Does Romans 7:1-3 affirm different rules for women and men regarding adultery?
Yoḥanon-benYaʿăqov;4772206 said:
Torah is very clear in it’s Mitz’vot concerning marriage, divorce and sexual relations.
First of all, let’s clear up a few words that have been used in this thread. Polygyny is multiple woman; Polygamy is multiple wives; and Polyandry is multiple husbands. Both polygamy and polygyny are allowed according to Torah, however polyandry is definitely forbidden.
Yes Solomon had 700 wives and 300 Piyl’gashot, which is usually translated concubines, but literally means non-contract wife, but the only Mitz’vah that he violated was “No king shall multiply for himself too many wives or too many horses.” David had around 40 wives, and that was perfectly fine. Most of the Patriarch’s had more than one wife.
According to Torah Mitz’vah, only the High Priest is limited to having only one wife, and she must be of native Israeli descent, and not a gentile convert.
There are two types of wives in the Hebrew Scriptures: the contract wife, and the Piylegesh, or sex wife. The only real difference between the two is the method in which they are dispatched. A piylegesh can be sold, traded or simply sent away. A contract wife can only by dispatched by means of a certificate of divorce.
Nearly anything can be grounds for divorce: she can’t cook; she snores; she has foul breath or body odor; they are not sexually compatible; numerous things; but adultery is not one of them. Adultery is a capital crime, punishable by death.
If a man divorces his contract wife he is required to support her until she becomes the wife or piylegesh of another man. If she does not marry another man, her husband is allowed to remarry her. If she does marry another man her first husband is no longer allowed to remarry her.
The definition of adultery is very specific, and it has to be because it is a death penalty offense. If a legally married woman has sexual relations with any man other than her husband, she is guilty of adultery and by proxy makes her partner guilty of adultery as well. Both guilty parties are to be put to death. The only way that any man, either married or single, can be guilty of adultery is by having sexual relations with another man’s legal wife. Having sexual relations with another man’s piylegesh counted as theft or trespassing. If a married man has sexual relations with a single woman that is not adultery; and it is in fact the only way to acquire a piylegesh, or an additional contract wife for that matter.
There is no Mitz’vah against premarital sex for either males or females. There is no Mitz’vah against extramarital sex for men, as long it is not with the legal wife of another man The entire list of prohibited sexual acts is found at Leviticus 18:5-30; and the penalties for committing any of them are found in Leviticus 20:10-22.
Just for the record, David could not have committed adultery with Bat-Sheva because she was a daughter of Israel, and therefore could not have been married to Uriyyah because he was a Hittite, and Torah forbids the marriage of any child of Israel to Hittites, among others. Without a legal contract of marriage, a woman cannot commit adultery. One of the problems probably lies in translation, but newsflash, the word – אֵשֶׁת – ʾéshet is the construct form of – אִשָּׁה – ʾishah, and means “woman of,” “wife of,” “ mother of,” maidservant of,” etc; it does not exclusively mean “wife of,” no matter what chr-stian translators want you to think.
David did not commit murder either. Uriyyah the Hittite was a general in the army of Israel; King David was the Commander-in-Chief of the army of Israel. He deliberately disobeyed a direct order from his commander and King, and was punished for doing so. David’s sin with Bat-Sheva was theft, as is clearly evident in the Prophet Nathan’s parable about the little ewe lamb to King David in 2 Samuel chapter 12.
Both adultery and murder are punishable by death, and no one is exempt from that including a King.
But to summarize: According to Torah, as it is written, a man can have as many wives and sex servants as he wants; but a woman is only allowed one husband at a time.
A wife is not allowed to serve her husband with a certificate of divorce, but she may petition the local council of Shof’tiym, which would be called a Rabbinical Council today, into investigating her reasons for wanting a divorce. If they discover the reason is verified, they first try to solve the problem and save the marriage. If the problem can’t be fixed, they will ask the husband to serve her a certificate of divorce. Basically it works the same way when the husband makes the petition for divorce, they always try to solve the problem first.
Chr-stians treat divorce as if it were a curse, when in fact it was a gift from God. The “certificate of divorce” is a Mitz’vah given by God to the Nation of Israel. God wants His people to be happy, and you can’t possibly be happy in a bad marriage. A large part of chr-stianity would rather see a couple who can’t even stand each other be miserable for 50, 60, 70 years, than to have them part ways early and find someone they can be happy with.
I would also like to stress that several places in the chr-stian text have the hero of the chr-stian story adding to, subtracting from and changing Torah; which is a death penalty offense. The fact that he is altering Torah in any way, and teaching others to follow him, he is the official definition of a false prophet. All of this is described in Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; 13:1-5. God’s Torah is eternal – It does not change because He does not change. God dictated all of Torah to Mosheh and ordered him to write it word for word and letter for letter. And Mosheh did as God commanded. And God’s very own words in numerous places throughout Torah verify His Mitz’vot are eternal, and if anyone tries to change them they are to die.
So just to clarify: Matthew chapter 5 and 19 have the hero of chr-stianity changing the rules and definitions of both divorce and adultery. You figure it out.
Ok,
So I don't want to be two faced.
I've discussed how your interpretation of the TaNaKh is missing that David sinned.
I don't want you to think I'm avoiding talking to you about it, so here is my direct reply.
I understand the Jewish perspective of David and all of the Patriarchs and men of Israel.
I agree with the importance of the Torah in light of record and foreshadowing, but have you read where David weeps for forgiveness before God about the Bathsheeba incident?
Nathan called Bathsheeba Uriah's wife.
It's in the TaNaKh.
Is that mutable?
Psalms 32 is most likely about the incident.
Psalm 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
Davidic. A Maskil.
1 How joyful is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered!
2 How joyful is the man
the Lord does not charge with sin
and in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
from my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was drained
as in the summer’s heat.Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You
and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said,
“I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and You took away the guilt of my sin.Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You
at a time that You may be found.
When great floodwaters come,
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
You protect me from trouble.
You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.Selah
8 I will instruct you and show you the way to go;
with My eye on you, I will give counsel.
9 Do not be like a horse or mule,
without understanding,
that must be controlled with bit and bridle
or else it will not come near you.
10 Many pains come to the wicked,
but the one who trusts in the Lord
will have faithful love surrounding him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,
you righteous ones;
shout for joy,
all you upright in heart.
And again......
2 Samuel 12
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance
So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him:
There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up, living with him and his children. It shared his meager food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.
5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.’
11 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Then Nathan replied to David, “The Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die. 14 However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.” 15 Then Nathan went home.
The Death of Bathsheba’s Son
The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.
18 On the seventh day the baby died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, “Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”
“He is dead,” they replied.
20 Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord’s house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested something to eat. So they served him food, and he ate.
21 His servants asked him, “What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.”
22 He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me
............. If the TaNaKh says that David sinned and David said he sinned, how can anyone believe that David didn't sin?
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