en_bc/articles/adultery.md

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Adultery

The word “adultery” is used to talk about a sin that happens when a married person has sexual relations with someone to whom they are not married. Both of them are guilty of adultery. A person who does this is called an “adulterer.” The relationship they have with each other is called an “adulterous” relationship. When the word “adulteress” is used, this specifies that it was a woman who committed adultery.

In the Bible, the word adultery is often used as a metaphor (see: Jeremiah 23:10; 29:23; Ezekiel 23:37; Revelation 2:22; 18:9; 19:2). For example, when Israel disobeyed God and worshiped false gods, they were unfaithful to him. The Bible describes this as being like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband.

See: Marriage; Sin; Guilty; People of God; Metaphor; False gods; Idolatry (Idol); Worship; Sexual Immorality

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Adultery breaks the promises a husband and wife made to each other when they were married (see: Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-9). God commanded the Israelites not to commit adultery (see: Exodus 20:14).

Jesus taught that adultery begins when someone thinks about committing adultery. That is, if a married person wants to have sex with someone to whom they are not married, the person has committed adultery, even though the person only thought about having sex with someone (see: Matthew 5:27-30).