What does 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' mean?

Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
marhig said:
I think David did commit adultery, he was sleeping with Bathsheba whilst uriah was still alive. What is that if it's not adultery? And not only did he commit adultery, but after doing it, he then contrived to get her husband killed my putting him at the front of the battle when he was weak. Uriah's heart was right before God and he was loyal to David yet he was treated so badly.

God did forgive Davids sins when he repented, but he did still suffer terribly for committing those sins, including losing his first born son!

2 Samuel 12

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.


David was the king, he had a responsibly to show the right way to live before others. And God's people have that responsibility too. We have to live right before God and others, and follow Jesus showing the right example. The stronger we are in God, the more we know and the more responsibility we have.

Once we know the truth and we know God, and when we carry on sinning wilfully, God will punish us because we're not ignorant and we know right from wrong.
Click to expand...

The problem verse for me is:

And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

It would seem that polygamy was not considered adultery.
 
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
Crucible said:
David was of the elect, with a preordained purpose- instead of the penalty of death, God killed his son.

In reality, they wouldn't have stoned him to death anyway, as he was too precious to the Jews. David rather was ashamed, and tried to conceal it by having Bathsheba's husband sent to die in the front lines of battle.

But even with that, God spared him to continue his kingship.
Click to expand...

So your definition of adultery is what exactly? One rule for some and another for the rest? I've never seen that in scripture.
 
marhig

marhig

Well-known member
Sonnet said:
The problem verse for me is:

And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

It would seem that polygamy was not considered adultery.
Click to expand...

I go by what Jesus says

Matthew 19

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? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them.at the beginning made them male and female, 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? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 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. 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.
 
Last edited:
C

chair

Well-known member
Adultery in the Bible is relations with a woman who is married to someone else. Since men were allowed multiple wives the rule was not symmetric for married men.

David was punished by God for his behavior with Uriah's wife, even if he wasn't stoned. It remained adultery. Please read the entire story.
 
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
marhig said:
I go by what Jesus says

Matthew 19

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? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them.at the beginning made them male and female, 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? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 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. 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.
Click to expand...

Then why was polygamy permitted in the OT?
 
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
chair said:
Adultery in the Bible is relations with a woman who is married to someone else. Since men were allowed multiple wives the rule was not symmetric for married men.

David was punished by God for his behavior with Uriah's wife, even if he wasn't stoned. It remained adultery. Please read the entire story.
Click to expand...

So when Jesus said that one may divorce for adultery he wasn't including women who's husband's married another woman?
 
Last edited:
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
chair said:
Adultery in the Bible is relations with a woman who is married to someone else. Since men were allowed multiple wives the rule was not symmetric for married men.

David was punished by God for his behavior with Uriah's wife, even if he wasn't stoned. It remained adultery. Please read the entire story.
Click to expand...

If men were permitted multiple wives then why did Paul say:

Romans 7
1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
 
Crucible

Crucible

BANNED
Banned
Sonnet said:
It would appear that a definition remains elusive.
Click to expand...

It's apparent that you just want to hear what you want to hear, and are going to act the way you act until you hear it :rolleyes:

I've already stated my bit.

Crucible said:
The only adultery that breaks the marriage covenant is physical adultery. That was the case all through biblical history, and did not change with Jesus.

What Jesus is illustrating is that one has betrayed their heart in looking upon another with lust, which doesn't desecrate one's marriage but rather one's soul.

St. Augustine edifies this, teaching ultimately that when a person lusts, the soul loses control of the body and, being separated, is literally plunged by demons.
In marriage, however, two are made into one flesh, so the volition of sex is holy.
Click to expand...
 
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
Crucible said:
It's apparent that you just want to hear what you want to hear, and are going to act the way you act until you hear it :rolleyes:

I've already stated my bit.
Click to expand...

Yes - I read that; but you haven't addressed the fact that such a definition would make polygamy adultery.
 
Crucible

Crucible

BANNED
Banned
Sonnet said:
Yes - I read that; but you haven't addressed the fact that such a definition would make polygamy adultery.
Click to expand...

Polygamy is not sinful, monogamy is just more holy. It died it's own death due to man's natural inclination to nonetheless stay faithful to one.

But I'm not going to go any further in this discussion with you, because you simply twist things all over again when they are ironed out and call it an argument when it's really just your refusal to accept the inevitable. So bye :wave2:
 
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
Crucible said:
Polygamy is not sinful, monogamy is just more holy. It died it's own death due to man's natural inclination to nonetheless stay faithful to one.
Click to expand...

Paul's words in Romans 7 make polygamy sinful.

Romans 7:3
So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

But I'm not going to go any further in this discussion with you, because you simply twist things all over again when they are ironed out and call it an argument when it's really just your refusal to accept the inevitable. So bye :wave2:
Click to expand...

Bye.
 
