Porneia

Many people believe that Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9 gives permission to divorce if a partner has committed adultery. However, I do not believe that is what Jesus said at all. If you are just joining this discussion, I encourage you to start at the beginning:

Introduction
Context of Matthew 5
Context of Parallel Passages
Did Matthew Add Words to Jesus?
The Exception Isn't About Adultery.
What is "moicheuo?"
Why our discipleship for someone considering divorce and someone already divorced must be different.

When Matthew records Jesus’ “exception” for divorce, he chooses to use the word "porneia”. To understand fully what Matthew means in the “exception,” we must closely evaluate his word choice.

Strong’s defines “porneia” as illicit sexual intercourse. Kittel goes on to make the following observations:

moicheuo is narrower than porneia

In the LXX, it is used to describe a husband with a wife outside the tribe (forbidden relation).

In Jewish writings, “porneia” included things like harlotry, incest, unnatural vice and sodomy.

If the illegitimacy comes to light only in the course of the marriage relationship, all previous intercourse is regarded as “porneia.”

In John 8:41, the Jews respond to Jesus, “We were not born of fornication (porneia); we have one Father; God.” The Jews to use the word “porneia” to convey that they are not illegitimate children.

It may seem that “moicheuo” and “porneia” can mean the same thing, and certainly they are both words related to sexual sin. However, the distinction is articulated by juxtaposition. When the two are listed in the same verse, we have to see the distinction between the two.

Consider the following. I could call a shirt red. In reality, it may be red, cranberry or even pink, but it is accurate to fit it into the grouping of red. However, if I state that a shirt is red and cranberry, the reader would not assume at this point that I am restating an identical color for emphasis. Instead, the reader would see both “red” and “cranberry” each as more restrictive in description, and their differences would be highlighted.

Therefore, once we have plunged the depths of “porneia” and “moichueo,” we have to look for the differences. When adultery and fornication are placed beside each other, the distinction seems to be marriage. “Moicheuo” is any sexual sin (since Jesus stated within the context that it starts with lust) within a marriage. “Porneia” appears to be sexual sin outside of the bounds of marriage.

But how can we be talking about the right to divorce if we’re talking about sin outside of marriage? Doesn’t that mean that Matthew must mean “porneia” as a sin within marriage. For if you aren’t married, how can you divorce? We’ll look at that tomorrow.