You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.
- KJV Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
- NKJV Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her.
- NASB And you shall not have sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.
- NLT “Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Adultery with a neighbor's wife defiles and is forbidden.
Overview
This restates the prohibition of adultery, emphasizing that it defiles both parties. It protects the sacred bond of marriage and the trust of the community. Jesus deepened this command by addressing lustful intent, showing that God desires purity of heart and not merely outward restraint.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 20:14You shall not commit adultery.
- 1 Cor 6:9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- Lev 20:10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
- Heb 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Matt 5:27–28You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’
- 2 Sam 11:3–4So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
- Prov 6:25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
- Deut 5:18You shall not commit adultery.
- Gal 5:19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Deut 22:22If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
- 2 Sam 11:27And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Rom 2:22You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
- Deut 22:25But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her and lies with her, only the man who has done this must die.
- Mal 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Prov 6:29–33So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 18:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.