“You shall not commit adultery.”

This was most likely a “case law” meaning something like this happened. Two men were fighting when a pregnant woman somehow got caught in the middle, and it caused here to give birth prematurely. Moses was asked what should be done.

The answer is that if the baby was born healthy, then the man who caused the problem should be fined. But it is a different situation of the incident caused “harm.” But that is where there is a debate on this interpretation.

The WEB has “gives birth prematurely.” But a more literal translation is “her children come out.” The plural is used just in case there are twins. The text does not indicate if the child (or children) are born prematurely or if, as the New Revised Standard (NRSV) has it, “there is a miscarriage.” But the next phrase, “yet no harm follows” would seem to support the idea of a premature birth not a miscarriage as the latter would be a “harm.” The NRSV tries to evade this conclusion by rendering the phrase “yet no further harm follows.” However, the word “further” is not in the Hebrew text.

If lesser injury results to either mother or child, then a lesser punishment is to be meted out. That is the meaning of the famous “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” phrase. The punishment should fit the crime.

But there is one caveat. The father has the final say as to whether a marriage occurs or not. If he does not approve of the seducer, the father can decline the marriage requirement. However, the seducer still must pay what constitutes a “fine” for the seduction.

The Poetic Books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. Passages from these books will be discussed next.

Job had ten children but only one wife. Debates abound as to the time period covered by Job, but most likely the events occurred around the same time as Abraham. And like Abraham, Job was monogamous.

Making such a “covenant” would be difficult for most men to do, but just looking lustfully at a woman is a sin in itself and it can lead to even more serious active sexual sin (Matt 5:28; 15:19).

God knows us while we are still in the womb. This argues strongly for the personhood of the preborn child and thus against abortion.

Passages such as these are often used by pro-lifers. Who is more “weak” and “needy” than a preborn child? They cannot defend themselves, so we Christians must work to defend them.

This is another type of passage used by pro-lifers. The blood of preborn babies is as innocent as you can get. Yet it is being “sacrificed” to the idols of convenience and the claimed “women’s right to choose.”

Yet another very strong pro-life passage. God knows us in the womb and what His plans are for our lives. Abortion is the taking of the life of a person known and loved by God.

This passage is a strong condemnation of adultery, but also a strong commendation of marital sexual love. God is not against sex. It is very appropriate within the bounds of marriage.

Again, no blood is more innocent than that of a preborn child. The shedding of such blood via abortion is something that God hates.

“Adultery is stupid” would be a blunt way of rephrasing this verse. It is also self-destructive. The one who engages in adultery often ends up destroying his own life.

God is all in favor of marriage. He created it after all. And he blesses every legitimate marital union.

Getting involved in an immoral relationship has destroyed many a man. Even “kings” have been destroyed by such relationships.

It is now time to turn to the New Testament, starting with the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), along with the Book of Acts. Passages from these books will be discussed in this chapter.

Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married, yet they had not engaged in sexual intercourse. This was the norm for the time, not the exception. Engaged couples waited to be married before having sex.

Although some would disagree, the most natural way to read this passage is that after Mary gave birth to Jesus, Mary and Joseph began to engage in sexual relations. This is perfectly natural and moral, for a married couple to engage in sex.

This is a difficult passage. The mere looking lustfully at a woman is sinful. This would mean that most every man has committed “adultery.” But it should be noted the word here is just that, the specific word for “adultery” not the more general word for fornication (or sexual sin) that will be discussed shortly.

This is one of the most difficult passages in the Scriptures. Jesus seems to be saying that divorce is always wrong (unless there has been infidelity in the marriage). He also seems to be saying that remarriage after divorce is a sin. But that is the most direct reading of the text.