‘Arum/ ‘Arom
The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. Proverbs 6:32
Destroy – Hebrew poetry rhymes ideas. The first thought is elaborated in the second thought. In this verse, both phrases are about the same action – adultery. The proverb teaches us that adultery is stupid and this stupidity destroys the adulterer. Adultery is a form of suicide. We understand that adultery destroys a marriage. We understand adultery does great harm to a betrayed spouse or innocent children or even to the seduced partner. But we might have some difficulty understanding why the Bible says that adultery destroys the life of the one who got it all going. Because adultery is the principal metaphor for breaking covenant relationship with God, it is important to know what this consequence really means. It applies in physical and spiritual realms.
The Hebrew verb is shahat. This verb is found in Genesis 6:11 and 12 where it is the cause of God’s judgment on the world. The same verb is found in Genesis 38:9 when Onan disobeys God’s command by using Tamar for sexual pleasure but preventing impregnation. The word is used to depict the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. These examples confirm that shahat is not a verb taken lightly. Very bad things happen when shahat shows up. The pictograph (destroy the fence of the covenant) paints a dangerous situation.
How does this verb destroy the adulterer? A man or women who commits adultery is not suddenly struck by fire and brimstone. He or she doesn’t die during the act. So, why is shahat applied? The answer is revealed in the next verse, an elaboration of this thought. But the next verse won’t mean much to a culture that considers individual rights and privacy the most important elements of ethical behavior. When we read the next verse, we find that the destruction of the adulterer is shame, dishonor and loss of reputation. All of these aspects of humanity are relational and communal. In a society where dependence on one another meant the difference between life and death, where expulsion from the community for anti-social behavior was a death sentence and where family integrity was the most important building block of the culture, shame, dishonor and loss of reputation had immediate and often permanent consequences. An adulterer destroys his own connections to the community that keeps him alive.
We could spiritualize this verse and talk about the broken covenant with God. We could note that adultery is a violation of the commandment, a rejection of God’s design for human relationships and a murder of the one-flesh unity. All of this is also true, but it won’t mean much in a society that places its emphasis on personal liberty. In order for shahat to act as a warning, we must stand up against the culture of individual entitlement. We must embrace a deep sense of community responsibility and honor. Putting what I want before all others is a sure sign of rejecting God’s design for the world. All this takes us back to the naked snake, to ‘arum and ‘arom. My agenda or God’s?
Topical Index: adultery, destroy, shahat, Proverbs 6:32, shame, dishonor
“The movie is called The Dancer Upstairs and Ezekiel is a professor of philosophy turned terrorist.”
“wasn’t quite sure where you were coming from (Mary)”
“The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it.” (Skip)
Okay.
Let me come back to Mary’s comment in light of Skip’s comment on the Hebrew view of Adultery.
In in The Dancer Upstairs, we have the Hero who is tall, dark, handsome, Latin, and stands for law and order.
And the terrorist Ezekiel who is waging a holy war on the corrupt society; slaughtering men, women, and children.
Ezekiel has long, dirty, hair and awful, red, blemishes on his face from a terrible skin disease.
Between the two men, we have the beautiful young Dancer who also instructs the Hero’s daughter in ballet lessons.
She is alone in the world, providing a safe haven for the revolutionaries, and attracted to the Hero.
But when the Hero and the Dancer have an opportunity for adultery, a romantic moment alone together in her house, the young woman is the one who is NOT lacking sense.
The Dancer prevents the destructive act of Adultery and remains faithful to the cause of Ezekiel.
If you you recall, I mentioned some time ago a movie made in the 50’s called The Professionals.
Do you remember who ended up with the beautiful Claudia Cardinale in the end?
Not the good looking Professional (Burt Lancaster).
The beautiful woman rejects the advances of the Professional and remains faithful to La Revolucione.
The beautiful woman returns to Mexico with the revolutionary, Jesus Raza.
