Premarital sex, a sin?
The Bible was written primarily in two languages: Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). But we, who speak English, have to rely on interpretations of what the Scriptures say based on the translations used to define the terms. Unfortunately, many of the translations of these terms are considerably removed from the exact meaning of the original words. Then we have new versions of the Bible that are even further removed from the original text, giving the reader a totally different interpretation of what the scripture means.
Hebrew and Greek have precise meanings of the words they define. If the translations of these terms are not as accurate as the original words used, they lead to misinformation and a lack of understanding of God’s word and entirely new doctrines emerge that are the antithesis of God’s original intention.
The other aspect of this is taking the translation of the terms out of the historical context. If God is providing us with information with precise terms within the historical context in which it was written, and you change the meaning of the words through an incorrect translation without taking into account its historical context, you change the whole dynamics of that writing and, therefore strange teachings evolve. which form the “traditions of men.”
Take, for example, the following passage of Scripture:
“There shall be no prostitute from the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite from the children of Israel.” – Deuteronomy 23: 17-18
What does that mean? Using our language to decipher this passage of scripture and without examining it with the historical context in which it was written, you would think it says “no woman can be a whore who is a daughter of Israel and no man can be a homosexual who is.” a son of Israel, “right?
But that is not the correct interpretation. The reason is because the term “bitch” and the term “Sodomite” they are not translated correctly from Hebrew.
How do you know the correct definition of “bitch” and “Sodomite” is it so? You should look up the Hebrew word for it. And the best place is Strong’s Numbers. Strong’s numbers are an index to each word in the original biblical text.
Strong’s numbers for “bitch” in hebrew it is H6948 and the word is DYCW, pronounced Ked-ay-shaw ‘ and means “temple prostitute, whore”
Strong’s number for “Sodomite” it is H6945 and the word is JOC, pronounced Kaw-dashe ‘ and means “prostitute of the temple”.
So now we have the passage corrected as follows:
“There will be no (temple prostitute) of the daughters of Israel, nor (temple prostitute) of the children of Israel.” – Deuteronomy 23: 17-18
See the difference? And it also makes more sense within the historical context in which it was written. It is not about whores in general or about homosexuals.
If you took the first translation of this passage of Scripture, you would think that God does not want prostitutes or homosexuals in Israel. But the second and more accurate translation specifically shows that there will be no TEMPLE PROSTITUTES. Why only the temple prostitutes and not all the prostitutes? Well, you find that in the historical context in which it was written. Deuteronomy 23 referred to instructions on the assembly of the congregation of Israel and various laws. And the temple prostitutes are a form of pagan idolatry worship.
But the whores themselves under certain conditions were not considered an abomination to God. In fact, many of the great men of the Bible went “with” prostitutes without consequences, as long as they were not married.
This raises the question why sex before marriage is not a sin. We have all been taught that it is. We even see the term fornication (sexual intercourse between couples who are not married to each other) used more than 40 times in the New Testament in which the apostle Paul tells us to “flee from fornication.” But guess that? Fornication is a substitution of the original Greek word, porneia.
Porneia it has a broader definition than fornication and means “sexual immortality.” But what is sexual immorality? According to God, all sexually immoral sins are defined in Leviticus 18. You must remember that the New Testament was not even written until many years after the death of Jesus. So to find the laws regarding anything, the apostle Paul would go back to the Torah. And premarital sex is not part of the definition of porneia.
Nowhere in Scripture is sex before marriage (other than virgins in your father’s house) mentioned as sexual sin or immorality. That doctrine has arisen by falsely misrepresenting the truth based on the wrong replacement of terms, or by failing to examine the historical context and the Old Testament to see what God reveals about it.