1 And God spake all these words, saying,…
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
— Exodus 20:1,14 (KJV)
What is the meaning of “You shall not commit adultery.”
This commandment seems simple. Straight forward. But beyond the definition of adultery, what are the implications behind the issue with adultery that explain what all is behind this commandment?
God’s 7th commandment specifically regards any kind of voluntary sexual immorality or activity between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse, as adultery. This is because God created marriage as a holy union, or holy ordinance, between a wife and husband. Adultery is breaking this union.
There is a unity in the sexual act which is more than just metaphorical. This is where the concept of “consummating” a marriage comes from. Thou the marriage vows are just as important.
The union is physical, mental, and spiritual, in which the two joined as one. Joined to procreate. A permanent bond between them, even if you can’t see it.
By extension, if marriage and the sexual and total relationship between one husband and one wife are set up as a holy union for life, then anything else is not what God intends. Or anything against what God created as holy is seen as sin by God.
Creation of Women and Marriage in Genesis 2
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The creation of women wasn’t just an afterthought. But you can see God had an order and plan.
God created man first. Let Adam see he was alone and needed a companion. Not just any companion, but one meant for him.
Then God made a woman from Adam. Designed just for him, from his rib. Signifying their relationship. God could have used the dust of the ground, or any other bone, or thing, or even from nothing. The ribs are an important bone in the bone, not lowly or insignificant. Also, interestingly rib bones are the only bones in humans that are able to repair themselves by regrowing.
Adam recognized this significant relationship in how Eve was made and considered that when naming her woman. Not one of lower status or lower importance because she was taken out of man, but one of great importance because it was part of him.
The most important part then is in verses 24 and 25, where God creates the holy union between man and woman. This ordinance was set up from the beginning, way before God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
Jesus magnified the original commandment to teach us the spirit of the law:
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Jesus also clarified God’s 7th commandment compared to Moses’ civil law. Clarifying also what are the only grounds for divorce:
3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
Breaking it down:
In Matthew 19:3-6, it was self-evident to Jesus, the listening disciples and crowd, and the Pharisees as they debated justification for divorce that the holy union God created, since the beginning as the natural order, was between a man and a woman.
In Matthew 19:7-9, Jesus explains why Moses had to create additional laws for man, which God did not intend. God intended marriage to be forever, as a reflection of the eternal marriage the bridegroom will have with His people at the second coming of Christ.
In Matthew 19:10-12, His disciples on hearing this, think it might be better to never marry if they have no way to divorce if something happens. Jesus then explains that earthly marriage is not for everyone, but only those that can receive it as it is.
Elsewhere in the Bible, it may describe times people wrongly went outside of what God created, by marrying more than one wife, relationships with handmaids, divorce, fornication, prostitutes, and wrongful taking of women. But none of these were God sanctioned. The Bible documents how most of these situations ran into issues because they did not follow God’s pattern for marriage.
Where did the Seventh Commandment come from?
After God (using Moses) liberated His people from slavery in Egypt, God instructed them on how to live as a society under His rule. God, in a thick cloud from the top of Mount Sinai, spoke as a loud trumpet, His laws so that Israelite people would know how to not sin, how to love God, and love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:37-40).
These laws are called the Ten Commandments or the Law of Liberty (liberty from sin). Learn more about the Ten Commandments.
Related Questions:
- What is fornication in the Bible?
- Is all divorce a sin in the Bible?
- Does the Bible say pre-marital sex is a sin?
- Does the Bible talk about homosexuality?
- What does the Bible say about LGBTQIA2S+?
- Is it a sin to cross-dress?
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