Seventh Commandment in Exodus 20:14 - Adultery
The seventh commandment, as recorded in Exodus 20:14, states, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (ASV) [1]. This command is a foundational element of the Decalogue, outlining ethical and moral conduct for the Israelite community.
In the context of ancient Israelite law, adultery primarily concerned sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man who was not her husband [2, 3]. The Mosaic Law defined an adulterer as a man who engaged in illicit relations with a married or betrothed woman, and the woman involved was considered an adulteress [3]. If a man had intercourse with an unmarried woman, it was classified as fornication, not adultery [3]. The severity of adultery was underscored by its prescribed penalty: both the guilty parties were to be stoned to death [2]. This punishment applied to both married and betrothed women, provided the betrothed woman was free [2]. A bondwoman who committed adultery was to be scourged, and the man involved was required to make a trespass offering [2].
Adultery was regarded as a significant social wrong and a grave sin [3]. It was seen as a betrayal of a fundamental covenant, not only with one's spouse but also with God [8]. God's intervention in Genesis 20:3-7, warning Abimelech against committing adultery with Sarah, highlights its status as a capital offense and a "great sin" even before the giving of the Law at Sinai [9]. The Tyndale House commentary on Exodus 20:14 suggests that the term "adultery" in this context represents all sexual sins, with adultery serving as the clearest example of breaking faith [4]. Adulterers are described as satisfying their sexual desires while simultaneously breaking faith with their spouse [4].
The criminality of adultery, according to Adam Clarke, involves two main aspects of injustice [6]:
- It deprives a man of his right by taking away his wife's affection [6].
- It wrongs him by causing him to support a child that is not his own [6]. Clarke also notes that the commandment prohibits not only the act itself but also anything leading to it [6]. John Gill, commenting on Leviticus 18:20, emphasizes that adultery defiles the individual involved, both in soul and body, and brings a lasting stain upon their character [5]. Matthew Henry further notes that while some may mock at sins against the seventh commandment, God's severe punishments for them were intended to teach the heinousness of the guilt [11].
Later rabbinic traditions introduced regulations to address suspected cases of adultery, such as the "water of jealousy" ordeal described in Numbers 5:11-31, though there is no recorded instance of its application [3]. Over time, influenced by Gentile examples, public perception of adultery shifted, and the marriage tie became a looser bond [2].
Jesus expanded on the scope of this commandment in Matthew 5:27-30, indicating that lustful thoughts also constitute a form of adultery in the heart [4, 10]. This interpretation broadens the understanding of the commandment beyond the physical act to include internal desires and intentions. The Tyndale House commentary on Proverbs 7:14 notes that outward religious observance does not negate a corrupt heart revealed by immoral behavior [7].
Sources
- Exodus “Exodus 20:14 (ASV) — Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Adultery — (Exodus 20:14) The parties to this crime, according to Jewish law, were a married woman and a man who was not her husband. The Mosaic penalty was that both the guilty parties should be stoned, and it applied as well to the betrothed as to the married woman, provided she were free. (22:22-24) A bondwoman so offending was to be scourged, and the man was to make a trespass offering. (Leviticus 19:20-22) At a later time, and when owing, to Gentile example, the marriage tie became a looser bond of union, public feeling in regard to adultery changed, and the pena”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Adultery — Conjugal infidelity. An adulterer was a man who had illicit intercourse with a married or a betrothed woman, and such a woman was an adulteress. Intercourse between a married man and an unmarried woman was fornication. Adultery was regarded as a great social wrong, as well as a great sin. The Mosaic law (Num. 5:11-31) prescribed that the suspected wife should be tried by the ordeal of the "water of jealousy." There is, however, no recorded instance of the application of this law. In subsequent times the Rabbis made various regulations with the view of disc”
- Exodus (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Exodus 20:14: 20:14 adultery: Here this term represents all sexual sins, among which adultery most clearly indicates breaking faith. Adulterers satisfy their sexual desires as they please, and they break faith with their spouse in so doing. Jesus expanded on this command in Matt 5:27-30.”
- Leviticus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Leviticus 18:20: Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife,.... Which is adultery, and a breach of the seventh command, Exo 20:14, to defile thyself with her; not only adultery is a defiling a man's wife, as it is sometimes called, but the adulterer defiles himself: all sin is of a defiling nature, but especially this, which defiles a man both in soul and body, and brings a blot and stain upon his character, which shall not be wiped off, Pro 6:32.”
- Exodus (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Exodus 20:14: Thou shalt not commit adultery - Adultery, as defined by our laws, is of two kinds; double, when between two married persons; single, when one of the parties is married, the other single. One principal part of the criminality of adultery consists in its injustice. 1. It robs a man of his right by taking from him the affection of his wife. 2. It does him a wrong by fathering on him and obliging him to maintain as his own a spurious offspring - a child which is not his. The act itself, and every thing leading to the act, is prohibited by this commandment; for our Lor”
- Proverbs (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Proverbs 7:14: 7:14 The immoral woman’s observance of religious ritual makes her look good on the surface, but her immoral behavior reveals a corrupt heart.”
- Proverbs (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Proverbs 2:18: 2:18-19 leads . . . to the grave: Adultery betrays a fundamental covenant with one’s spouse and with God (see also Gen 39:2-9; Mal 2:14).”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 20:3: 20:3-7 God gave Abimelech a stern warning against committing adultery; it was a capital offense (cp. Exod 20:14), viewed throughout the ancient Near East as a “great sin” (Gen 20:9). 20:3 that night God came . . . in a dream: God urgently intervened to stop Abimelech from violating Sarah’s purity shortly before God’s promise was fulfilled (18:10; 21:1-3).”
- Deuteronomy (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Deuteronomy 5:18: 5:18 adultery: See Jesus’ comments about adultery in Matt 5:27-28.”
- Leviticus (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Leviticus 20:10: Sins against the seventh commandment are here ordered to be severely punished. These are sins which, of all others, fools are most apt to make a mock at; but God would teach those the heinousness of the guilt by the extremity of the punishment that would not otherwise be taught it. I. Lying with another man's wife was made a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress that had joined in the sin must fall alike under the sentence: they shall both be put to death, Lev 20:10. Long before this, even in Job's time, this was reputed a heinous crime and an iniqui”