WHAT IS ADULTERY AND FORNICATION?

Why are Hebrews persecuted to be accused of adultery?

No one can disprove the scriptures nor since the beginning of time did man commit adultery unless he
has had sex with another man's wife.

Genesis 4:19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the
other Zillah.

Exodus 1:7-10 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and
waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt,
which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are
more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to
pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and
so get them up out of the land.

1 Samuel 24:13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine
hand shall not be upon thee.

Isaiah 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the
tail.

Isaiah 44:7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the
ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

Isaiah 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this
from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside
me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the
generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

The New World Definitions

Adultery (n.)

"voluntary violation of the marriage bed," c. 1300, avoutrie, from Old French avouterie (12c., later
adulterie, Modern French adultĕre), noun of condition from avoutre, from Latin adulterare "commit
adultery; corrupt," from ad "to" (see ad-) + alterare "to alter" (see alter). Compare adulteration. The
spelling was corrected toward Latin from early 15c. in English, following French (see ad-).

In Middle English, also "sex between husband and wife for recreational purposes; idolatry, perversion,
heresy." As a crime, formerly classified as single adultery (with an unmarried person) and double
adultery (with a married person). The Old English word was æwbryce "breach of law(ful marriage)"
(similar formation in German Ehebruch). In translations of the 7th Commandment it is understood to
mean "lewdness or unchastity" of any kind, in act or thought.
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Definition of adultery

: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than that person's current
spouse or partner also : an act of adultery

What’s the difference between adultery and fornication?

In case you were wondering, the words adultery and adult are not etymologically related (in other
words, adultery didn’t grow out of adult in the way that punditry grew out of pundit). Although both
words come from Latin and share the same first five letters, adultery is from adulterāre (“to pollute,
defile, commit adultery”), a word formed ultimately from the Latin elements ad- “to, near” and alter
“other.” English adult comes from adultus, which is the past participle of the Latin word adolescere (“to
grow up”).

In legal use there is a difference between adultery and fornication. Adultery is only used when at least
one of the parties involved (either male or female) is married, whereas fornication may be used to
describe two people who are unmarried (to each other or anyone else) engaging in consensual sexual
intercourse.

Wisdom of The Ancients to Discern Good from Evil

1 Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may
discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Psalm 44:1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in
their days, in the times of old.

Psalm 77:5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

Job 12:12 With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

Psalm 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

Isaiah 3:14 The Most High will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the
princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

Law & Order Ancient Egypt

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/sexual-violence-against-women/egypt-sexual-violence-against-
women.pdf

https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/30196/Law%20and%20Order%20in
%20Ancient%20Egypt.pdf?sequence=1

http://www.42principlesofmaat.com/
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Ancient Times of Old Definitions

Adultery was defined in Babylonia as elsewhere in the ancient world as a sexual relationship between a
married woman and a man not her husband. The marital status of the man was irrelevant. Even the
appearance or possibility of adultery was taken very seriously. A wife caught in the act of adultery was
to be tied to her lover and thrown into the water and drowned. A husband could save his wife but then
he had to save her lover as well. (129)

By its nature adultery is a secretive activity, yet the mere possibility of such a serious offence was
disruptive of the social order. If a woman’s husband accused her she may in the presence of a priest
swear to her innocence and then return to her husband’s home. If someone else accused her she would
have to undergo an ordeal in which she would swear before the gods to her innocence and then jump
into the river. If she drowned it was a sign of guilt; if she survived it meant that the river spirits knew of
her virtue and saved her. (Note that this is the reverse of the medieval European ordeal.) To the
modern mind judgment was based on the woman’s ability to swim, but the ancient Babylonians were
convinced of supernatural intervention. Swearing innocence was not as easy as it sounds because most
people were quite certain that the gods would punish anyone who lied in their names, but any wife
willing to risk divine retribution was free to return to her home if her only accuser was a jealous
husband. If an outsider laid the charge the woman was likely to lose because few in Babylonia knew
how to swim. Whatever the justice of the verdict for the individual, the matter was settled and order
was restored in the community. (131-132)

Ma’at is the Ancient Egyptian Goddess of truth, balance and order. She is most often depicted as a
woman with wings or a single white ostrich feather. When the deceased go to the afterlife, the
Egyptians believed that their hearts would be weighed against this feather.

If the individual lived a good life, following the rules of ma’at, their heart would be lighter than a feather
and they would get to go to the afterlife. However, if that individual did not follow the rules of ma’at,
they would have a heavy heart – weighed down by the guilt of their transgressions. As a result, their
heart would be devoured by Ammut and the soul would be destroyed.

If we are to believe Diodorus, the Egyptians did not look favorably upon those who had committed

adultery and/or sexual assault.

“Severe also were their laws touching women. For if a man had violated a free married woman,

they stipulated that he be emasculated, considering that such a person by a single unlawful act

had been guilty of the three greatest crimes, assault, abduction, and confusion of offspring; but

if a man committed adultery with the woman's consent, the laws ordered that the man should

receive a thousand blows with the rod, and that the woman should have her nose cut off, on

the ground that a woman who tricks herself out with an eye to forbidden license should be

deprived of that which contributes most to a woman's comeliness.”

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The judicial texts from Deir el-Medina are, however, far more inconclusive regarding the Egyptian

legal stance on adultery and rape. First of all, it is difficult to actually distinguish these two offenses

from each other within the sources. In the known cases where adulterers were brought in front of

the court, the question of the woman’s compliance is never discussed. It is, therefore, possible that

rape of a married woman automatically constituted adultery; the latter then being considered the

greatest offense. Secondly, it is questionable whether adultery by itself was regarded as a legal

matter at all, as opposed to a matter to be resolved privately. In most cases where adultery is

brought before the judges it does not seem to be considered a punishable offense.

Certainly, however, the Egyptians saw both rape and adultery as wrongful conduct as it was

often handled by the courts, perhaps it was only punishable under certain circumstances. As for

other conceivable acts of sexual misconduct, such as homosexuality and prostitution; these do not

seem to have been criminal offenses. It appears that sexual intercourse between two men, as long as

both were consenting and no use of violence was involved, was not prohibited by any law. With

regard to prostitution, barely any evidence from the New Kingdom is available; certainly not enough

to base any claims concerning its criminalization upon.

Law of Adultery:

Deuteronomy 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both
of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from
Israel.

Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that
committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to
death.

Romans 7:1-3 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to
her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress:
but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be
married to another man.

Proverbs 6:32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it
destroyeth his own soul.
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Ezekiel 16:32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

Hosea 4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and
blood toucheth blood.

Matthew 5:27-32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of
fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth
adultery.

Mark 10:11-12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth
adultery.

Adultery was defined in Babylonia as elsewhere in the ancient world as a sexual relationship between a
married woman and a man not her husband. The marital status of the man was irrelevant. Even the
appearance or possibility of adultery was taken very seriously. A wife caught in the act of adultery was
to be tied to her lover and thrown into the water and drowned. A husband could save his wife but then
he had to save her lover as well.

Hammurabi Code

http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/hammurabilawcode.htm

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Assyria/Hammurabi.html

Concubines

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bride.htm

https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-religions/secret-life-ancient-concubine-001301

Fornication is the pollution of one’s soul with idols or becoming an abomination YIsrael to go astray from
keeping the holiness according to the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

2 Maccabees 6:4 For the temple was filled with riot and revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with
harlots, and had to do with women within the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in
things that were not lawful.

1 Maccabees 1:60-61 At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women,
that had caused their children to be circumcised. And they hanged the infants about their necks, and
rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them.