porneia\u00a0<\/em>is a Greek term that has two basic meanings:<\/p>\n1. Sex with a prostitute; prostitution.<\/p>\n
2. Sexual immorality in general.<\/p>\n
The issue for biblical studies is two-fold: (1) which meaning is in view in this text? and (2) what does the sexual immorality in general mean?<\/p>\n
If one thinks a given NT text (say Matthew 5:32) is sexual immorality in general, and we are looking at a Jewish speaker (which Jesus was), then we are driven to one classic defining text in the Jewish world that defines sexual immoralities for the Jew, namely, Leviticus 18. In other words, if you double-click on the Greek term porneia<\/em> for a definition, it sends you to Leviticus 18\u2019s delineations.\u00a0Here it is:<\/p>\nLev. 18:1<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0The LORD said to Moses,\u00a0 2<\/b><\/span> \u201cSpeak to the Israelites and say to them: \u2018I am the LORD your God.\u00a0<\/span> 3<\/b><\/span> You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.\u00a0<\/span> 4<\/b><\/span> You must obey my laws\u00a0<\/span> and be careful to follow my decrees.\u00a0<\/span> I am the LORD your God.\u00a0<\/span> 5<\/b><\/span> Keep my decrees and laws,\u00a0<\/span> for the person who obeys them will live by them.\u00a0<\/span> I am the LORD.<\/p>\nLev. 18:6<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.<\/p>\nLev. 18:7<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not dishonor your father\u00a0<\/span> by having sexual relations with your mother.\u00a0<\/span> She is your mother; do not have relations with her.<\/p>\nLev. 18:8<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your father\u2019s wife;\u00a0<\/span> that would dishonor your father.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:9<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your sister,\u00a0<\/span> either your father\u2019s daughter or your mother\u2019s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:10<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your son\u2019s daughter or your daughter\u2019s daughter; that would dishonor you.<\/p>\nLev. 18:11<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father\u2019s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.<\/p>\nLev. 18:12<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your father\u2019s sister;\u00a0<\/span> she is your father\u2019s close relative.<\/p>\nLev. 18:13<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your mother\u2019s sister,\u00a0<\/span> because she is your mother\u2019s close relative.<\/p>\nLev. 18:14<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not dishonor your father\u2019s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:15<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law.\u00a0<\/span> She is your son\u2019s wife; do not have relations with her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:16<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your brother\u2019s wife;\u00a0<\/span> that would dishonor your brother.<\/p>\nLev. 18:17<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter.\u00a0<\/span> Do not have sexual relations with either her son\u2019s daughter or her daughter\u2019s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.<\/p>\nLev. 18:18<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not take your wife\u2019s sister\u00a0<\/span> as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.<\/p>\nLev. 18:19<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness\u00a0<\/span> of her monthly period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:20<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor\u2019s wife\u00a0<\/span> and defile yourself with her.<\/p>\nLev. 18:21<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not give any of your children\u00a0<\/span> to be sacrificed to Molek,\u00a0<\/span> for you must not profane the name of your God.\u00a0<\/span> I am the LORD.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:22<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman;\u00a0<\/span> that is detestable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:23<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLev. 18:24<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you\u00a0<\/span> became defiled.\u00a0<\/span> 25<\/b><\/span> Even the land was defiled;\u00a0<\/span> so I punished it for its sin,\u00a0<\/span> and the land vomited out its inhabitants.\u00a0<\/span> 26<\/b><\/span> But you must keep my decrees and my laws.\u00a0<\/span> The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things,\u00a0 27<\/b><\/span> for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled.\u00a0 28<\/b><\/span> And if you defile the land,\u00a0<\/span> it will vomit you out\u00a0<\/span> as it vomited out the nations that were before you.<\/p>\nLev. 18:29<\/b><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u201c \u2018Everyone who does any of these detestable things\u2014such persons must be cut off from their people.\u00a0 30<\/b><\/span> Keep my requirements\u00a0<\/span> and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The term\u00a0porneia\u00a0is a Greek term that has two basic meanings: 1. Sex with a prostitute; prostitution. 2. Sexual immorality in general. The issue for biblical studies is two-fold: (1) which meaning is in view in this text? and (2) what does the sexual immorality in general mean? If one thinks a given NT text (say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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