The same goes for the pornography you watch on your screen on the internet…..
Yes, Kees.. these are the words of Yeshua: “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5.28)
Pornography is destructive. It will destroy. As the little sign says: “sin kills”.. But Hallelujah!- there is a cure! -And it all starts with a choice-
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5.28)
Hi Carl,
In my view the point here is Don’t Be Too Quick To Judge.
Jesus speaks in parables, but there is a big difference between thoughts and deeds.
Evil impulses are fundamental to our nature; but they don’t destroy relationships, if they are managed, domesticated, and sublimated into a higher form of behavior.
If Eve has said, “that apple sure looks tasty, and I’m really hungry.”
But God said not to eat the fruit from that tree.
She would have saved us a lot of trouble.
Well lets split the hair one more time. Skip please correct me if I’m wrong. My parsing is feeble and my Greek STINKS PEW. As I understand it, the evil impulses of our flesh may tempt us to lust, but epithumsai, translated in Mt.5:28 as lust, is a word for active desiring. It carries with it the idea of coveting and we all know what YHVH has to say about that.
“Well lets split the hair one more time”
Hi Pam,
Just to be clear, I’m not splitting hairs; the commandment in the Torah is not about thinking.
It is about doing and whatever Jesus means, I don’t think we want to make him irrelevant.
If the second messiah, David, had just thought about adultery, we would never give it a second thought, would we?
NBD
I do agree, however, that to think about adultery is not a good thing to do.
I wanted to reply to Pam’s comment on the Greek in Matthew 5:28, but for some reason unknown to me, it seems that I can only reply here, not directly attached to her remark. The Greek does in fact suggest more than casual thought. Epithumia is a boiling over, an uncontrolled desire that becomes a plan to be manifest. Lust is not the same as noticing. I might notice a fine looking woman, reflecting on the beauty she is and the joy it brings to see God’s handiwork displayed, or to simply be in awe of her radiance (and that isn’t limited to physical beauty), but lust means that I take the next step and imagine what it would be like to possess her, to take her as my own, and they entertain (at least in fantasy) how that could happen and what it would be like to experience it. This is why pornography is about fantasy, not reality. It views other human beings, men and women, as objects to fantasy control where I dictate their behavior as if I were God.
I am not sure that yetzer ha’ra is fundamental to our nature. That would indicate that without yetzer ha’ra I would not be human. I would say that it is now concommitant with our experience of being human but it is not essential to our being human. From a practical point of view, this makes little difference since we are all in the ditch. But from a theological point of view, this makes all the difference since it means I am supposed to get out of the ditch.
Please forgive me Michael. I could and should have left that out.
Hi Skip,
Okay. I see what you are saying about the yetzer ha’ra.
Regarding lust, I tend to think it starts way before the state that you describe.
While I agree that all sin offends God, I think lust is a vice that primarily damages my relationship to God.
Adultery on the other hand compounds the problem by damaging my relationship with others in the community.
Lust in my view is initially a kind of unconscious reaction that occurs in response to another person.
Adultery is a premeditated assault on the welfare of another person and their loved ones.
It is difficult for me to agree with Jesus on this issue.
I can see why you might find it difficult to agree with Yeshua, especially if his remarks are taken out of context, out of the culture and made into some kind of post-Catholic principle. We forget that this comes about because of an intramural debate within the Pharisees. Certainly we have not allowed the first century rabbinic context to help us understand these verses.
“Please forgive me Michael. I could and should have left that out.”
Hi Pam,
No, I apologize for reacting with a hair trigger 🙁
Good morning all- may a very blessed Sunday be yours today. How we need to “hear” this today. “Adultery” runs rampant among us. “Both” physically and spiritually. It is a violation of the blood covenant. When we enter into marriage, we enter into a covenant. This is not a promise. This is not a contract. We are not “doing business.” Marriage is a physical (and spiritual) blood covenant. Till death do us part,-one flesh covenant. I am hers and she is mine. We are “joined” (as one flesh) in covenant union.
