That\u2019s where Greek lexicons and other linguistic authorities are helpful. The following chart provides a general survey of how numerous Greek lexicographers have defined the underlying term porneia<\/em> (in Matthew 19:9) and its derivatives over the past 200+ years:9<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Click for better visibility<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three important observations are in order. First, when the lexicographers note that porneia<\/em> is fornication \u201cof every kind,\u201d \u201cin general,\u201d or \u201ca class of crimes,\u201d they are not referring to various types of sexual activity like touching, caressing, or kissing. Rather, they are referring to multiple forms or types of sexual intercourse<\/strong>, including homosexuality, bestiality, and adultery. \u201cFornication,\u201d therefore, is a generic or \u201cumbrella\u201d term that encompasses different forms of sexual intercourse. See Figure 1, which illustrates the connection between the broad term \u201cfornication\u201d and more narrow terms that identify specific forms of fornication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice, then, that \u201cadultery\u201d is simply a more narrow term than \u201cfornication.\u201d10<\/sup><\/a> All adultery is fornication, but not all fornication is adultery. The eight terms listed in Figure 1 share in common the fact that each one involves actual sexual intercourse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A second observation concerns the lexicographers\u2019 use of terms to define porneia<\/em> that are either archaic, or with the passing of time, have changed meaning. By examining older dictionaries that clarify the meanings of those English words, we can see that they further verify the intended meaning of porneia<\/em>. Noah Webster\u2019s 1848 An American Dictionary of the English Language<\/em> defined \u201clewd\u201d as \u201caddicted to fornication or adultery\u201d and \u201charlotry\u201d is defined as \u201cthe trade or practice of prostitution; habitual or customary lewdness<\/strong>.\u201d11<\/sup><\/a> To act as a \u201cwhore\u201d is \u201cto have unlawful sexual commerce; to practice lewdness<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cto corrupt by lewd<\/strong> intercourse,\u201d and \u201cwhoredom\u201d is defined as \u201clewdness<\/strong>; fornication.\u201d12<\/sup><\/a> A \u201cbrothel\u201d is \u201ca house of lewdness; a house appropriated to the purposes of prostitution.\u201d13<\/sup><\/a> To \u201cfornicate\u201d is \u201cto commit lewdness<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cfornication\u201d is defined as \u201cthe incontinence or lewdness<\/strong> of unmarried persons, male or female; also, the criminal conversation of a married man with an unmarried woman\u201d as well as \u201cadultery\u201d and \u201cincest,\u201d and a \u201cfornicator\u201d is \u201ca lewd<\/strong> person.\u201d14<\/sup><\/a> \u201cUnchaste\u201d is defined as \u201cnot continent; not pure; libidinous; lewd.\u201d15<\/sup><\/a> \u201cContinency\u201d is defined as \u201cthe restraint of the passion for sexual enjoyment; resistance of concupiscence, forbearance of lewd<\/strong> pleasures; hence, chastity.\u201d16<\/sup><\/a> The underlying Greek term in Romans 13:13 rendered in various English translations as \u201clewdness\u201d (NKJV), \u201cchambering\u201d (KJV), \u201csleeping around\u201d (CEB), \u201cbeds\u201d (DLNT), \u201csexual promiscuity\u201d (MOUNCE), \u201cdebauchery\u201d (RSV), and \u201csexual immorality\u201d (ESV) is koitais<\/em> from koitai<\/em>, referring to the conjugal bed, and is defined as \u201csexual intercourse, whoredom.\u201d17<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A third observation concerns the claim by some that \u201cfornication\u201d refers exclusively to sexual activity between unmarried<\/strong> persons. It is certainly true that over time, words take on different meanings than they once conveyed. But, as we have seen, the meaning of the Greek term rendered \u201cfornication\u201d is decisive in its import. Even without that linguistic information, the English reader can know that the allegation is incorrect. Several passages make this fact plain. For example, the man in the Corinthian church who married his father\u2019s wife was guilty of porneia<\/em> (1 Corinthians 5:1). Likewise, John the baptizer condemned the incestuous (porneia<\/em>) marriage of Herod the Tetrarch to his brother\u2019s wife (Mark 6:17). According to Jude 7, the men of Sodom were guilty of porneia<\/em>. As we have seen, homosexuality is one form of porneia<\/em>. The Israelites committed porneia<\/em> (ekporneusai<\/em>\u2014LXX) with the Moabite women, some of whom were undoubtedly married since they were leaders of the people (Numbers 25:1,4; 1 Corinthians 10:8). What\u2019s more, it is evident from Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 that married people can commit porneia<\/em>. To summarize, Figure 2 illustrates the broad application of the word \u201cfornication\u201d in Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The host of Greek authorities verify the fact that the Bible uses the term porneia<\/em> to refer to physical sexual intercourse. Various derivatives of the word only further confirm this fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The older lexicons occasionally use English terms that today may not convey this singularly precise meaning. But by consulting both the drift of the context in which the terms are used as well as the English dictionaries that were contemporaneous with those Greek sources, one can conclude that those terms were intended as synonyms for physical sexual intercourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These synonymous terms include: \u201clewdness,\u201d \u201cunchastity,\u201d \u201cdebauchery,\u201d \u201cwhoredom,\u201d \u201cuncleanness,\u201d \u201cimpurity,\u201d \u201ccommerce,\u201d \u201cincontinence,\u201d and \u201csexual immorality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While sinful in their own right, neither the viewing of pornography nor those sinful actions that precede sexual intercourse\u2014which are embodied in such Bible terms as \u201clust\u201d and \u201clasciviousness\u201d\u2014fall within the purview of the meaning of \u201cfornication\u201d in the New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup><\/a> Some scholars have challenged the textual legitimacy of the \u201cexceptive\u201d clause in this verse, but the point is moot since the clause occurs also in Matthew 5:32 where its textual legitimacy is firm. See Bruce Metzger (1994), A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament<\/em> (New York, NY: United Bible Society, second edition), p. 38.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2<\/sup><\/a> CSB, CJB, DLNT, EHV, ESV, EXB, HCSB, ISV, LEB, MEV, MOUNCE, NASB, NIV, NKJV, TLV, WEB. The CEB has the equivalent expression \u201csexual unfaithfulness.\u201d The CEV has \u201csome terrible sexual sin.