Another question on remarriage
In matthew 19:9 where Jesus speaks of fornication, It seems to me that the church of Christ translates that into adultery. How
can a married person commit fornication? Was he not speaking of people who have sex before they are married therefore a man
may think he’s getting a virgin when he’s not? Thank you for your answer.
Mathew 19:9 from a few different translations:
KJV:
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.NKJV:“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery;
and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”TEV: I tell you, then, that any man who divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, commits adultery if
he marries some other woman.”The word translated to ‘fornication’ in the KJV comes from the greek word, “porneia.” In Strong’s Concordance the word is
defined this way:4202. porneia por-ni’-ah from 4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry:–fornication.Thayer and Smith’s Lexicon gives this definition:1.illicit sexual intercourse
- a.adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
b.sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
c.sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,
2.metaph. the worship of idols
- a.of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols
As you can see, the original Greek word translated to ‘fornication’ was actually a word that could be used for several different
types of sexually immoral actions. Judging by the context, the mostly likely intention of the inspired writer in Matthew 19:9
would have been to refer to adultery. I hope this helps, if not, or if you have any other questions, we’d be happy to study with you further.
Sincerely,
Justin Murdock for the Garrett’s Creek Church of Christ and thegospelfortoday.com
