We are in chapter twenty of Exodus with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. נָאַף commit adultery, practice idolatry. It is used 31 times in the Old Testament. God uses this word in a figurative way to describe the unfaithfulness of his people towards him. It breaks God’s heart for his people to worship idols instead of him. Jeremiah 7:9 Will you steal and murder, וְֽנָאֹ֗ף commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known. Ezekiel 23:37 for they have נִאֵ֗פוּ committed adultery and blood is on their hands. נִאֵ֑פוּ They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them. Hosea 3:1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an וּמְנָאָ֑פֶת adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
Our word is used in the sense of having sexual intercourse with someone other than a spouse, as a married or betrothed person. God warns of the dangers of this action. Proverbs 6:32 But a man who נֹאֵ֣ף commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. Leviticus 20:10 If a man יִנְאַף֙ commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. Someone who engages in this sin becomes hardened to it being something that is wrong and destructive. Proverbs 30:20 This is the way מְנָ֫אָ֥פֶת of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.
This is how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 20:14 You shall not תִּֿנְאָ֑ף commit adultery. This commandment is repeated exactly in Deuteronomy 5:18. I find it interesting at the end of the book of Jeremiah when the nation is being taken away to exile to Babylon our word is used. It is used to describe one of the reasons why God is allowing this punishment on his people. Jeremiah 29:23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have וַיְנַֽאֲפוּ֙ committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord. This is a great example why these ten commandments are so important for any nation to follow because they act as a foundation for its future existence and prosperity. I’ll close with how God describes the church which is now the foundation of all nations in the world for their future and prosperity. 1 Timothy 3:14-15 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
