What does adultry mean?

Question

It's part of the commandments... but I think people seem to have different views on it now? I'm not judging or preaching or anything, I'm just curious. Like how some Christians think it's ok to have sex before marriage? Isn't that adultry? I really am confused...?

I think that pre-marital sex is adultery, am I wrong?

Oopsie, thanx nevermind, found it off of dictionary.com:
Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse

so I'm right and I will stay a virgin til I marry :]

Answer 1

In the bible, adultery is any sexual activity conducted outside of the confines of marriage.

This includes:
a married man with a married woman who is not his wife (vice versa)
A married man with an unmarried woman (vice versa)
and premarital sex

Answer 2

Now according to the Websters dictionary it means voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse.

Now according to scripture it can encompass many thing..

Lust in your heart for a woman is a form of adultery.
It is the notion that “adultery” is merely the act of repudiating one’s marriage vows (whether or not the covenant-breaker ever enters a new marital union).



The motive behind this novel theory is perfectly transparent. It is a result-oriented dogma. It suggests that if one commits adultery, i.e., he repudiates his marriage vow (admittedly an evil thing), then he may simply “repent” of that action, i.e., pledge not to do it henceforth, and, if he desires at some subsequent point, he may secure a new mate. According to this view, one can abandon his spouse for any trivial reason, pledge to never do such again, and then enter a new “marriage.”

Such an ideology makes an absolute mockery of the New Testament teaching on divorce and remarriage. But some are vigorously promoting this new view of “adultery” [See Note #1 below.]. It is thus imperative that attention be focused upon the true meaning of that term as revealed in the Bible.

One of the fundamental rules of New Testament interpretation is known as usus loquendi. This is a Latin phrase which suggests that the common meaning (or the prevalent usage) of a term is to be assumed, unless some special significance is demanded by the context. The question is, therefore: How did the ancient writers – both profane and sacred – employ the term “adultery?”


General New Testament Evidence
How does the New Testament use the term “adultery”? Is there any indication that the word means merely the abandonment of a marriage? We confidently affirm that there is not a scrap of evidence supporting this idea. Let us consider several New Testament passages in which the word “adultery” occurs.


Jesus spoke of those who “look upon a woman to lust after her.” He says that such one has “committed adultery” with her in his heart (Matt. 5:28). The term “lust” demonstrates that a sexual inclination is involved.
Do men lustfully fantasize about breaking covenants? That is not a viable viewpoint. Moreover, those who have “eyes full of adultery” (2 Pet. 2:14) are surely not ogling a marriage document with a view to tearing it up!


On a certain occasion the Pharisees brought a woman to Christ who had been caught “in adultery” (John 8:4). In the Greek text, the term is moicheuomene, a present tense participle. She was in the process of committing adultery when apprehended; the writer even emphasizes that she was “in the very act.”
What was the act? Was she merely shredding a marriage license? Was she slamming the door as she abandoned her home? Can one really miss the meaning of “adultery” in this context?


The writer of the book of Hebrews admonishes Christians to “let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (13:4). Exactly how does an adulterer “defile the bed”?
Let the Bible answer this question. According to the Old Testament text, Reuben, the son of Jacob, “went up to [his] father’s bed; then defiled it” (Gen. 49:4). What was his sin? He “lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine” (Gen. 35:22). There is no question but that “adultery” has a sexual import in Hebrews 13:4. See also the connection between “bed” and “adultery” in Revelation 2:22.


Divorce & Remarriage Contexts
Let us now view the use of “adultery” as such appears in two New Testament contexts which specifically deal with the divorce and remarriage issue. Let us see whether or not the “covenant-breaking” definition will fit reasonably into these passages. After all, it is well known that if one correctly defines a term, the definition may be substituted for the word itself, and the sense of the passage will not be compromised.


Jesus declared that the man “who divorces his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, makes her an adulteress” (Matt. 5:32). Contemplated here is an innocent woman who has been victimized by her husband. She has been put away. She did not break the marriage covenant. Her husband did. And yet she, should she remarry, is stigmatized as an adulteress [See note #2 below.].
This statement makes no sense at all if adultery is defined as “covenant-breaking.” But it makes perfect sense if the woman involves herself in a new sexual union without the benefit of a divinely authorized divorce.


In Matthew 19:9, Jesus taught that anyone who divorces his companion, without her having been unfaithful, is committing adultery. The force of the form “committeth adultery” (a Greek present tense) is this: The offender keeps on committing adultery.
As Reisser (p. 583) notes, he “enters the realm of adultery.” Professor William Beck (p. 37) renders the verb in this fashion: “. . . he is living in adultery.” Each act of sexual union with an unauthorized partner is adulterous.

However, this grammatical nuance does not fit the “covenant-breaking” definition of adultery, as set forth by some of our brethren. The advocates of this view contend that the “adultery” was a one-time event; it occurred when the divorce was initiated, and it was concluded at that point. That position is not consistent with the thrust of the present tense in this passage.

I hope this sheds some light on your question..

Answer 3

Adultry is the act of sex with others outside of a marriage. Husband cheating on wife and vise versa.

Now sex before marriage is called fornication. This is also frowned upon because instead of a safe relationship within a marriage, fornication is the main cause of sexually transmitted diseases. And since fornication is outside of marriage, it looses its value and becomes a meaningless union between two people.

Answer 4

Adultry was originally, when a man has sex with a married woman. if the man is married and the woman is not, according to the old testament, it is not adultry. The meaning of adultry has changed over time, as societies progressed and moralities changed.

Answer 5

Adultry is when married people have affairs, and sex before marriage is fornication. These Christians you are talking about that think its ok to sex before marriage must not read the Bible, because it says that fornication is wrong. Or they might fornicate anyway, sometimes people do things even though they know its wrong. Good thing Jesus is merciful, and He will forgive us if I ask for it.

Answer 6

I understand adultary to be the act of engaging in a sexual relationship with someone outside of your marriage. But I am not sure how strict God is on this.

Also: is infancy as fun for infants as adultary is for adults?

Answer 7

(Mat 5:27) Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
(Mat 5:28) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

(Mat 5:31) It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
(Mat 5:32) But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

(Mar 10:7) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
(Mar 10:8) And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
(Mar 10:9) What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
(Mar 10:10) And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
(Mar 10:11) And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
(Mar 10:12) And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

Answer 8

Yes, that is adultry, any sex out of marriage, I know its tuff, believe me, mike

Answer 9

adultry is when married people have affairs. when a married man or woman sleeps with other people rather than their spouses.

Answer 10

Adultery is having intercourse with somebody who isn't your substantial different. Muslims who've boyfriends or girlfriends and not masking up potential they are evolving and islam is in decline.