. Particularly telling in\u00a0Ephesians 5:3\u00a0is that Paul talks about “fornication and all uncleanness;” thus, those sexual acts that are considered fornication and all the related morally impure sexual acts.<\/p>\nSexual Touching (haptomai<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to\u00a0touch<\/strong>\u00a0a woman<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHaptomai<\/em>\u00a0means to touch particularly in the sense of holding on. Thus, it doesn’t refer to an accidental brushing against someone, but a purposeful touch or grab. In the context of\u00a0I Corinthians 7:1,\u00a0it is talking about the sexual touching between a man and woman, such as what goes on in foreplay, but it would also include the touching of genitals that takes place in mutual masturbation or hand jobs. “So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent<\/em>” (Proverbs 6:29). Where\u00a0I Corinthians 7:1\u00a0is focused on the sexual touching between men and women, it doesn’t mean such is permitted between men and men or women and women.<\/p>\n“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:9-10).<\/p>\n“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due<\/em>” (Romans 1:26-27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSexual behavior between people of the same sex is just as wrong as sexual behavior between a man and woman who are not married.<\/p>\n
Lust (epithumia\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0epithumeo<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its\u00a0lusts<\/strong><\/em>” (Romans 13:14).<\/p>\n“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to\u00a0lust<\/strong>\u00a0for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart<\/em>” (Matthew 5:28).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nEpithumia<\/em>\u00a0is a noun referring to strong desires or cravings, particularly for things that are not lawful.\u00a0Epithumeo<\/em>\u00a0is the verb form of the same word.<\/p>\nLust (orexis<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their\u00a0lust<\/strong>\u00a0for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due<\/em>” (Romans 1:27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nOrexis<\/em>\u00a0refers to a very strong desire or lust.<\/p>\nPassion (pathos<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness,\u00a0passion<\/strong>, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry<\/em>” (Colossians 3:5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nPathos<\/em> is emotional lust that is seemingly stronger than a person can control.<\/p>\nUse (chresis<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural\u00a0use<\/strong>\u00a0for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural\u00a0use<\/strong>\u00a0of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due<\/em>” (Romans 1:26-27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nChresis<\/em> started out as a general meaning of use. But in Aristotle and Polybius’ usages “chresis<\/em> is ‘intimacy’ or ‘acquaintance;’ and Isocrates (Fourth Century B.C.) where literally\u00a0hai oikoi chresis<\/em>, “the use of houses,” means practically sexual ‘intercourse’ with women.” [The Complete Biblical Library Greek – English Dictionary<\/em>]. This was the meaning commonly used at the time of the New Testament.<\/p>\nSexual Relations (koite<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in\u00a0lewdness<\/strong>\u00a0and lust, not in strife and envy<\/em>” (Romans 13:13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nKoite\u00a0<\/em>is the Greek word for bed, but it is also the word for what takes place in bed. It was used in a way similar to how we say that Jack was sleeping with Pam. Thus this is a word for sexual intercourse.<\/p>\nLewdness (aselgeia<\/em>):<\/h2>\n“For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles — when we walked in\u00a0lewdness<\/strong>, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries<\/em>” (I Peter 4:3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAselgeia<\/em> refers to shameless behavior, particularly in regard to sex. It is behavior that is involved in pure self-enjoyment or behavior characteristic of an animal.<\/p>\nNotice that oral sex and mutual masturbation that is not between a husband and wife would also fall under the categories of sexual touching, uncleanness, lewdness, and lust; which each is sinful. It is because of these terms that these acts are wrong.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you so much!<\/p>\n
I would consider oral sex and mutual masturbation to be sexual intercourse. If you really think about it something is penetrating to an extent. Teenagers these days will argue that oral sex is not sinful. That really bothers me! It bothers me because people will make any excuse to receive sexual pleasure before marriage when the Bible condemns sex before marriage.<\/p>\n
Thank you so much for your help in answering my question. I really appreciate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 intercourse? In Greek, porneia means…<\/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":[66,1572,1574,205,156,203,202],"class_list":["post-26107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-adultery","tag-fornication","tag-greek-language","tag-lewdness","tag-lust","tag-sexual-touching","tag-uncleanness"],"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":26107,"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":26107,"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":41438,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-sexual-immorality-in-matthew-199\/","url_meta":{"origin":26107,"position":2},"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":[]},{"id":54862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-porneia-only-refer-to-sex-with-someone-you-have-no-emotional-connection-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":26107,"position":3},"title":"Can\u00a0porneia\u00a0only refer to sex with someone you have no emotional connection with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading\u00a0your page about the Greek \"porneia\" and I was wondering if this meant prostitution and sexual intercourse with those to whom you have no emotional connection. More specifically, is sex with someone you love, like a boyfriend or girlfriend, specifically deemed immoral in the Bible, or is\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":15134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-specifically-say-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":26107,"position":4},"title":"Where does the Bible specifically say sex outside of marriage is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read your article. Why is it that all you preachers say sex outside of marriage is sexual immorality? The Greek word porneia means harlotry or idolatry. So how is it that Leviticus 18 states \"sexual immorality\" and sex outside of marriage is not listed? Where does it\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":45257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-i-corinthians-613-prove-that-masturbation-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":26107,"position":5},"title":"Doesn’t I Corinthians 6:13 prove that masturbation is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can you teach that masturbation is good for controlling the body when it clearly says in I Corinthians 6:13, \"You say 'Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.' The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26107","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=26107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}