Crucible

Crucible

BANNED
Banned
Sonnet said:
Paul's words in Romans 7 make polygamy sinful.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't, because Paul is speaking to monogamy. Marriage is never directly defined as between one man and woman, it's simply stated that it ought to be.

As I stated, you are just twisting things to avoid the inevitable.

There's a difference between having a discussion/debate, and just being vainly argumentative. I think that you come on here asking loaded questions- while conceal your reasoning for them- so that you can run over others with what you think in the end.
 
Sonnet

Sonnet

New member
Crucible said:
No it doesn't, because Paul is speaking to monogamy. Marriage is never directly defined as between one man and woman, it's simply stated that it ought to be.
Click to expand...

"So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress."

That explicitly makes polygamy sinful.

As I stated, you are just twisting things to avoid the inevitable.
Click to expand...

No 'twist' actually cited or proved.

There's a difference between having a discussion/debate, and just being vainly argumentative. I think that you come on here asking loaded questions- while conceal your reasoning for them- so that you can run over others with what you think in the end.
Click to expand...

I am simply asking for a definition of Exodus 20:14. So far there is no consensus....something so simple as what 'adultery' means appears to be beyond all of us so far.
 
Crucible

Crucible

BANNED
Banned
Sonnet said:
"So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress."

That explicitly makes polygamy sinful.



No 'twist' actually cited or proved.
Click to expand...

:doh:
If he's speaking to monogamy, then you haven't proved anything. You are forcing it to imply something he is not.

Just go on somewhere, seriously. I would rather believe you are trolling then just that astoundingly ridiculous.
 
C

chair

Well-known member
Sonnet said:
If men were permitted multiple wives then why did Paul say:

Romans 7
1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
Click to expand...

I don't follow. Why doesn't this work if men can have multiple wives?
 
jamie

jamie

New member
LIFETIME MEMBER
Sonnet said:
So this leaves 'adultery' meaning what exactly?
Click to expand...

Adultery requires a willing partner. According to the law of the land in David's day when the king summoned a person that person was required to come.

I'm sure Bathsheba was intimidated by David's summons and she feared resisting the king. This does not mean she consented.

Because of his position and power David abused her and rape is not the same as adultery.
 
Evil.Eye.<(I)>

Evil.Eye.<(I)>

BANNED
Banned
Sonnet said:
Exodus 20:14
Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Is it definable?
Click to expand...

I would like to join this discussion because it is you Sonnet. I don't stomp around these grounds, but as you know, I enjoy speaking with you.

I have come into this discussion because I understand the multiple perspectives here.

I intend to express perspective from all differing sides.

But, let's get to the heart of the matter. What are the points to explore within this question?

From my perception, this inquisition takes place within the constraints of the Christian Bible and draws from intellectual inquiry and rational application of Cultural Christianities predominant interpretations of the bible, while placed against the measuring stick of societal reason and unbending application of scriptural continuity or lack thereof.

Point (1): Marriage is laid out in Genesis between 2 people.

Point (2): As time progresses in biblical matters, Patriarchal systems take hold and Men are communicated as having more rights than women.

Notable Fact: The father of Faith Abraham starts a ton of trouble by taking a second wife (concubine) as suggested by his wife. (This again parallels the fall story of Genesis which draws negative ideas about women by having Eve fall first and then encourage her husband to do likewise. This is further emphasized in the New Testament.)

Point (3): The 10 Commandments are given and Adultery is specifically cited as Sex outside of marriage in all of its forms.

Point (4): Polygamy is acceptable to God in the context of Men, but it appears that Matriarchal Polygamy is not discussed in the Bible.

Notable Fact: Because the Bible does not "condemn or address' Matriarchal Polygamy, it can be assumed that God is ok with an individual marrying multiple spouses.

Point (5): Adultery is given the death penalty.

Point (6): Jesus further defines adultery as occurring within the heart.

Notable Fact: Before David broke many of the core Decalogue with Bath..., He committed absolute adultery the moment he looked upon Bath's... Nakedness, and committed Murder, the Moment he exalted his self interest above human life.

Just to go the extra mile, he Lied by being secretive, coveted another man's wife and stole that wife to be his. He dishonored his anointing and in suit took God's name in vain, and had a very loyal man killed for simply refusing to leave the battle at the time to hopefully join with Bath... to cover up his misdeed.

Point (7): God is quoted as encouraging David to have multiple spouses in scripture.

First set of Conclusions Without Points...

>Adultery is not polygamy in the context of scripture.

>It appears that you see a clear subjugation of women in scripture by the insinuated double standard of woman not being mentioned as having multiple spouses, while men do.

>It is further notable that Jesus makes a divorced individual unable to marry another individual unless their previous spouse dies. (Though to note, the Law addresses this as well.)

>The Old Testament message of God's forgiveness to David appears to go much further than many people would have other's believe.

Is this along the lines of your inquisition?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top