Exodus 20 · Verse 14

Exodus 20:14

Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:14, King James Version

Exodus 20:14 in other translations

BSBYou shall not commit adultery.
WEB“You shall not commit adultery.
ASVThou shalt not commit adultery.
YLT‘Thou dost not commit adultery.
DARBYThou shalt not commit adultery.
BBEDo not be false to the married relation.
WebsterThou shalt not commit adultery.

What does Exodus 20:14 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery - Adultery, as defined by our laws, is of two kinds; double, when between two married persons; single, when one of the parties is married, the other single. One principal part of the criminality of adultery consists in its injustice. 1. It robs a man of his right by taking from him the affection of his wife. 2. It does him a wrong by fathering on him and obliging him to maintain as his own a spurious offspring - a child which is not his. The act itself, and every thing leading to the act, is prohibited by this commandment; for our Lord says, Even he who looks on a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And not only adultery (the unlawful commerce between two married persons) is forbidden here, but also fornication and all kinds of mental and sensual uncleanness. All impure books, songs, paintings, etc., which tend to inflame and debauch the mind, are against this law, as well as another species of impurity, for the account of which the reader is referred to; See Clarke's note on Gen 38:30. That fornication was included under this command we may gather from St. Matthew, Mat 15:19, where our Savior expresses the sense of the different commandments by a word for each, and mentions them in the order in which they stand; but when he comes to the seventh he uses two words, μοιχειαι πορνειαι, to express its meaning, and then goes on to the eighth, etc.; thus evidently showing that fornication was understood to be comprehended under the command, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." As to the word adultery, adulterium, it has probably been derived from the words ad alterius torum, to another's bed; for it is going to the bed of another man that constitutes the act and the crime. Adultery often means idolatry in the worship of God.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 20:12-17

The laws of the SECOND table, that is, the last six of the ten commandments, state our duty to ourselves and to one another, and explain the great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Lu 10:27. Godliness and honesty must go together. The fifth commandment concerns the duties we owe to our relations. Honour thy father and thy mother, includes esteem of them, shown in our conduct; obedience to their…

Read the full comment on Exodus 20:12-17 →

Exodus 20:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹ֣֖אlo'notH3808
תִּֿנְאָֽ֑ף\׃\ \סtne.'Afyou must commit adulteryH5003

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 20:14

  • Hebrews 13:4

    Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

  • Deuteronomy 5:18

    Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

  • Romans 7:2-3

    For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

  • Romans 13:9

    For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

  • Leviticus 20:10

    And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

  • Matthew 5:27-28

    Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

  • Revelation 21:8

    But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

  • Leviticus 18:20

    Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

  • Mark 10:11-12

    And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

  • Jeremiah 5:8-9

    They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

  • Ephesians 5:3-5

    But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

  • 2 Samuel 11:27

    And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Le 18:20; 20:10; 2Sa 11:4,5,27; Pr 2:15-18; 6:24-35; 7:18-27
Jer 5:8,9; 29:22,23; Mal 3:5; Mt 5:27,28; Mr 10:11,12; Ro 7:2,3
Eph 5:3-5; Heb 13:4; Jas 4:4; Re 21:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Read all of Exodus 20

Exodus 20:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No cometerás adulterio.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Tu ne commettras point adultère.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Du sollst nicht ehebrechen. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Non mœchaberis.