Adultery is about the breaking of a covenant – not necessarily about sex.
Throughout the Bible, there are two parallel themes that are sometimes overlooked in discussions about sexual ethics.
The First Theme is Sex
The first theme is sex – which appears in the first two chapters of Genesis as a part of the blessing to birds, fish, and humans. The phrasing is similar, which provides some fascinating food for thought….
And God blessed them [the sea creatures], saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
(Genesis 1:22)
And then a few verses later, the human received the same blessing:
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
(Genesis 1:28)
The same phrasing “be fruitful and multiply” appears again in the story of Noah in Genesis 8 after there is a “reset” of the original creation.
“Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
(Genesis 8:17)
Then, as before, Noah receives the same blessing (repeated twice with more elaboration).
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…
(Genesis 9:1, 7)
And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
Although the theme starts out with an emphasis on sexual vs asexual reproduction, it morphs and grows through Genesis and beyond to incorporate themes of pleasure, delight, and eventually power.
In fact, this last theme eventually swallows up the rest until most of the biblical examples of sexual relationships look terribly unhealthy.
Laws About Sexual Immorality
When the law of Moses enters the picture, it grapples with the inequality of men and women – as well as with cultural norms around sexuality. Violation of the moral laws governing sexual partners can be understood with the concept of sexual immorality.
The laws of sexual immorality had to do with the genetic lineage of a partner, affiliation with a god other than Jehovah, or the emission of bodily fluids. I think of sexual immorality as doing something with the body that did not align with the moral expectations of the society (or in the Hebrew case, of God’s law).
It will be surprising for many Christians to find out that under God’s law, it was not considered sexually immoral for a man to have more than one sexual partner, for a person to receive money for prostitution, or for slave owners to have sex with their slaves. Modern social customs are not so welcoming of these traditions but they were common when the book was written.
In short, the laws about sexual immorality seem to be rooted in social custom.
sexual immorality = violation of social custom
This is where they meet the second biblical theme in a word translated as adultery.
The Second Theme is Covenant
Alongside the theme of sex, the theme of covenant evolves through the Biblical text.
I think it is important to note, however, that the concept of covenant is secondary to the concept of sex. The writer of Genesis does not introduce the idea of covenant until after the story of the fall in Genesis chapter 3 (after Eve and Adam ate the fruit).
Because you have done this,
(Genesis 3:14)
cursed are you above all livestock…
Covenants usually take the form of an if-then dependency clause that appears again in Chapter 4 (after Cain killed his brother).
Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”
(Genesis 4:15)
However, God also makes several one-sided covenants with humanity about his future actions, beginning in Genesis 6. It is also the first time that the word “covenant” is used.
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
(Genesis 6:18)
It seems to me that the author of Genesis wants to position covenant as a corrective action that follows the breaking of the created order.
The Covenant of Marriage
In contrast with the social customs that dealt with the physical body, the covenant existed in the form of words that were either spoken or written. Often, the covenantal agreement was attached to conditional blessings or curses and sealed with a ceremony.
As society evolved (or perhaps devolved) into an oppressive form of patriarchy, women had few means of survival apart from depending on a covenant of protection and support made to them by a man. The romantic idealism of modern marriage has little to do with the early necessity of a covenant in which the man promised to provide for a woman who agreed to sexual exclusivity with him.
Adultery laws refer to a violation of this covenant (if it was a covenant) – either by a woman who does not remain sexually exclusive to her partner, or by a man who violates another man’s exclusive access to the woman he had paid for. Because women were described as property or possessions of the man who bought them for the purposes of marriage, the consequences for rape were different for a married or betrothed woman than they were for one who belonged to her father. They were also different for the man depending on the marital status of the woman (with no consideration of his own marital status).
Is it possible to think of adultery as any action that violated the spoken promise made to another person? This is how the Old Testament prophets used the term to describe the nation of Israel failing to follow through on their promise to God. This definition is very helpful when it comes to understanding the teaching of Jesus about divorce.
Implications for Divorce
Under the Mosaic law, the certificate of divorce functioned as a cancellation of the marriage contract, freeing the woman to find a new owner (husband). While this was helpful for the woman, who otherwise may be unable to remarry, Jesus had a higher standard. He considered the man who wrote a divorce certificate to be in violation of his promise. A written document could not change a covenant made before God and both parties may be considered guilty of adultery when she was forced to violate her promise of sexual exclusivity to her former husband.
“So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”
(Matthew 19:6-7)
Jesus also referred to Genesis 2:28 to suggest that some relationship between a man and a woman existed that preceded the creation of covenant and could not be touched by divorce. What did Jesus mean by “God joining together” and “man parting asunder”?
I think there is something more to the idea of “one flesh” that cannot be captured by the idea of covenant. However, that is a subject for another post.
For now, I will conclude with several questions: What did that marriage covenant include that was violated by adultery (and by divorce)? How was it different than whatever existed at the beginning?
I have suggested that the biblical marriage covenant included sexual exclusivity from the woman and financial support from the man. However, the actual expectations are never explicitly outlined. They can only be derived from implications like the ones I have played with in this post.
Remaining Questions
1. The two themes of sex and covenant meet together in the marriage because of the apparent social demand for sexual exclusivity of the female partner. Is there any other reason for them to be connected?
2. Jesus taught that anyone who “looks on a woman with lust has committed adultery with her.” If adultery is about covenant, what is being violated in this example? Why did Jesus use the term for adultery instead of for sexual immorality?
3. I have provided two examples that I think are clearly present throughout the Biblical example of the marriage covenant: female sexual exclusivity and male financial provision. Are there any other elements you can find in the scripture that are usually present in this agreement?
Would love to know your thoughts and questions.