Adultery

Occurrences in Scripture

The principal text is the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery" in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). Most Protestants number it the Seventh Commandment, while the Catholic Church and Lutherans number it the Sixth. Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 prescribe death for both the man and the woman who commit adultery.

The best-known example in the historical books is David's adultery with Bathsheba and his arranging the death of her husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 11–12). The prophet Nathan rebukes him for it. Proverbs 5–7 repeatedly warns against the adulterous woman.

Terminology and Background

In the Old Testament the Hebrew na'aph, and in the New Testament the Greek moicheuō (noun moicheia), are translated "adultery." The Greek porneia, which refers to sexual immorality in general, is usually rendered eumhaeng ("fornication" or "sexual immorality") in the New Korean Revised Version, which keeps the two terms distinct. In ancient Israel, adultery chiefly meant sexual relations with another man's wife or with a betrothed woman. It was treated as a grave sin that undermined the family, the lineage, and the order of the community.

Meaning Across the Whole of Scripture

The prophets likened the covenant between God and Israel to a marriage. Accordingly, they called Israel's worship of other gods—idolatry—adultery (Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16 and 23). The account of Hosea taking back his unfaithful wife, Gomer (Hosea 1–3), enacts this metaphor in his own life. The New Testament carries the expression forward: James 4:4 addresses those who are friends of the world as "Ye adulterers and adulteresses."

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus extended the commandment to the heart, declaring that "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28). He also called it adultery for a man to put away his wife and marry another (Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11-12). In the account of the woman taken in adultery in John 8:1-11, Jesus tells her accusers, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." To the woman he says, "Go, and sin no more." Hebrews 13:4 exhorts believers to hold marriage in honor.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• The penalty under the law: The Reformed tradition divides the law into moral, ceremonial, and civil law. According to this distinction, the prohibition of adultery belongs to the moral law and remains binding, while the death penalty belongs to the civil law given to the ancient nation of Israel.
• The divorce exception clause: Interpretations differ over the phrase "except it be for fornication" in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9. The Westminster Confession of Faith recognizes adultery as grounds for divorce. The Catholic Church holds that a validly contracted marriage cannot be dissolved. For further detail, see Divorce and Remarriage.
• Details not found in the text: What Jesus wrote on the ground in John 8 is often explained as a list of the accusers' sins, but the text does not say what he wrote. Moreover, this passage is absent from many early manuscripts, and a number of modern translations note this in a footnote. Likewise, portrayals of Mary Magdalene as an adulteress or a prostitute have no basis in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Adultery is frequently addressed in teaching on the Ten Commandments and in sermons on the Sermon on the Mount. The expression "spiritual adultery" is also commonly used to rebuke the corruption of faith or secularization. Many denominations treat adultery as a matter for church discipline. The crime of adultery under the Korean Criminal Code lost its force when the Constitutional Court ruled it unconstitutional in 2015.