ADULTERY. The term adultery is used in the Scriptures to designate sexual intercourse, with mutual consent, between a man, married or unmarried, and the wife of another man. Likewise, the term is used to describe sexual intercourse, with mutual consent, by a married woman with any man other than her husband.

The term μοιχεύσεις is used in the NT to describe the concept covered by the term nā’ aph or adultery in the OT. In ancient Israel the primary meaning of the term adultery was the physical act of adultery. However, gradually the term was used to designate idolatrous worship and unfaithfulness to God. The significance of the act and the connotations of the term seemed to deepen and widen over time.

In ancient Israel adultery was expressly forbidden (Exod 20:14; Deut 5:18) and was punishable by death (Lev 18:20; 20:20; Deut 22:22-24). In a few nations, such as France, penal codes as late as the 20th cent. allowed for the punishment of adultery as a crime. In 1955, the American Law Institute voted not to include adultery in its model penal code.

In the earliest days of Israel’s history, the physical act of adultery was condemned severely. Death apparently by stoning was the penalty prescribed for both the man and the woman who committed adultery. The death penalty covered adultery by an affianced woman as well as adultery on the part of a married woman (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22-25).

Jewish law required that adultery be clearly established (John 8:4 and Mishna Sota I, 4; V, 1 and VI, 1 and 25). If a man’s wife was accused of adultery, she was required to prove her innocence by an ordeal referred to as drinking the “Waters of Bitterness” (Num 5:11-30 and Mishna Sota I, 4 and VI, 25). This ordeal was not endured by all accused adulteresses in Israel, but only by pure Israelites (and some pure Israelites apparently were exempt from the trial). The trial included drinking an innocuous potion composed of water from a basin in the Temple or sanctuary, mingled with dust from the floor of the sanctuary and the ink scrapings from the accused woman’s oath repeated during the formal trial. If the woman were guiltless, she supposedly would suffer no ill effects from drinking the potion. This trial was conducted before the Sanhedrin (Sotah I, 4) and two witnesses of the alleged adulterous act were required before the woman was brought to trial. If the woman was found guilty on circumstantial grounds, the husband was compelled to divorce her and the accused adulteress lost all her rights accruing from the marriage settlement. In addition, an adulteress was not allowed to marry her paramour (Sotah V, 1). Originally this trial by ordeal was designed for guilty women, but gradually it was abolished due to increasing moral laxity among the male population of Israel. About a.d. 30 the death penalty for adultery was dropped in Israel along with the abolition of other forms of capital punishment.

In addition to the primary meaning of the term, adultery was used in the OT to describe idolatrous worship and religious apostasy (Isa 57:3; Jer 3:8, 9; Ezek 23:43). Hosea described Israel as the adulterous wife of Jehovah due to her religious apostasy (Hos 2:2).

In the NT Christ emphasized the teaching that the sinful or adulterous thought was equivalent to the act of adultery. Some believe these and similar teachings showed that He was in agreement with the stricter interpretations of the law current in His day (Matt 5:17). Christ also taught that under certain circumstances, marriage to a divorcee resulted in adultery (5:27-32). Adultery is mentioned in the NT as one of several sins, which if not repented of would exclude a person from the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9; Gal 5:19-21). Adultery was forbidden by Christ (Matt 19:3-12; John 8:4) and by the Early Church. Stern warnings were given to offenders lest such practices be repeated (1 Cor 5; 6). Furthermore, spiritual adultery or the alignment of the Christian with either the world system or non-Christian religious systems, is clearly forbidden in the NT (James 4:4; Rev. 2:20-23).

In both testaments adultery either in the physical or spiritual sense is expressly forbidden. See Marriage.