From the Bible's viewpoint, whether or not adultery has occurred depends exclusively on the woman's marital status. A married woman who has sexual relations with anyone other than her husband is regarded as having committed adultery, as is her lower. But an unmarried woman who has sex with a married man has not committed adultery, nor has her lover. Sexist as it may sound, biblical law permits men to have more than one wife, thus, having sex with a woman other than one's wife is not viewed as a betrayal of one's spouse. However, since a woman is forbidden to have more than one husband, sex with someone other than her spouse is always regarded as betrayal. In the ancient world, in which the biblical definition of adultery was similar to that of other socieites, adultery was generally considered to be a crime against the husband alone. He thus had the right to either insist upon punishment for the adulterous couple or to forgive them.
Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon practiced polygamy and had concubines. Biblical law permits a man to have more than one wife (Deuteronomy 21:17) |
