I've had some family drama recently and got into this conversation with my uber-religious grandmother.
She basically told me that the commandments regarding adultery and coveting only apply to men. They do not apply to women, be it coveting in the flesh or coveting in the heart.
Now, I've read the Bible and gone to church for years and years, but I always thought that the commandments against cheating and coveting applied to both sexes.
Is my grandmother right or is she crazy?
2007-09-11 11:24:44 · 7 answers · asked by Surf Forever 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'd say she's crazy. There are many instances in which women were condemned for adultery.
2007-09-11 11:33:51 · answer #1 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
She is correct in that the particular commandments were addressed to males (in other words the language used assumed the male gender of the listner). However, she's wrong in that the commandments are all out growth of loving God and loving others. If we covet, whether we are male or female, what we're saying is that God isn't a good provider--that He has withheld what is good from us. That's essentially the whole discussion betwen woman and the serpent. Then if we're committing adultery, we're not loving others, rather we're fullfiling our own selfish desires.
2007-09-11 19:29:44 · answer #2 · answered by Jackie L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Adultery applies to both men and women. In the Bible, God says men and women are equals and women are not an exception to any particular sin. If you know it's wrong and you know that God wouldn't want you to do it, then it's a sin. It doesn't matter if you're a girl or a boy.
2007-09-11 19:04:21 · answer #3 · answered by lalala 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Exd 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
It does not say "Man shall not commit adultery." It says "Thou" meaning "you."
Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man's wife, [even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
The adulterer and the adulterESS.
Jer 3:6 During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.
Jer 3:7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
Jer 3:8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.
Jer 3:9 Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.
In most cases in the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as a "She" and here it speaks of Israel having committed adultery.
New Testament:
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.
Mat 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
(Again, it is Thou, so if your family does not believe in the Old Testament, and only the New, Jesus says "Thou" not "He, man, etc.")
Mark 10:12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
So, while it is more often spoken of regarding a man--in each book, it is also spoken of regarding a woman.
Your grandmother is not crazy, she is being stubborn, and she is wrong..and I am not about to speculate why she may think a woman is able to commit adultery and not feel it is sinful for a woman to do.
2007-09-11 19:07:40 · answer #4 · answered by sirburd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your grandma is wrong. It applies to both, women and men.
2007-09-11 18:34:55 · answer #5 · answered by rp 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They are applied to both men and woman. I don't know where she heard of that.
2007-09-11 18:33:56 · answer #6 · answered by Julia 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
read exodus and learn for yourshelf!
God bless
2007-09-11 18:43:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