“Do not commit adultery”.-Deuteronomy 5:18
In Moses’ address to the 2nd younger generation of Israelites, we now come to the 7th commandment of “Thou shall not commit adultery”.
The biggest problem most folks (especially folks from the West) have concerning this commandment is understanding and accepting that according to Torah MEN CANNOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
That’s right.
Adultery was considered to be only a female crime.
Or another way to put it is that adultery was based on the marital status of only the woman.
It had NOTHING to do with the marital status of the man.
I know this isn’t politically correct but I don’t give two hoots.
I’m here to tell you the truth.
So yes, if a married man had sex with an unmarried woman, per the strict Torah definition, that was NOT considered adultery.
Now don’t misunderstand me.
I’m not saying a man having sexual relations outside of wedlock is okay or a good thing.
It was something that was definitely frowned on.
And I don’t recommend it.
All I’m saying is that it’s NOT adultery per what Torah says.
Although I’ve already posted these quotes in an article I did a while ago about this topic, given their relevance, I’m posting them again below.
“Adultery (sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband [the biblical prohibition does not include sex between a married man and an unmarried woman]) is the only sexual offense recorded in the Ten Commandments.”-Taken from http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/adultery/
Or…
“For example, if a married man had sex with an unmarried woman, that was not considered adultery, which differs from our understanding. In Biblical law having sex with an unmarried and unengaged virgin was prohibited, but it was not adultery in the narrow legal sense of the commandment, probably because it was a violation of father’s rights rather than a husband’s; in such a case, the man had to marry the woman (see Exodus 22:16; Deuteronomy 22:28-29).”-Taken from The Ten Commandments: A Short History of An Ancient Text, By Michael Coogan
Or…
“One other rule to understand: in general, as far as the OT era was concerned, men couldn’t commit adultery; that was looked upon as a female crime. A man having sexual relations out of wedlock was usually looked down upon; but it was not something one would be necessarily be penalized for.”-Taken from Tom Bradford’s Torah Class at www.torahclass.com
To add a bit more nuance to this commandment, in the ancient Middle East, it was also considered a form of adultery if a married woman took sides with a man against her husband in a heated argument.
A wife was supposed to honor her husband in all matters.
Now again I want to stress that although there is not a strict word-for-word commandment in the Bible prohibiting sex before marriage, understand that in the Biblical era, pretty much ALL societies in the Middle East considered sex outside of marriage to be a very bad thing.
In those days, if a woman wasn’t a virgin, she was considered damaged goods and most men would not want to marry her.
This notion is quite a far cry from the lust and sexual perversity that dominates our society today.
I am going to go by what Yeshua said about adultery…
If a man puts away his wife, except if she fornicates during the engagement period
he commits adultery. (See the gospel of Matthew).
So I believe He raised the standard and showed that it was also adultery to harm a woman, your own wife.
I don’t believe He contradicted His Father’s law. It is my understanding that Moses made concession for divorce based on hard hearts and the Israelites learning Egypitan practices of divorce.
Thanks for sharing Marie.