Re: Matt. 5 - porneia

Ben Crick (ben.crick@argonet.co.uk)
Thu, 2 Oct 97 14:55:20

On Wed 1 Oct 97 (09:09:10), gj.cod@pixie.co.za wrote:
> Does porneia, NIV = "marital unfaithfulness" refer only to sexual
> adultery (or fornication), or can it refer to other marital
> misconduct. Also, could it have reference to withholding sexual
> intercourse (cf. 1 Cor. 7:5-6 - and if this is so, what is the meaning
> of verse 6?).

Graeme raises an interesting consideration over the meaning of PORNEIA.

It is said that the majority of Old Testament quotations in the N.T. are
from the LXX; and that appears to be so. But sometimes it seems that the
speaker or writer does his own translation direct from the Hebrew text.

Deuteronomy 24:1 KJV
"When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it shall come to pass that
she findeth no favour in his eyes, because he hath found *some uncleanness in
her*: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give [it] in her hand,
and send her out of his house".

Deuteronomy 24:1 BHS
"... KiY-MaTsa' baH `eRWaTh DaBhaR WeKhaThaB LaH SePheR KeRiYThuTh ..."

Deuteronomy 24:1 (3) LXX Brenton
"... hOTI hEUREN EN AUTHi *ASCHMON PRAGMA*, KAI GRAYEI AUTH BIBLION APOSTASIOU
..."

Matthew 5:31-32 KJV
"It hath been said, Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a
writing of divorcement: But I say to you, That whoever shall put away his
wife, *except for the cause of immorality*, causeth her to commit adultery:
and whoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery".

Matthew 5:31-32 Nestle-Aland
"ERREQH DE, hOS AN APOLUSHi THN GUNAIKA AUTOU, DOTW AUTHi APOSTASION.
EGW DE LEGW hUMIN hOTI PAS hO APOLUWN THN GUNAIKA AUTOU *PAREKTOS LOGOU
PORNEIAS* POEI AUTHN MOICEUQHNAI, ktl..."

To mitigate the problem of unrestricted divorce and the "hardness of heart"
which drove it, Moses laid down set grounds for it: that the wife find no
favour in the husband's eyes *because she has committed /`eRWaTh DaBhaR/,* the
"Nudity Word". This "Nudity Word" is a phrase all contemporary hearers would
have understood; as today we refer to "the F*** Word". Jesus preserves
precisely the same euphemism, in his saying /PAREKTOS LOGOU PORNEIAS/: the
LOGOS PORNEIAS, the "Nudity Word". /ASCHMON PRAGMA/ indeed!

"Porn" and "Nudity" go together; see any blue movie (but don't bother; you
know it is so). In the Garden of Eden they were "naked and unashamed"; but
after the Fall, Nudity became a matter for shame (Genesis 3:7). Nobody may
"uncover a woman's nakedness" but her husband (Leviticus 18:6-19; 20:18-19;
Ezekiel 16:37). Bathsheba was as guilty as David; it takes two to tango.

Matthew 19:9 Nestle-Aland
"LEGW DE hUMIN hOTI hOS AN APOLUSHi THN GUNAIKA AUTOU *MH EPI PORNEIAi* KAI
GAMHSHi ALLHN MOICATAI".

Here the Deuteronomic context is specific; but the "N Word" is not alluded
to (MH EPI PORNEIAi). Jesus is always discreet, never unnecessarily explicit.
See how he handles the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-11); and the Woman
at the Well (John 4:16-19).

1 Corinthians 7:6 is Paul's disclaimer to his correspondents. In answering
their questions, he has always been able to find a Scripture, or a Saying
of Christ, to clinch his answer; compare verse 10, "... I command, yet not I,
but the Lord".

Sexual intercourse is a conjugal right, and should only be withheld by mutual
consent for a specific purpose; like whilst fasting and praying. David's young
men had to have abstained from women before eating the Shewbread (1 Sam 21:4).
It continues "the vessels of the young men are holy" /WaYYeHuW KheLeY
HaNNe`aRiM QoDheSh.../. Compare "possess his vessel" in 1 Thess 4:4 EIDENAI
hEKASTON hUMWN *TO hEAUTOU SKEUOS KTASQAI* EN hAGIASMWi KAI TIMHi". Bengel
spells it out; /SKEUOS/ is the /membrum virile/, citing 1 Sam 21:5.
Exquisite physical pleasure dulls spiritual awareness. Coital abstention is
part of fasting.

HTH.

-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick@argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)