Thou shalt not commit adultery.
What does Exodus 20:14 mean?
The laws of the SECOND table, that is, the last six of the ten commandments, state our duty to ourselves and to one another, and explain the great commandment, you shalt love your neighbour as thyself, Lu 10:27.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Exodus 20:14-15 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Exodus 20:14
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shall not commit adultery, Which, strictly speaking, is only that sin which is committed with another man's wife, as Jarchi observes; but Aben Ezra thinks the word here used signifies the same as another more commonly used for whoredom and fornication; and no doubt but fornication is here included, which, though it was not reckoned a crime among some Heathens, is within the reach of this law, and forbidden by it, it being an impure action, and against a man's body, as the apostle says, 1 Corinthians 6:18 as well as sins of a more enormous kind, as unnatural lusts and copulations, such as incest, sodomy, bestiality, &c.
Key words
- shalt
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Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- commit
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Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- adultery
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Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Context in Exodus 20
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Exodus 20 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as plagues, Passover, and the crossing of the sea. Exodus tells the story of Israel’s rescue from Pharaoh, the revelation of the divine name, the covenant at Sinai, and the tabernacle where God chooses to dwell among his people. Read this chapter with the wider themes of redemption, Passover, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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