“Fornication” (Porneia) Defined in New Testament Greek Lexicons

Dave Miller, Ph.D.

Doctrinal MattersSexual Immoralit

In one’s efforts to study the Word of God and make certain that God’s originally intended meanings are being accessed, it is imperative that the reader set aside all preconceptions, biases, and preferences and allow the Bible to define its own meanings. One important tool for achieving this goal is to make certain that the meanings of the words that the Holy Spirit selected to express Himself are derived from the original language through which He conveyed His message. After all, God did not choose to communicate His words via the English language. While lexicographers and linguistic experts are not perfect—all are susceptible to error—nevertheless, a careful study of the original language, together with an equally careful assessment of the inspired text, will inevitably yield arrival at the truth as God intended.

Considerable confusion has existed over the years in various religious circles concerning Bible teaching about marriage, divorce, and remarriage. On one occasion, Jesus declared forthrightly in His response to inquiring Jews the sole grounds for legitimate divorce: “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9, NKJV).1 A number of English translations render the word that Jesus used as “sexual immorality.”2 A number of others render the word “fornication.”3 Still others render it “unchastity,”4 “whoredom,”5 “unfaithfulness,”6 “immorality,”7 or “adultery.”8 Observe that while this diversity of rendering is subject to some confusion, they are in general agreement that the ground for divorce centers on sexual sin. In English, the exact nature of this “immorality” is imprecise.

That’s where Greek lexicons and other linguistic authorities are helpful. The following chart provides a general survey of how numerous Greek lexicographers have defined the underlying term porneia (in Matthew 19:9) and its derivatives over the past 200+ years:9

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Three Observations

Three important observations are in order. First, when the lexicographers note that porneia is fornication “of every kind,” “in general,” or “a class of crimes,” they are not referring to various types of sexual activity like touching, caressing, or kissing. Rather, they are referring to multiple forms or types of sexual intercourse, including homosexuality, bestiality, and adultery. “Fornication,” therefore, is a generic or “umbrella” term that encompasses different forms of sexual intercourse. See Figure 1, which illustrates the connection between the broad term “fornication” and more narrow terms that identify specific forms of fornication.

Notice, then, that “adultery” is simply a narrower term than “fornication.”10 All adultery is fornication, but not all fornication is adultery. The eight terms listed in Figure 1 share in common the fact that each one involves actual sexual intercourse.

A second observation concerns the lexicographers’ use of terms to define porneia that are either archaic, or with the passing of time, have changed meaning. By examining older dictionaries that clarify the meanings of those English words, we can see that they further verify the intended meaning of porneia. Noah Webster’s 1848 An American Dictionary of the English Language defined “lewd” as “addicted to fornication or adultery” and “harlotry” is defined as “the trade or practice of prostitution; habitual or customary lewdness.”11 To act as a “whore” is “to have unlawful sexual commerce; to practice lewdness,” “to corrupt by lewd intercourse,” and “whoredom” is defined as “lewdness; fornication.”12 A “brothel” is “a house of lewdness; a house appropriated to the purposes of prostitution.”13 To “fornicate” is “to commit lewdness,” “fornication” is defined as “the incontinence or lewdness of unmarried persons, male or female; also, the criminal conversation of a married man with an unmarried woman” as well as “adultery” and “incest,” and a “fornicator” is “a lewd person.”14 “Unchaste” is defined as “not continent; not pure; libidinous; lewd.”15 “Continency” is defined as “the restraint of the passion for sexual enjoyment; resistance of concupiscence, forbearance of lewd pleasures; hence, chastity.”16 The underlying Greek term in Romans 13:13 rendered in various English translations as “lewdness” (NKJV), “chambering” (KJV), “sleeping around” (CEB), “beds” (DLNT), “sexual promiscuity” (MOUNCE), “debauchery” (RSV), and “sexual immorality” (ESV) is koitais from koitai, referring to the conjugal bed, and is defined as “sexual intercourse, whoredom.”17

A third observation concerns the claim by some that “fornication” refers exclusively to sexual activity between unmarried persons. It is certainly true that over time, words take on different meanings than they once conveyed. But, as we have seen, the meaning of the Greek term rendered “fornication” is decisive in its import. Even without that linguistic information, the English reader can know that the allegation is incorrect. Several passages make this fact plain. For example, the man in the Corinthian church who married his father’s wife was guilty of porneia (1 Corinthians 5:1). Likewise, John the baptizer condemned the incestuous (porneia) marriage of Herod the Tetrarch to his brother’s wife (Mark 6:17). According to Jude 7, the men of Sodom were guilty of porneia. As we have seen, homosexuality is one form of porneia. The Israelites committed porneia (ekporneusai—LXX) with the Moabite women, some of whom were undoubtedly married since they were leaders of the people (Numbers 25:1,4; 1 Corinthians 10:8). What’s more, it is evident from Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 that married people can commit porneia. To summarize, Figure 2 illustrates the broad application of the word “fornication” in Scripture.

