Adultery (Hastings' Dictionary)
See Crimes, and Marriage. ADUMMIM, The Ascent of (d-d-jn rh-^p). Jog 15' 18", forming part of the eastern boundary between Judah and Benjamin, is the steep pass in which the road ascends from Jericho to Jenialem. Its name, Tal'at ed-Dumm, is still the same — ' the ascent of blood ' or ' red,' and is most probably due to the red marl which is so distinctive a feature of the pass.
In this pass, notorious for robberies and murders, is the traditional 'inn' of Lk 10**, and near by the Chastel Rouge or Citeme Rouge, built by the crusaders for protection of pilgrims from Jerusalem to the Jordan. A. HENDERSON.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Adultery
Adultery a-dul'-ter-i: In Scripture designates sexual intercourse of a man, whether married or unmarried, with a married woman. ⇒See a list of verses on ADULTERY in the Bible. 1. Its Punishment: It is categorically prohibited in the Decalogue (seventh commandment, Ex 20:14; De 5:18): "Thou shalt not commit adultery." In more specific language we read: "And thou shalt not he carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her" (Le 18:20). The penalty is death for both guilty parties: "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" (Le 20:10). The manner of death is not particularized; according to the rabbis (Siphra' at the place; Sanhedhrin 52b) it is strangulation. It would seem that in the days of Jesus the manner of death was interpreted to mean stoning ("Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such," Joh 8:5, said of the woman taken in adultery). Nevertheless, it may be said that in the case in question the woman may have been a vir…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Adultery
(Exodus 20:14) The parties to this crime, according to Jewish law, were a married woman and a man who was not her husband. The Mosaic penalty was that both the guilty parties should be stoned, and it applied as well to the betrothed as to the married woman, provided she were free. (22:22-24) A bondwoman so offending was to be scourged, and the man was to make a trespass offering. (Leviticus 19:20-22) At a later time, and when owing, to Gentile example, the marriage tie became a looser bond of union, public feeling in regard to adultery changed, and the penalty of death was seldom or never inflicted. The famous trial by the waters of jealousy, (Numbers 5:11-29) was probably an ancient custom, which Moses found deeply seated—(But this ordeal was wholly in favor of the innocent, and exactly opposite to most ordeals. For the water which the accused drank was perfectly harmless, and only by a miracle could it produce a bad effect; while in most ordeals the accused must suffer what naturally produces death, and be proved innocent only by a miracle. Symbolically adultery is used to express…
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Adultery
A married woman cohabiting with a man not her husband. The prevalent polygamy in patriarchal times rendered it impossible to stigmatize as adultery the cohabitation of a married man with another besides his wife. But as Jesus saith, "from the beginning it was not so," for "He which made male and female said, They twain shall be one flesh." So the Samaritan Pentateuch reads Gen 2:24, as it is quoted in Mat 19:5. A fallen world undergoing a gradual course of remedial measures needs anomalies to be pretermitted for a time (Rom 3:25 margin; Act 17:30), until it becomes fit for a higher stage, in its progress toward its finally perfect state. God sanctions nothing but perfection; but optimism is out of place in governing a fallen world not yet ripe for it. The junction of the two into one flesh when sexual intercourse takes place with a third is dissolved in its original idea. So also the union of the believer with Christ is utterly incompatible with fornication (1Co 6:13-18; 1Co 7:1-13; 1Ti 3:12). The sanctity of marriage in patriarchal times appears from Abraam's fear, not that his wife…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia