Re: Misrepresented sexual past
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:55 pm
So, Steve, you are not persuaded by my arguments. You seem to be better persuaded by "major lexicons."
Well, major lexicons also give "divorce" as a meaning for "ἀπολυω" (apoluō) and the major translations so render it in translating Jesus' words. For example, the NKJV has it:
"Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery." (Matt 5:31,32)
If this passage is correctly translated, then you (and I) have been committing adultery by marrying a divorced woman.
However, the word "apoluō" is often translated as "leave" or "send away." The NKJV translates it as "send away" in Matt 15:39, stating that Jesus sent away the crowds and got into a boat. (He didn't divorce the crowds). Indeed, the NASB translates it as "send away" in the passage quoted above. The King James translates the word as "put away". Strangely, the NKJV also translates "apoluō" as "put away" in Matt 1:19, "Joseph... was minded to put her away secretly." Furthermore, from the quote above, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce’ doesn't make sense. For if a man has divorced his wife, what need is there of a certificate? Rather Moses said that if a man leaves his wife or sends her away, he is to give her a divorce certificate.
Now let's see what the passage looks like as I understand the Greek words:
"Now, it has been said, 'Whoever sends away his wife, let him give her a divorce certificate'. Now, I tell you, whoever sends away his wife except for prostitution, makes her commit adultery, and whoever has intercourse with a wife who has been sent away commits adultery."
If the rejected wife is prostituting herself, her husband is not making her commit adultery. She is already committing it! Hence the "exception clause." And how can anyone marry her in the legal sense, if she is already married? I have pointed out in the past that the New Testament word "gameō" basically means "swive" or "have sexual intercourse with." It's okay to translate it as "marry" as long as this is understood. When a couple so married, their marriage was then celebrated with a public wedding party. Legal marriages such as we have today, were unknown. Yet it was understood that the married couple were bound to each other. Christians of the day knew that "God hates sending away" (Malachi 2:16). Indeed, Jesus clearly stated that it is wrong to send away one's wife.
He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to send away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."(Matthew 19:8)
So why do I think it not sinful to marry a divorced woman, one who has been loosed from her husband? I am not sure. But Paul seems to indicate that a divorced man (I have never been divorced) can remarry without sinning.
I have considered the apostle Paul's words in 1 Cor 7:25-28.
25 ...I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.
26 I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is:
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned
To have been bound to a wife sounds a lot like the bond of marriage to me. A married man should not seek to break that marriage bond— to be loosed from his wife. If he has been loosed from her, the bond of marriage has been broken. Or he has been "divorced". So Paul says that if a man is loosed from a wife, or divorced, he should not seek a wife. But if he does marry, he has not sinned.
Well, major lexicons also give "divorce" as a meaning for "ἀπολυω" (apoluō) and the major translations so render it in translating Jesus' words. For example, the NKJV has it:
"Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery." (Matt 5:31,32)
If this passage is correctly translated, then you (and I) have been committing adultery by marrying a divorced woman.
However, the word "apoluō" is often translated as "leave" or "send away." The NKJV translates it as "send away" in Matt 15:39, stating that Jesus sent away the crowds and got into a boat. (He didn't divorce the crowds). Indeed, the NASB translates it as "send away" in the passage quoted above. The King James translates the word as "put away". Strangely, the NKJV also translates "apoluō" as "put away" in Matt 1:19, "Joseph... was minded to put her away secretly." Furthermore, from the quote above, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce’ doesn't make sense. For if a man has divorced his wife, what need is there of a certificate? Rather Moses said that if a man leaves his wife or sends her away, he is to give her a divorce certificate.
Now let's see what the passage looks like as I understand the Greek words:
"Now, it has been said, 'Whoever sends away his wife, let him give her a divorce certificate'. Now, I tell you, whoever sends away his wife except for prostitution, makes her commit adultery, and whoever has intercourse with a wife who has been sent away commits adultery."
If the rejected wife is prostituting herself, her husband is not making her commit adultery. She is already committing it! Hence the "exception clause." And how can anyone marry her in the legal sense, if she is already married? I have pointed out in the past that the New Testament word "gameō" basically means "swive" or "have sexual intercourse with." It's okay to translate it as "marry" as long as this is understood. When a couple so married, their marriage was then celebrated with a public wedding party. Legal marriages such as we have today, were unknown. Yet it was understood that the married couple were bound to each other. Christians of the day knew that "God hates sending away" (Malachi 2:16). Indeed, Jesus clearly stated that it is wrong to send away one's wife.
He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to send away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."(Matthew 19:8)
So why do I think it not sinful to marry a divorced woman, one who has been loosed from her husband? I am not sure. But Paul seems to indicate that a divorced man (I have never been divorced) can remarry without sinning.
I have considered the apostle Paul's words in 1 Cor 7:25-28.
25 ...I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.
26 I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is:
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned
To have been bound to a wife sounds a lot like the bond of marriage to me. A married man should not seek to break that marriage bond— to be loosed from his wife. If he has been loosed from her, the bond of marriage has been broken. Or he has been "divorced". So Paul says that if a man is loosed from a wife, or divorced, he should not seek a wife. But if he does marry, he has not sinned.