Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.
- BSB You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself 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 20:14Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- 1 Cor 6:9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
- Lev 20:10And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
- Heb 13:4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
- Matt 5:27–28Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
- 2 Sam 11:3–4And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
- Prov 6:25Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
- Deut 5:18Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
- Gal 5:19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
- Deut 22:22If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
- 2 Sam 11:27And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
- Rom 2:22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
- Deut 22:25But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:
- Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Prov 6:29–33So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
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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
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