\u201d The ERV has \u201cthe problem of sexual sin.\u201d The EXB and NCV have \u201chis wife has sexual relations with another man.\u201d The ICB has \u201chis first wife has been unfaithful to him.\u201d The NLV has \u201csex sins.\u201d The RGT has \u201cpromiscuity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3<\/sup><\/a> ASV, BRG, DARBY, DRA, JUB, KJV, TLB, MNB, OJB, WYC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup><\/a> AMPC, NRSV, RSV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5<\/sup><\/a> GNV, YLT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/sup><\/a> GW, GNT, PHILLIPS, NOG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7<\/sup><\/a> NASB1995, NET, NTE, TPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8<\/sup><\/a> MSG, VOICE, WE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9<\/sup><\/a> Frederick Danker (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature<\/em> (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago), third edition, pp. 854-855; William Mounce (2006), Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), pp. 126,268,638-639,1251; Joseph Thayer (1901), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament<\/em> (New York: American Book Company), p. 532; James Moulton and George Milligan (1930), Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982 reprint), p. 529; F. Wilbur Gingrich (1965), Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament<\/em> (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press), p. 180; James Donnegan (1836), A New Greek and English Lexicon<\/em> (Boston, MA: Hilliard, Gray, & Co.), p. 1031; Edward Robinson (1836), A Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament<\/em> (Boston, MA: Crocker & Brewster), pp. 690-691; Thomas Green (1896), A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em> (Boston, MA: H.L. Hastings), p. 152; Henry Liddell and Robert Scott (1901), A Greek-English Lexicon<\/em> (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 1256; E.A. Sophocles (1914), Greek Lexicon of the Roman & Byzantine Periods<\/em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), p. 911; W.J. Hickie (1977 reprint), Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker), p. 157; Heinrich Meyer (1881), Critical & Exegetical Handbook to the Gospel of Matthew<\/em> (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark), 2:26; John Parkhurst (1804), Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em> (London: G.&J. Robinson), pp. 554-555; John Pickering (1832), A Greek and English Lexicon<\/em> (Boston, MA: Hilliard, Gray, Little, & Wilkins), p. 741; Hector Morgan (1826), The Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery, and Divorce<\/em> (Oxford: J. Parker), 2:398; George Berry (1897), A New Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em> (New York: Hinds & Noble), p. 82; G. Abbott-Smith (1922), Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament<\/em> (New York: Charles Scribner\u2019s Sons), pp. 373-374; J.H. Bass (1844), A Greek & English Manual Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em> (London: I.J. Chidley), p. 185; Charles Hudson (1892), A Critical Greek & English Concordance of the New Testament<\/em> (London: Samuel Bagster & Sons), p 339; Cornelius Schrevelius (1826), The Greek Lexicon of Schrevelius<\/em> (Boston, MA: Cummings, Hilliard, & Co.), p. 692; John Jones (1825), The Tyro\u2019s Greek & English Lexicon<\/em> (London: Longman, et al.), p. 1040; Charles Robson (1839), A Greek Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em> (London: Whittaker & Co.), p. 387; Samuel Loveland (1828), A Greek Lexicon Adapted to the New Testament<\/em> (Woodstock, VT: David Watson), p. 259; Greville Ewing (1827), A Greek & English Lexicon<\/em> (Glasgow: James Duncan), pp. 714-715; Wesley J. Perschbacher, ed. (1990), The New Analytical Greek Lexicon<\/em> (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), p. 340; Friedrich Hauck and Siegfried Schulz (1982 reprint), \u201cpornai<\/em>, pornos<\/em>, porneia<\/em>, porneuo<\/em>, ekporneuo<\/em>\u201d in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em>, ed. Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 6:579-595.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10<\/sup><\/a> Hauck and Schulz agree: \u201cmoicheuo<\/em> is narrower than porneia<\/em> and refers solely to adultery\u201d (6:581).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11<\/sup><\/a> Noah Webster (1848), An American Dictionary of the English Language<\/em> (New York: Harper & Brothers), pp. 593, 478.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., pp. 1136-1137.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., p. 129.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., p. 424.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., p. 1067.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., p. 222.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17<\/sup><\/a> Thayer, p. 352; Samuel Bagster (no date), The Analytical Greek Lexicon<\/em> (London: Samuel Bagster & Sons), p. 227.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In one\u2019s efforts to study the Word of God and make certain that God\u2019s originally intended meanings are being accessed, it is imperative that the reader set aside all preconceptions, biases, and preferences and allow the Bible to define its own meanings. One important tool for achieving this goal is to make certain that the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,677],"tags":[],"kids-category":[],"people":[273],"bible-book":[],"language":[168],"age-group":[172,173],"publication":[248],"class_list":["post-33048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-doctrinal-matters","category-sexual-immorality","people-dave-miller-phd","language-english","age-group-teens","age-group-adults","publication-reason-revelation"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fornication-Defined-in-NT-Greek-Lexicons-DM-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33048"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33066,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33048\/revisions\/33066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"kids-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kids-category?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"people","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"bible-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible-book?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"age-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/age-group?post=33048"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=33048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fornication-Defined-Lexicon-Chart.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThree Observations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fornication-figure-1-1024x275.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fornication-figure-2-1024x686.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Endnotes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n