Adultery in the Bible: Marriage, Sin, and the Call to Faithfulness
Adultery in the Bible is consistently portrayed as a serious sin against God and against marriage. From the creation account in Genesis to the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, the command against adultery is rooted in God’s design for marriage as a covenant of exclusive and faithful love. Adultery undermines the one-flesh relationship between husband and wife and represents both betrayal and disloyalty. While the act itself is condemned, Scripture also emphasizes that the sin of adultery begins in the heart, showing that faithfulness requires purity of thought as well as action.
1. The Origin of Marriage and the Definition of Adultery
The Bible defines adultery against the backdrop of God’s institution of marriage. Genesis 2:24 declares, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." This one-flesh union includes physical, emotional, spiritual, and covenantal dimensions.
Adultery is the violation of that union. It refers literally to sexual relations with someone other than one’s spouse, but in principle it is the betrayal of exclusive covenant loyalty. Malachi 2:14–15 rebukes Israel for breaking faith: "She is your companion and your wife by covenant."
Key aspects of adultery in biblical terms:
Covenant violation – breaking the sacred promise of marital fidelity.
Disloyalty – betraying trust and unity with one’s spouse.
Rebellion against God – rejecting His design for marriage and sexuality.
Thus, adultery is not merely a social offense but a spiritual rebellion against God’s creation order.
2. Adultery in the Old Testament
The first explicit prohibition of adultery appears in the Ten Commandments: "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). This command is repeated throughout the law and the prophets, reflecting God’s holiness and His concern for justice within the covenant community.
Examples from the Old Testament include:
Severe judgment – Leviticus 20:10 prescribes death for both the adulterer and adulteress.
Prophetic rebuke – Jeremiah 5:7–8 compares adulterers to "well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife."
Wisdom warnings – Proverbs 6:27–29 warns, "Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife."
The prophets often use adultery as a metaphor for idolatry. Hosea portrays Israel’s unfaithfulness to God as spiritual adultery, showing that covenant-breaking in marriage parallels covenant-breaking with God.
3. Adultery in the New Testament
Jesus deepens the Old Testament prohibition by addressing the heart. In Matthew 5:27–28 He teaches, "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
New Testament teaching on adultery includes:
Heart-level sin – adultery begins with lust and covetous desire (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21).
Covenant permanence – Jesus affirms God’s design for marriage, saying, "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:6).
Apostolic teaching – Paul lists adultery among the "works of the flesh" that exclude from the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19–21).
The New Testament therefore intensifies the moral demand, showing that faithfulness requires purity of both mind and body.
4. The Root of Adultery: Desire and Temptation
Adultery often begins not with the act but with desire. James 1:14–15 describes temptation’s progression: "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."
Scripture repeatedly warns about the power of unchecked desire:
Job 31:1 – "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?"
Proverbs 6:25 – "Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes."
2 Peter 2:14 – describes false teachers with "eyes full of adultery."
By identifying the heart as the battleground, the Bible calls for vigilance over thought and imagination. The Gospel provides power to resist temptation through the Spirit (Romans 8:13), enabling believers to walk in purity.
5. Adultery, the Gospel, and Eschatological Hope
Adultery underscores the human problem of unfaithfulness. Just as Israel was spiritually adulterous, all humanity is prone to break covenant with God. Yet the Gospel proclaims that Christ is the faithful bridegroom who redeems His unfaithful people. Ephesians 5:25–27 says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her."
Believers are called to reflect that faithfulness in their marriages as a witness to the covenant love of Christ. Adultery, then, is not only a moral failing but a distortion of the Gospel image of Christ and His church.
The hope of the new creation assures that faithfulness will prevail. Revelation 19:7–8 describes the marriage supper of the Lamb, where Christ’s people, purified and faithful, will be united with Him forever. In the last days, the temporary pain of betrayal will be replaced by eternal covenant joy.
Conclusion
Adultery in the Bible is a profound violation of God’s design for marriage and covenant faithfulness. It is condemned in both Old and New Testaments as disloyalty to one’s spouse and rebellion against God. The sin begins in the heart, with lust and desire, and ultimately destroys relationships and dishonors the covenant. Yet through the Gospel, believers are empowered to walk in purity and to reflect Christ’s faithful love. The ultimate hope is not found in human strength but in the promise of God’s eternal covenant, when faithfulness will be perfected in Christ.
Bible Verses about Adultery
Genesis 2:24 – "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Exodus 20:14 – "You shall not commit adultery."
Leviticus 20:10 – "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."
Proverbs 6:27–29 – "Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife."
Malachi 2:14 – "She is your companion and your wife by covenant."
Matthew 5:28 – "Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Matthew 19:6 – "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Galatians 5:19–21 – "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality… those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Hebrews 13:4 – "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."
Revelation 19:7 – "Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready."