Our problem (I have no doubt of this) today is a terrible lack of revelation concerning the blood covenant. (both) physically and spiritually. We (all) have left our “first love.” We have forgotten the bridegroom and have found other lovers among the enticements of this world. YHWH provides us with a feast and with living water, but we feed among the goats and consume things that provide no satisfaction. We are living in the land of Lodebar when we should be seated “at G-d’s table.”
I have mentioned “the blood covenant.” For a fuller understanding – read the story of David and Jonathan and then even further, the story of Mephibosheth- of the house of Jonathan. A perfect picture of our relationship to the King of kings. There also is a wonderful book by H.Clay Trumbull entitled: “The Blood Covenant.” This MUST be on your reading list.- Why? -It is only the foundation of all we are today- both Jew and Gentile, male and female, worldwide. This dates back folks. Way back. Further still..
Remember the old cowboy movies where a peace-pipe would be shared as a sign of a “treaty” between races? Or sometimes a small cut would be made on the wrist or hand and blood would flow between “friends.” A scar would remain on both as a “sign” of a covenant relationship. As the “friends” would now travel about, they would raise their hands when entering into strange land and show “the sign of the covenant” to any foreigners they might meet. This “purposefully raised scar” would be a sign to whoever saw it- this man is in a covenant relationship with someone unknown. Mess with him and you’re messing with his “friend.” Yes, listen closely,- “Friend” is a covenant word. It is exceedingly deep.
We are, (those who belong to Him), are now (today- this very moment) in a blood covenant relationship with the living G-d. We MUST know this. -Now we will sing again (with a new heart).. “what a “friend” we have in Jesus.
“A man or women who commits adultery is not suddenly struck by fire and brimstone. He or she doesn’t die during the act.”
Great word today Skip. So the consequence is like that of Adam’s sin? You will surely die just not right now!
Yes, like Adam – but perhaps a bit quicker. The ability to experience true relationships dies instantly, the ability to remain human dies slowly
the words of Yeshua are eternal. They are not just “first century” or good for the folks back then. After all- that was then- this is now. Are we not able to just give face value to His words that they are true and lasting? Thou shalt not commit adultery was not written only to the first century Jew- or was it? (actually these words were penned a long time ago. Why do we (centuries later and continents apart) care at all “what the scripture says?” After all- that was written for a specific time and for a specific purpose and I being so different than they, consider myself to be exempt. (-or not).
The Bible is (and always will be- the plumb line in the hand of Amos). It doesn’t matter (our opinion) or (hate to hurt your feelings about this) but not even our “feelings.” (am I stepping on some toes?). The truth (it has been said..) often- “ouch!!”
I am quoting someone here-(I’m not sure who)- “the birds may fly over my head, but I refuse to let them build a nest.” I am today (sitting here banging away at the keyboard) “capable” of good. (I would say “great good” but all things are relative (to us anyway). I am also “capable” of evil. (amen Skip- anything that is not the will of YHWH). I can “swing” either way. (rather an unstable individual- don’t you think?). These things are true concerning myself. I am a weak, vulnerable, fallible -carbon unit. -and, (don’t look so holy,)- so are you.
The book of James offers us some help. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (Look for the hook!). You don’t go “fishing” with a bare hook. We place an enticing worm to cover the hook and then “enticingly” dangle the little bling-bling in front of Mr. Fish-Eye. Oh- it looks so good. See how it shines in the light. Yum! Yum!- Give me a bite of that apple.. er,.. worm.
James goes on to say- “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” This my friends is the devil’s LSD. Lust, sin and death. -What are we to do? Listen to the famous theologian “Barney Fife”- “nip it in the bud”, -Bud. Catch it in it’s infancy and crush it. Don’t play with sin- Do like Joseph and run from it.
