Πορνεια: A Word Study

This is an academic paper I wrote for my Greek Exegesis class during the fall of 2013.

ΠΟΡΝΕΙΑ

A Brief Word Study in Relation to Ephesians 5:1-12

            A study of the word πορνεία (porneia) shows its origins as early as the 5^th century BC. However, a closer look at the passage of focus, Ephesians 5:1-12, also shows that the root, πορν-, shows up a couple verses later as πορνος (pornos). The English word pornography is borrowed from the greek root πορν-, even if it has a slightly different meaning. In the English it implies printed or visual material displaying sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. In Greek, πορνεία refers to sexual immorality or adultery, and πορνος refers to one who commits such things into action.

In the Septuagint, πορνεία is used numerous times, and is typically defined as prostitution, fornication, or unchastity. It is used, however, as harlotry, unfaithfulness, wickedness, and prostitution. The Septuagint usage of πορνεία can be found in the following LXX passages: Gen 38:24; Num 14:33; IV Ki 9:22; To 4:12; 8:7; Pro 26:7; Wi 14:12; Si 23:23; 26:9; 41:17; Hos 1:2; 2:2, 4; 4:11, 12; 5:4; 6:11; Mic 1:7; Nah 3:3; Isa 47:10; 57:9; Jer 2:20; 3:2, 9; 13:27; Ezek 16:15, 22, 25, 33, 34, 36, 31; 23:7, 8, 11, 13, 17-19, 27, 29, 30, 35; 43:7, 9.

In the New Testament, πορνεία is used 25 times and is used to mean six different things, while one passage leaves the word untranslated. The six ways πορνεία is used in the New Testament is as follows: sexual immorality [13], adulteries [5], immorality [2], marital unfaithfulness [1], illegitimate children [1], sexual sin [1], and untranslated [1]. The New Testament usage of πορνεία can be found in the following passages: Mt 5:32; 15:19; 19:9; Mk 7:21; Jn 8:41; Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 1 Cor 5:1 (twice); 6:13, 18; 7:2; 2 Cor 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5; 1 Thess 4:3; Rev 2:21; 9:21; 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3; 19:2.

           

There are fourteen passages in which πορνεία is translated as “sexual immorality”. Those passages are as follows: Mt 15:19; Mk 7:21; Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 1 Cor 5:1 (twice); 6:13, 18; 7:2; Gal 5:19; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5; 1 Thess 4:3; Rev 9:21. The majority of the usage as “sexual immorality” comes in Paul writing to churches, stressing the importance of avoiding such things. Two passages which clearly state the severity of πορνεία come in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 13, “The body is not meant for πορνεία, but for the Lord,” and 18, “Flee from πορνεία. All other sins a man commits are outside the body but the one who practices [this] sins against his own body.”

There are five passages in which πορνεία is translated as “adulteries”. Those passages, all found in the book of Revelation, are as follows: Rev 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3; 19:2. The contextual usage of πορνεία (and its translation as “adulteries”) seems to allude to the idea that this is not just an act of one or two people, but the world as a whole. In 19:2, it speaks of “the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her adulteries,” which is also referred to as “Babylon the Great.” It is used metaphorically, painting a picture of God longing for His people to return to Him.

It is used metaphorically, painting a picture of God longing for His people to return to Him.

Twice πορνεία is translated as “immorality” (1 Cor 7:2; Rev 2:21). Each time it has a different contextual meaning. Paul uses it literally, while John, in Revelation, uses it in a sense that can go either way, depending on one’s eschatological views. Paul speaks of each man having his own wife because of immoralities between men and women. John speaks of Jezebel refusing to repent of her immorality, though God had given her time to repent.  

What of the minority translations? Twice in Matthew πορνεία is translated as “marital unfaithfulness” (5:32; 19:9). Once it is translated as “illegitimate children” (John 8:41), and once it is translated as “sexual sin” (2 Cor 12:21). In Matthew 5, Jesus was delivering the famous sermon on the mount and speaks of the importance of maintaining the bond of marriage except on the grounds of πορνεία, which goes to further show the weight of severity the word seems to carry. Later, in Matthew 9, Jesus repeats the same concept, even using the same word picture. In John 8, Jesus is accusing the people of seeking to kill Him and they reply by saying “we are not illegitimate children (πορνεία); we have one father: God.” In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul writes of his fear of mourning over those who have not repented of their πορνεία (immorality).

Other words related to πορνεία used in the NT (at least, those based off the word’s root) are πορνος, πορνευω, and πορνη. Throughout history (from early Greek literature to early Christian literature), the word does not seem to have undergone much change in definition. In earlier (classical) Greek, the word typically refers to prostitution, while in later Christian literature the word refers to adultery or sexual immorality, both categories under which the earlier translation of prostitution could easily rest.

Paul seems to use πορνεία almost exclusively as a general referance to sexual immorality. Once he also uses it as sexual sin, and once as immorality. However, the other 8 times he uses it in the general sense of sexual immorality, leading one to believe that πορνεία is not so much an issue of the hands but of the heart, since morality is of the heart. I have seen English translations which place πορνεία in only one category, primarily as translating it as either “adultery” or as “sexual immorality.” The general usage as “adultery” seems limiting and bland and thus I do not agree with it as a one-size-fits-all usage. However, the general usage as sexual immorality does seem to cover a wide ground and thus at least appears safe to do.

Sexual immorality, unchastity, fornication, prostitution, adultery, marital unfaithfulness, illegitimate children, immorality, and sexual sin are various ways that πορνεία has been used in Scripture, both the Septuagint and the New Testament. In my passage of focus, Epheians 5:1-12, πορνεία is used alongside πορνος to refer to sexual immorality and those who commit sexual immorality. I do believe that the best translation of πορνεία, as used in Ephesians 5:3, is “sexual immorality”, given its contextual association: “among you there must not even be a hint of πορνεία,” again leading one to conclude that it is more so an issue of the heart than that of the hands.

Bibliography

Balz, Horst, and Gerhard Schneider. Exegetical Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, 1990.

Brown, Colin. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.

Danker, Frederick William. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Liddell, Henry George, and Robert Scott. Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

—. Greek-English Lexicon. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1872.