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There are different words in Greek translated as
adultery:
-
Moicheuo meaning to commit
adultery or be an adulterer
-
Moichao meaning commit
adultery or to have unlawful intercourse with another’s wife
-
Moicheia meaning adultery
All come from a similar root apart from one,
namely 'porneia' translated as ‘fornication’ NKJV.
This Greek word 'Porneia' means to have illicit sexual intercourse,
fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals or
sexual intercourse with close relatives (Lev. 18) Only some translators
include the meaning of adultery.
A related word 'porneuo' means to prostitute one’s body to the lust of
another or to give one’s self to unlawful sexual intercourse. But does
not mean this in the sense of adultery.
The Greek word 'porneia' (the porn part) can also mean to sell and
refers to slaves bought and sold for cult based prostitution. Thus for
example in the Temples of Corinth the people visited the temple
priestesses who represented the fertility Gods. By having sexual
intercourse with these prostitutes they believed their fields would be
more fertile. Thus the connection is not simply the engaging in
prostitution, but the practice of pagan cultic worship. It also needs to
be noted that in the LXX it is used of sexual relations between close
relatives (Lev. 18). So we are not looking at a word simply meaning
‘adultery’, the context and use of this word is something quite
different.
The scriptures do not use words lightly and
with words directly meaning adultery, why use a totally different word
on certain occasions?
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