Again, our wonderful Bible gives us hope. “There has no temptation taken you but such as in common to man. Universal! (common to man-very catholic- in the true sense of the word!-lol!) Again- “all” have sinned. Such a little-big word, all. And now- for the rest of the story..- Listen! Listen! Shema!- “But”- (Hallelujah for this!) G-d is faithful!! He will not (need repeating?) He will not suffer us (allow us) to be tempted above that which we are able, but (another Hallelujah!) will with the temptation also provide us (thank you Savior for your provision) “a way to escape” that we may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10.13). For Joseph – his escape route from Potiphar’s “persistent” wife was “about face”-his own two feet and pick ’em up and put ’em down- get out of Dodge- “flee also youthful lusts which war against the soul.” BUT, (another Bible but!) -but “follow” righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22) This is a “two-part” solution. Not only flee, but follow.
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” We have touched on the yetser hara’. “Lust” is simply-“strong desire.” Here’s a bit of good news- “lust” can be either good or evil! If we have a “strong desire” to do what is pleasing in our Abba’s eyes- this is good! If we have a “strong desire” to rebel against Him and to refuse His pleadings- “don’t do that!”- that is bad. “Lust” has been given a bad rep. Let us rename and rebrand “lust” into “strong desire.” I had to pause a moment and research “epithumia.” “desire, passionate longing, lust”.
We are examining the bait. We are now “looking for the hook!” What is it about that shiny “bling-thing” I cannot resist? Lust (strong desire) wants me to fulfill a legitimate (perfectly legal) need in an illegitimate (illegal) way. If Joseph would have succumbed to (very present) “lust”, and satisfied his deep longings by crossing the protective fence (hen), YHWH had provided- he would have (voluntarily- by his own submission and choice) entered into “phase two” of the “evil”- (anything “outside of” the will of G-d) “yetser hara”. “But!” (I seem to be rather enticed and entranced with this “but” Joseph (praise G-d!) “remembered” something. What did He remember? (hint..Eve forgot!, Adam forgot!, Moses forgot!, David forgot!, Solomon forgot!, Peter forgot!.. I forgot!)- but Joseph remembered the instructions of YHWH! “Don’t do it, son!”- Don’t touch that hot stove- you’ll get burned and wear a scar the rest of your life!” Joseph remembered.
Is it okay if we ‘fast-forward’ a few thousand years? What about us? Do these ancient words still apply today? “Thou shalt not…” Do we know what G-d is saying here? – lol!- “don’t hurt yourself, kid.” ‘A wound and dishonor shall you get and your reproach shall not be wiped away.” (not my words.. His.)
(it is written) “My G-d will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” Whatever that “need” may be, G-d will (will) supply. -Life is so much better, when we do it His way. When will we ever learn to listen? How many times do I need to put my hand on that hot stove before I “learn?”
I “delight” to do your will. I have (now) a “strong desire” to please the (very present) Elohim. My life (B.C.) “before Christ”, was to “run” to sin. I leaped into sin and loved it. Pigs love to wallow in the muck and mire. (after all- that’s what pigs do!). My life now? Now that I am in covenant union with Yeshua HaMachiach- the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ? I may yet lapse into sin, but now I loathe it. -I hate sin! Sin is what nailed my Savior to the cross! G-d hates sin. (is it okay to hate what He hates?). G-d loves righteousness. He loves holiness. (should I love what He loves?).
Lovers pay attention to each other. (that’s what lovers do!). Should I listen (shema) to His words?
“Lust” is simply-”strong desire.”
Hi Carl,
I think you make a good point about desire; and I think one could argue that all desire has a sexual component.
And I think one can argue that the desire itself is not the problem, unless it becomes pathological; it is what you do with the desire that counts.
When it comes to what Jesus says about adultery, I think one can argue about what he means.
But when it come to the 10 commandments, we cannot argue about “thou shalt not commit adultery,” can we; isn’t it pretty clear?