On the grounds of Fornication

[visionary]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

 

[miamited]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

Hi visionary,

I'm fairly confident that Jesus didn't use the word 'fornication'. He would have used either a Greek or Hebrew word.

God bless,
In Christ, ted

 

[Saucy]

Fornication is two people having sex outside of marriage. If someone cheats, they are sleeping with someone they're not married to, hence, it's fornication. Just because one or both of them might be married to other people, it's the act of having sex with someone you're not married to.

 

[Heber Book List]

When you have sex with someone, you are both joined together as one in G_d's eyes, ergo sex whilst un-married is contrary to G_d's will for us.

Having sex withe someone to whom you are not married, when in fact you married, is the equivalent of bigamy in G_d's eyes because you are then joined to two different people - one to whom you are married, and the other with whom you had an affair.

See 1 Corinthians 6:15-16

 

[tall73]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

I have heard a couple possibilities.

- Some see the term used as broader than the act of adultery, indicative of any sexual impropriety, hence some of the modern versions render that word "sexual immorality".

- Some see it as a reference to finding out about sexual immorality engaged in before marriage, or during a betrothal.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

I've heard that the issue was actually of incest, an uncleanness of being too closely related, for which a marriage couldn't possibly be allowed to continue.

 

[com7fy8]

There is the law about the woman who has fornicated, then lies by claiming she still is a virgin so she can fool a man into marrying her > Deuteronomy 22:13-21.

I personally understand that the issue here is not that she has committed fornication, but that she on purpose lies by claiming she is a virgin.

 

[gadar perets]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

The Greek word "inappropriate contenteia" includes any kind of sexual immorality.

Here is Thayer's definition:

G4202
πορνεία
inappropriate contenteia
Thayer Definition:

1) illicit sexual intercourse
1a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
1b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
1c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mar_10:11-12
2) metaphorically the worship of idols
2a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols​

 

[CherubRam]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

Fornication is sexual intercourse between people not married to each other. Adultery is committed by the married person. If one person is married and the other is not, The one who is married committed adultery, and the one who is not married committed fornication. It is a technicality.

 

[visionary]

Fornication is sexual intercourse between people not married to each other. Adultery is committed by the married person. If one person is married and the other is not, The one who is married committed adultery, and the one who is not married committed fornication. It is a technicality.

Single the single is fornicating, how can it be the grounds for divorce for the single?

 

[chevyontheriver]

The Greek word "inappropriate contenteia" includes any kind of sexual immorality.

Here is Thayer's definition:

G4202
πορνεία
inappropriate contenteia
Thayer Definition:

1) illicit sexual intercourse
1a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
1b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
1c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mar_10:11-12
2) metaphorically the worship of idols
2a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols​

The basis for my opinion is 1b.

 

[CherubRam]

Single the single is fornicating, how can it be the grounds for divorce for the single?

What scriptural verse are you speaking of?

 

[visionary]

Matthew 19:9
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

 

[Open Heart]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

This is my take; I realize that reasonable Christians have different takes on this, and I'm not looking for a debate.

inappropriate contenteia refers to illicit, or unlawful, sex. Sex was the most common way in early Israel to seal a marriage (unlike today which also includes a contract and a ring/gift). But if that sex was illicit (for example if it was with a prostitute or with a close family member) it voided the marriage.

This establishes the idea that there are simply some "marriages" that do not fully qualify as genuine marriages. They may be divorced because they were never real marriages in the first place. Unlawful sex is the foundational concept. But it directly and necessarily leads to the idea of an unlawful contract in general. Fraud for example. Or force. You get the idea.

 

[CherubRam]

Matthew 19:9
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for (inappropriate contenteia - fornication,) and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

The translation is not correct. The word is "inappropriate contenteia" which would translate as prostitution.

 

[Dave-W]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

As CherubRam pointed out the word ( in the greek versions coming down to us) is inappropriate contentia. Never ever should we try to parse things out in English.

So what does inappropriate contentia mean? I would submit it is a much broader term than just "prostitution." It certainly has that aspect as its root word is inappropriate contentas which was a class of slaves used in prostitution. But how was the word usage understood in the early congregations? Since the first believers in the greek speaking assemblies were from the diaspora Jewish communities, it is there we must look to find out what inappropriate contentia meant. As far as I can tell, it meant ANYTHING that violated Torah sexual limitations.

Premarital sex
Adultery
Male homosexuality
inappropriate behavior with animals
Sex during menses
Marrying a close relative​

 

[visionary]

As CherubRam pointed out the word ( in the greek versions coming down to us) is inappropriate contentia. Never ever should we try to parse things out in English.

So what does inappropriate contentia mean? I would submit it is a much broader term than just "prostitution." It certainly has that aspect as its root word is inappropriate contentas which was a class of slaves used in prostitution. But how was the word usage understood in the early congregations? Since the first believers in the greek speaking assemblies were from the diaspora Jewish communities, it is there we must look to find out what inappropriate contentia meant. As far as I can tell, it meant ANYTHING that violated Torah sexual limitations.

Premarital sex
Adultery
Male homosexuality
inappropriate behavior with animals
Sex during menses
Marrying a close relative​

Side track...
You know what gets me is the fact that these slave "prostitutes" were the victims and condemned, yet the abusers of this service never are.

 

[Laureate]

Sex outside of marriage by unmarried couples is called fornication.
Sex outside of marriage by married couples is called adultery.
..so why did Yeshua say that only for fornication is divorce allowed?

Intercourse outside of wedlock is Fornication, and Adultery is when one has Intercourse with an individual Married unto another individual, thus when a Married individual has Intercourse with an Unmarried individual, the Married individual is committing Fornication, and the Unmarried individual is committing Adultery.

 

[Open Heart]

Intercourse outside of wedlock is Fornication, and Adultery is when one has Intercourse with an individual Married unto another individual, thus when a Married individual has Intercourse with an Unmarried individual, the Married individual is committing Fornication, and the Unmarried individual is committing Adultery.

If a married individual is involved, it's adultery. If both are unmarried, it's fornication.

 

[visionary]

Intercourse outside of wedlock is Fornication, and Adultery is when one has Intercourse with an individual Married unto another individual, thus when a Married individual has Intercourse with an Unmarried individual, the Married individual is committing Fornication, and the Unmarried individual is committing Adultery.

Isn't it the other way around,
married... adultery...
single.. fornnication.