Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
a. ASV: Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
b. YLT: Honourable is the marriage in all, and the bed undefiled, and whoremongers and adulterers God shall judge.
d. Amplified Bible Classic: Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous.
1. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled…”
a. marriage [Strong: 1062 gámos, gam'-os; of uncertain affinity; nuptials:—marriage, wedding.] [Thayer: a wedding or marriage festival, a wedding banquet, a wedding feast, marriage, matrimony.]
1). The same Greek word is used in John to describe the wedding in Cana.
a). John 2:1, 2 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
2). Marriage as an institution was established in Genesis immediately after the creation of woman.
a). Genesis 2:20-24 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
2:21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
2:22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
3). A derivative of the Greek word for marriage was used in the Matthew text when Jesus was addressing the question put forth by the Pharisees.
a). Matthew 19:3-10 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
19:7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
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.
19:10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
b). marry [Strong: 1062 gámos, gam'-os; of uncertain affinity; nuptials:—marriage, wedding.] [Thayer: to lead in marriage, take to wife, to get married, to marry, to give one's self in marriage, to give a daughter in marriage.]
4). In this verse the meaning for “marriage” is clearly the traditional Jewish example, one male and one female.
b. [is] honorable [Strong: 5093 tímios, tim'-ee-os; from G5092; valuable, i.e. (objectively) costly, or (subjectively) honored, esteemed, or (figuratively) beloved:—dear, honourable, (more, most) precious, had in reputation.]
c. in [Strong: 1722 en, en; a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:—about, after, against, + almost, × altogether, among, × as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (… sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), × mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, × outwardly, one, × quickly, × shortly, (speedi-)ly, × that, × there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.]
d. all [Strong: 3956 pâs, pas; including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole:—all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one), × daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.]
e. and [Strong: 2532 kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]
f. the [Strong: 3588 ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [he] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.]
g. bed [Strong: 2845 koítē, koy'-tay; from G2749; a couch; by extension, cohabitation; by implication, the male sperm:—bed, chambering, × conceive.]
h. undefiled [Strong: 283 amíantos, am-ee'-an-tos; from G1 (as a negative particle) and a derivative of G3392; unsoiled, i.e. (figuratively) pure:—undefiled.]
2. “…but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
a. but [Strong: 1161 dé, deh; a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.:—also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).]
b. whoremongers [Strong: 4205 pórnos, por'-nos; from πέρνημι pérnēmi (to sell; akin to the base of G4097); a (male) prostitute (as venal), i.e. (by analogy) a debauchee (libertine):—fornicator, whoremonger.]
1). The Greek word for “whoremonger” is ‘pornos’. It is #4205 in the Strong’s numbering system. I consulted 4 different Greek dictionaries and found the following: Strong’s: male prostitute; Thayer: male prostitute; Zodiates: male prostitute; Bullinger: sodomite. So there is no question of whether or not this is referring to homosexual behavior.
c. and [Strong: 2532 kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]
d. adulterers [Strong: 3432 moichós, moy-khos'; perhaps a primary word; a (male) paramour; figuratively, apostate:—adulterer.] [Thayer: an adulterer, metaphorically one who is faithless toward God, ungodly.] [Vine: denotes one "who has unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another, in the spiritual sense, as in Israel the breach of their relationship with God through their idolatry, was described as "adultery" or "harlotry" (e.g., Ezekiel 16:15; Ezekiel 23:43), so believers who cultivate friendship with the world, thus breaking their spiritual union with Christ, are spiritual "adulteresses," having been spiritually united to Him as wife to husband, Romans 7:4. It is used adjectivally to describe the Jewish people in transferring their affections from God.]
e. God [Strong: 2316 theós, theh'-os; of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with G3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:—X exceeding, God, god(-ly, -ward).]
f. [will] judge [Strong: 2919 krínō, kree'-no; properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish:—avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.]
1). One line of thought that can be inserted here is these behaviors are being contrasted with a husband and wife relationship i.e., a marriage. Perhaps the homosexuals and the adulterers are claiming some sort of “marriage”. The Scripture says in this verse . Marriage is marriage, homosexuality and adultery are not marriage, their beds are defiled.
2). I found this interesting rabbinic commentary about Leviticus 18:3. I do not know how old it is, but it supports the Biblical command not to obey the immoral legislations of the Egyptians and the Canaanites.
a). The earliest source on this topic is in the tannaitic midrash to the book of Leviticus. Like a number of passages in Leviticus, including chapter 18 to which it is a commentary, the midrashic passage links sexual sin and idolatry to the Egyptians (whom the Israelites defeated in the Exodus) and the Canaanites (whom the Israelites will displace when they come into their land). The idea that among the sins of these peoples was the recognition of same-sex marriages is not found in the biblical text, but is read in by the rabbis: Sifra Acharei Mot, parashah 9:8 “According to the doings of the Land of Egypt…and the doings of the Land of Canaan…you shall not do” (Leviticus 18:3): Can it be (that it means) don’t build buildings, and don’t plant plantings? Thus it (the verse) teaches (further), “And you shall not walk in their statutes.” I say (that the prohibition of the verse applies) only to (their) statutes – the statutes which are theirs and their fathers and their fathers’ fathers. And what did they do? A man got married to a man, and a woman to a woman, a man married a woman and her daughter, and a woman was married to two (men). Therefore it is said, “And you shall not walk in their statutes.”
No comments:
Post a Comment