Maimonides says that the repeated clause in Leviticus 20:10 is written this way to permit adultery with the wife of a Gentile. Is there any truth to that? And why is it written in such an ambiguous way? Is it to reveal human evils?<\/p>\n\t
The text of Leviticus 20:10 literally reads:<\/p>\n
“and a man – who – he commits adultery – with the wife of – a man – who – he commits adultery – with the wife of – his fellow – dying they must be executed – the adulterer – and the adulteress”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ancient languages didn’t have punctuation or means to change font styles to emphasize text. Thus, a part of translation is dividing the text properly. For example:<\/p>\n
“Woman without her man is nothing”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Could that be read as:<\/p>\n
“Woman, without her man, is nothing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
or<\/p>\n
“Woman, without her, man is nothing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The meaning is quite different, depending on how the words are parsed.<\/p>\n
A duplication of text could be a copyist error. However, it could indicate that the duplicated words are being emphasized for added clarity. One suggestion for the division of Leviticus 20:10 is:<\/p>\n
“And a man who commits adultery with the wife of a man (who commits adultery with the wife of his companion) must be put to death, the adulterer and the adulteress.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
One of the Ten Commandments is “You shall not commit adultery.” This law specifies the penalty for breaking that commandment. Both the man and woman involved in adultery are to be put to death.\u00a0 The repeated phrases emphasize that adultery is a sin against your fellow man (your neighbor). Remember the lawyer who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer basically stated that anyone you have contact with is your neighbor.<\/p>\n
This isn’t a loophole to allow adultery in some cases. It is an underscored command that adultery results in the death penalty because it is a crime against your fellow man.<\/p>\n\t
Question:<\/h2>\n
Thank you so much. Could it be that adultery with a pagan’s wife was sinful but not worthy of the death penalty?<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Israel’s laws applied to foreigners living in the land. “As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the LORD. There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you<\/em>” (Numbers 15:15-16). Therefore, adultery was wrong regardless of whether the neighbor was an Israelite or a Gentile.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Maimonides says that the repeated clause in Leviticus 20:10 is written this way to permit adultery with the wife of a Gentile. Is there any truth to that? And why is it written in such an ambiguous way? Is it to reveal human evils? Answer: The text of Leviticus 20:10 literally reads: “and a…<\/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":[66,294,122,190],"class_list":["post-69195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-adultery","tag-leviticus","tag-textual-criticism","tag-translation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-will-be-held-accountable-for-committing-adultery-a-single-woman-or-a-married-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":69195,"position":0},"title":"Who will be held accountable for committing adultery? A single woman or a married man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who will be held accountable for committing adultery? A single woman or a married man? Answer: Adultery is when a married person has sex with someone to whom he or she is not married. The act is called adultery, whether the married person is having sex with another married\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":7419,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-state-that-moses-stoned-a-woman-who-committed-adultery\/","url_meta":{"origin":69195,"position":1},"title":"Where does the Bible state that Moses stoned a woman who committed adultery?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the new movie the Ten Commandments. Moses throws the first stone at a woman that committed adultery. Where is this stated in the book of Exodus? Answer: While I'm glad that Hollywood every once in a while decides to make a movie about decent subjects, I personally hate\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":13528,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-remarried-people-adulterers\/","url_meta":{"origin":69195,"position":2},"title":"Are all remarried people adulterers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the New Testament, we can make this general observation: When porneia is use independently, it refers to all immoral sexual acts. When it is used in a list with moicheia (the Greek word for \"adultery\"), it takes on a narrower definition of immoral sexual acts before marriage and\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":4692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-uncover-the-nakedness-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":69195,"position":3},"title":"What does “uncover the nakedness” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Leviticus 18:6-19, the phrase \"uncover the nakedness\" is used repeatedly. What is meant by this phrase? Answer: There are three sets of words in the Hebrew that are translated as naked or nakedness. The Hebrew adjective 'arom\u00a0refers to being without clothing. It can mean without any clothes or\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":14161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-the-man-i-committed-adultery-with-is-getting-divorced-can-i-marry-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":69195,"position":4},"title":"If the man I committed adultery with is getting divorced, can I marry him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have committed adultery with a married man and now their marriage is breaking. This man and I have realized our mistakes and we ask pardon from God daily. But he is getting divorced. Is it right for me to marry him? Would I be committing adultery again? Answer:\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":10862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-god-makes-them-one-how-can-there-be-divorce-for-any-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":69195,"position":5},"title":"If God makes them one, how can there be divorce for any reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The one thing that I noticed was that you said that there are biblical grounds for remarriage due to an unfaithful spouse. This, however, is not true from my understanding. I do see where a widow or the death of one spouse gives a biblical grounding for remarriage. 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