Thread: Hebrews 13: 4 in Relation to the Patriarchal Authority of God
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Hebrews 13: 4 in Relation to the Patriarchal Authority of God
Posted : 19 Apr, 2012 05:20 AM
Dean Gotcher in one of his talks mentioned the concept of the marriage bed being undefiled - in relation to the patriarchal authority of God which Adam and Eve obeyed before the Fall of Genesis 3. God's authority for marriage makes what would otherwise be lust of the flesh (I John 2: 16) acceptable to God.
Hebrews 13: 4 The Marriage Bed Undefiled
King James Version: "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed
undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
New Revised Standard Version: "Let marriage be held in honor by all,
and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge
fornicators and adulterers."
New American Standard: "Marriage is to be held in honor among all,
and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and
adulterers God will judge."
Young's Literal Translation: "honourable [is] the marriage in all,
and the bed undefiled, and whoremongers and adulterers God shall
judge."
Geneva Bible: "Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed
undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
NIV: "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept
pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."
John Gill On Hebrews 13: 4: "Marriage" is the union of one man and one
woman in wedlock, whereby they become one flesh; it is a joining
together of male and female in this relation, and of two only, and of
such as are not within the degrees of blood forbid by the law,
(Leviticus 18:6-18) and of such as are fit for marriage: and this is
"honourable", as it was instituted by God, and has been honoured with
the presence of Christ, (Genesis 2:22,24) (John 2:1-11) . And it is so
in the ends of it, being to procreate children, multiply the earth,
build up families, preserve a legitimate offspring, and prevent
fornication and all uncleanness.....the bed of such whose marriage is
honourable; which is not polluted by admitting others into it, or by
acts of fornication and adultery.....fornication is a sin committed by
single persons, unmarried ones; and though it was reckoned among the
Gentiles a thing indifferent, yet is contrary to the law of God, and
is a work of the flesh, and makes unfit for the kingdom of God, and
brings down the judgments of God both here and hereafter. And this is
in opposition to marriage, which is appointed to prevent it. The sin
"adulterers" are guilty of, is a sin committed by persons, who are
either one or both in a married state, and so is directly a pollution
of the marriage bed: "
Genesis 2: 23-25; "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and
flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken
out of Man.
24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."
Matthew 19: 4-6: "And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not
read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and
female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God
hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
I Corinthians 7: 2-5: "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every
man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise
also the wife unto the husband.
4. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and
likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the
wife.
5. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a
time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come
together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency."
The implication in Genesis 2: 23-25, Matthew 19: 4-6 and I Corinthians
7: 2-5 is that when a couple becomes married they have established a
relationship which is exclusive for sex, a relationship in which each
is bonded to the other for life, where they continue to love one
another, and a relationship in which they generally can get along with
one another, gain pleasure from that relationship - which is not
limited to sex - and can live together without excessive or constant
disagreements and conflicts. Being married implies mutual committment
to the relationship.
The Bible does not, however, specify a ceremony in which they formally
promise to stay together and seek to help one another in all ways. To
the world and to the flesh, marriage is defined as having a marriage
license from the government (the first Beast of Revelation 13), and
having gone through a marriage ceremony conducted by a state
authorized priest or preacher. To the world or to the person
dominated by the flesh, a man and woman who have not established a
relationship which can last are married if they have a marriage
license and have been through a marriage ceremony conducted by an
authorized agent of the state.
In addition, under the patriarchal authority of the Lord, sex is not
lust of the flesh in marriage, but is that in a situation in which
people get into one sexual relationship after another. Getting a
divorce in order to perhaps find a better marriage partner can be the
same as going from one sexual relationship to another without ever
being committed by marriage to one person.
The marriage couple accepts God's patriarchal authority, which says
they must not engage in sexual relationships with others, and that it
is the will of God that they stay together for life and do not
separate. Genesis 2: 25 implies that the man and wife can be naked
together without any shame, but that neither the man nor the wife
should deliberately be naked before others. This can mean that nudity
in nudist groups is a violation of marriage
or in some unversity medical exams of the past where men in groups
are naked and examined by male and female
medical students is a violation of Genesis 2: 25, especially if a man
is married and is naked before young women medical students.
Hebrews 13: 4 in Relation to the Patriarchal Authority of God
Posted : 20 Apr, 2012 05:30 AM
In quoting several translations of Hebrews 13: 4, I can see that the three translations from the Textus Receptus are different than those from the Westcott-Hort Alexandarian Greek text. I can't put Greek fonts here, but I will look at the Westcott-Hort Greek to see if it differs from the Textus Receptus. On Unbound Bible the Textus Receptus and the Westcott-Hort Greek texts are the same, except as is often the case the Westcott-Hort leaves out a word that is in the Textus Receptus. The Westcott-Hort leaves out "de" but this does not really change the meaning.
The difference between the translations based on the Textus Receptus and the Westcott-Hort is more a matter of the translation method for Hebrews 13: 4 than the difference between the Textus Receptus and the Westcott-Hort.
The King James Version, the Geneva Bible and Young's Literal Translation are from the Textus Recdeptus and the other translations are all from Westcott-Hort.
My Greek-English Interlinear from Hebrews 13: 4 says "timios 0 gamos en pasin, kai e koitn amiantos pornous de kai moichous krinei o Theos."
Literally, it says "Honerable marriage (is) held and the bed (is) undefiled; fornicators but and adulterers will (be) judged of God."
While the Geneva, King James and Young's all say marriage is honorable and the bed is undefiled, the other three translations I quoted, from the Westcott-Hort, the New Revised Standard, the New American Standard and the New International Version say marriage should be honerable and the marriage bed should be undefiled or kept pure.
But the Greek says marriage IS honerable and the marriage bed IS undefiled, and that if one of the marriage partners engages in adultery he or she will be judged by God.
Saying marriage is honerable and the marriage bed is undefiled is different than saying marriage should be honerable and the bed undefiled. The translation method of the King James Version tends to be a word for word method, allowing the Greek words to determine the English version's words. The recent English translations, almost all from the Westcott-Hort Alexandarian texts, tend to use "dynamic equivalence" as a translation method. In dynamic equivalence the translators say in English what they think is the meaning of the Greek text, and in doing so they sometimes, or often, come up with translations which are sliightly or very different from what a word for word translation says.