Conclusion

The host of Greek authorities verify the fact that the Bible uses the term porneia to refer to physical sexual intercourse. Various derivatives of the word only further confirm this fact.

The older lexicons occasionally use English terms that today may not convey this singularly precise meaning. But by consulting both the drift of the context in which the terms are used as well as the English dictionaries that were contemporaneous with those Greek sources, one can conclude that those terms were intended as synonyms for physical sexual intercourse.

These synonymous terms include: “lewdness,” “unchastity,” “debauchery,” “whoredom,” “uncleanness,” “impurity,” “commerce,” “incontinence,” and “sexual immorality.”

While sinful in their own right, neither the viewing of pornography nor those sinful actions that precede sexual intercourse—which are embodied in such Bible terms as “lust” and “lasciviousness”—fall within the purview of the meaning of “fornication” in the New Testament.

Endnotes

1 Some scholars have challenged the textual legitimacy of the “exceptive” clause in this verse, but the point is moot since the clause occurs also in Matthew 5:32 where its textual legitimacy is firm. See Bruce Metzger (1994), A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York, NY: United Bible Society, second edition), p. 38.

2 CSB, CJB, DLNT, EHV, ESV, EXB, HCSB, ISV, LEB, MEV, MOUNCE, NASB, NIV, NKJV, TLV, WEB. The CEB has the equivalent expression “sexual unfaithfulness.” The CEV has “some terrible sexual sin.” The ERV has “the problem of sexual sin.” The EXB and NCV have “his wife has sexual relations with another man.” The ICB has “his first wife has been unfaithful to him.” The NLV has “sex sins.” The RGT has “promiscuity.”

3 ASV, BRG, DARBY, DRA, JUB, KJV, TLB, MNB, OJB, WYC.

4 AMPC, NRSV, RSV.

5 GNV, YLT.

6 GW, GNT, PHILLIPS, NOG.

7 NASB1995, NET, NTE, TPT.

8 MSG, VOICE, WE.

9 Frederick Danker (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago), third edition, pp. 854-855; William Mounce (2006), Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), pp. 126,268,638-639,1251; Joseph Thayer (1901), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: American Book Company), p. 532; James Moulton and George Milligan (1930), Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982 reprint), p. 529; F. Wilbur Gingrich (1965), Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press), p. 180; James Donnegan (1836), A New Greek and English Lexicon (Boston, MA: Hilliard, Gray, & Co.), p. 1031; Edward Robinson (1836), A Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament (Boston, MA: Crocker & Brewster), pp. 690-691; Thomas Green (1896), A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament (Boston, MA: H.L. Hastings), p. 152; Henry Liddell and Robert Scott (1901), A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 1256; E.A. Sophocles (1914), Greek Lexicon of the Roman & Byzantine Periods (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), p. 911; W.J. Hickie (1977 reprint), Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker), p. 157; Heinrich Meyer (1881), Critical & Exegetical Handbook to the Gospel of Matthew (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark), 2:26; John Parkhurst (1804), Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament (London: G.&J. Robinson), pp. 554-555; John Pickering (1832), A Greek and English Lexicon (Boston, MA: Hilliard, Gray, Little, & Wilkins), p. 741; Hector Morgan (1826), The Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery, and Divorce (Oxford: J. Parker), 2:398; George Berry (1897), A New Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament (New York: Hinds & Noble), p. 82; G. Abbott-Smith (1922), Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons), pp. 373-374; J.H. Bass (1844), A Greek & English Manual Lexicon to the New Testament (London: I.J. Chidley), p. 185; Charles Hudson (1892), A Critical Greek & English Concordance of the New Testament (London: Samuel Bagster & Sons), p 339; Cornelius Schrevelius (1826), The Greek Lexicon of Schrevelius (Boston, MA: Cummings, Hilliard, & Co.), p. 692; John Jones (1825), The Tyro’s Greek & English Lexicon (London: Longman, et al.), p. 1040; Charles Robson (1839), A Greek Lexicon to the New Testament (London: Whittaker & Co.), p. 387; Samuel Loveland (1828), A Greek Lexicon Adapted to the New Testament (Woodstock, VT: David Watson), p. 259; Greville Ewing (1827), A Greek & English Lexicon (Glasgow: James Duncan), pp. 714-715; Wesley J. Perschbacher, ed. (1990), The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), p. 340; Friedrich Hauck and Siegfried Schulz (1982 reprint), “pornai, pornos, porneia, porneuo, ekporneuo” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 6:579-595.

10 Hauck and Schulz agree: “moicheuo is narrower than porneia and refers solely to adultery” (6:581).

11 Noah Webster (1848), An American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Harper & Brothers), pp. 593, 478.

12 Ibid., pp. 1136-1137.

13 Ibid., p. 129.

14 Ibid., p. 424.

15 Ibid., p. 1067.

16 Ibid., p. 222.

17 Thayer, p. 352; Samuel Bagster (no date), The Analytical Greek Lexicon (London: Samuel Bagster & Sons), p. 227.

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