What the Bible Says About Gender, Marriage, Fornication, Adultery, Rape, Incest, Homosexuality, Bestiality, and Prostitution

The Genesis of Sexual Sin

Tragically, when sin enters the world, sex and marriage are among the first victims, as the rest of Genesis reports.

In The Genesis of Sex: Sexual Relationships in the First Book of the Bible, O. Palmer Robertson undertakes a thematic study on such topics as marriage, parenting, and sexual sin. Robertson’s work highlights that Genesis is indeed replete with many real-life, honest examples of the beauties and tragedies of human intimacies. These passages include:

• The first marriage with Adam and Eve.[8]
• God prearranges marriages between Adam and Eve,[9] and Isaac and Rebekah.[10]
• Romance in marriage is found between Isaac and Rebekah,[11] and Jacob and Rachel.[12]
• The disaster of polygamy is found in the family of Lamech[13] and the family of Jacob.[14]
• Tragic love triangles are seen between Abram and Sarai and Hagar,[15] and between Jacob and Rachel and Leah and the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah.[16]
• Examples of disobedient marriages between believers and unbelievers is found to be widespread in the days of Noah.[17]
• Esau’s mismatched marriage with Judith and Basemath grieved his parents, Isaac and Rebekah.[18]
• A sad account of a loveless marriage, where Jacob loved his wife Rachel and not his other wife Leah.[19]
• The pain of divorce is evident when Abraham sends off Hagar and Ishmael.[20]
• The occurrence of a second marriage is explained when Abraham marries Keturah after the death of Sarah.[21]

Following the honesty of Genesis, the rest of the Old Testament records sexual sin and its painful consequences.