Resource > Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable) >
Exodus >
Exposition >
II. THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL 15:22--40:38 >
B. The establishment of the Mosaic Covenant 19:1-24:11 >
2. The Ten Commandments 20:1-17 >
The seventh commandment 20:14
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Adultery is sexual intercourse when one or both partners are married (or engaged, under Israelite law; cf. Deut. 22:23-29) to someone else. Adultery destroys marriage and the home, the foundations of society (cf. Matt. 5:27-28; 1 Cor. 6:9-20). Adultery is an act, not a state. People commit adultery; they do not live in adultery, except in the sense that they may continually practice it.