Scenario: Two people, a man and a woman, are living together as man and wife, without having gone through the formality of marriage. They are, and always have been, sexually faithful to one another.
Question: Are these two people fornicators a) in the Biblical sense, b) in the modern acceptance of the meaning of fornication?
Modern definitions:
Merriam Webster: ‘consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other’.
The American Heritage Dictionary: ‘sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other, especially when considered as a sin’.
Collins Dictionary: ‘voluntary sexual intercourse outside of marriage’.
These definitions differentiate fornication from adultery (for which there is a separate Greek word, moichoi), which refers to sexual activity between people who are married, but not to each other.
So at face value, from a modern perspective, these two people are fornicators. But what of Biblical Greek? What did Paul mean when he wrote that ‘…fornicators… will not inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Cor 6:9)?
There are four Greek words:
* 4202 porneia n. 1. Prostitution (incl adultery, incest and porn) 2. (by extension) unwedded stimulation of fulfilment of sexual desire 3. (fig) idolatry. Derived from pernao, ‘to sell off’ – properly, a selling off (surrendering) of sexual purity; promiscuity of any type.
This has 25 occurrences
* 4203 porneuo v. 1. To act the prostitute 2. Indulge unlawful lust (of either sex) 3. To stimulate unwedded sexual desire 4. (fig) practice idolatry
This occurs eight times
* 4204 porne n. 1. A prostitute, a sex worker 2. One who deliberately stimulates or fulfils unwedded sexual desire by dress, speech or conduct 3. (fig) an idolater
There are twelve occurrences of this word
* 4205 pornos n. 1. A (male) prostitute (for hire) 2. (by analogy) a sex addict, a debauchee, a pornographer 3. (by ext) one who is sexually or morally unrestrained. Fornicator, whoremonger, from pernemi (to sell; akin to the base of piprasko – to sell, be sold); a male prostitute (as venal – open to bribery, corrupt) i.e. a debauchee (libertine).
Ten occurrences
What is very clear is that porneia and its cognates have a far broader and more nuanced definition than the English word fornication. It covered a range of sexual behaviours that violated covenantal or communal boundaries. It does not simply refer to sex before marriage. In first-century usage it referred to:
* Prostitution – sex for favours or material gain
* Adultery – sex with someone else’s spouse
* Incest – sex within the family; explicitly forbidden in the Law
* Sex outside of a recognised marital or betrothal bond – but not necessarily legal – so casual sex, sex for fun, one-night stands, multiple partners, sex to satisfy urges (even within marriage! 1 Cor 7:3 refers to the payment of a debt ‘her due’; sex is about giving, satisfying your spouse, not using him or her as a means of self-gratification)
* Exploitative, coercive sex – with a slave, a minor, a temple prostitute
* Relationships that disrupt family or community order – such as that at 1 Corinthians 5.
What is marriage? It is the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife, usually entailing legal obligations of each person to the other. In the UK it can be performed and validated as a civil function (i.e. at a registrar’s office), or as a religious function before a clergyman, priest, elder, etc. The vows - the declaration and contracting - are legal, not religious, requirements. According to Insight (the Watchtower dictionary), in Bible times marriage was an entirely civil affair:
Ceremony As to the wedding itself, the central and characteristic feature was the solemn bringing of the bride from her father’s home to her husband’s home on the date agreed upon, in which act the significance of marriage as representing admission of the bride into the family of her husband found expression. (Mt 1:24) This constituted the wedding in patriarchal days before the Law. It was altogether a civil affair. There was no religious ceremony or form, and no priest or clergyman officiated or validated the marriage. The bridegroom took the bride to his house or to the tent or house of his parents. The matter was publicly made known, acknowledged, and recorded, and the marriage was binding.—Ge 24:67. (it v2 p340)
It was the public announcement or declaration that this man and this woman were now to be known as husband and wife that constituted marriage. Further, on p344 Insight continues:
The Bible record nowhere sets out the requirement of a religious ceremony or the services of a clergyman. According to the arrangement in Bible times, the requirement would consistently be that a marriage be legalized [sic] according to the laws of the land and that marriages and births be registered where such a provision is made by law.
What was Paul’s thinking on Jewish marriage customs, he being a Pharisee? In the first century the key features of a Jewish marriage were:
* Marriage was a covenant – not a ceremony, contract, or legal state. It was validated, not by a certificate, but by familial and community approval, and the act of consummation – the bridegroom coming into his bride and thus being ‘one flesh’. (For further research – the bedding ceremony, proof of virginity)
* A couple became married through public commitment, family recognition and cohabitation
* Betrothal was a binding marital state; sexual relations during betrothal (whilst inadvisable) were not porneia
* Sometimes there was a written record, but that was to satisfy local custom and was not a divine requirement
* Divorce is a legality; it does not break the 'one flesh' covenant; the blessings of marriage are replaced by the curses of heartbreak, broken families and divided communities
A couple living together with family approval were considered married, even without a priest or official ceremony. So, for Paul’s Jewish audience, porneia referred to sex that bypassed family, covenant or communal recognition; sex that exploited someone (slaves, the poor, children); sex that violated unions forbidden in the Law; sex that undermined the stability of households, communities and congregations.
So, as far as our imaginary couple from the outset are concerned, are they fornicators? Without that state-issued marriage certificate there are certain benefits (financial, social, etc) that they choose to forego, but are they fornicators? How do you read? (Lu 10:26)
In summary:
* Marriage is the ideal, according to the laws and customs of the country or community
* The wedding day is one of life’s big three events (birth, marriage, death)
* It is a day of great rejoicing and celebration. Those who dispense with it miss out on, and deny to others, a momentous event
* God judges fornicators and adulterers (Heb 13:4). No one else should. What happens in private is nobody else’s business
* As for the man in Corinth, his sexual deviancy was of public notoriety and disturbing to the community and congregation. The congregation (majority decision) expelled him – and welcomed him back
* Fornicators and adulterers will not inherit the kingdom. Nowhere is it stated that they will be destroyed at Armageddon
* Neither will they enter New Jerusalem (Rev 22:14-15)
* '"For I hate divorce", says Jehovah the God of Israel. "He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence" says Jehovah of Hosts' (Mal 2:16 - BSB)