The issue in the sermon was, is this passage even legitimate in the first place? It is missing in many manuscripts. The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary documents the many Greek and Aramaic manuscripts where this passage is missing, “It is wanting in the four oldest manuscript—the newly-discovered Codex Sinaiticus (‘Aleph (‘)), the Alexandrian Codex (A), the Codex Vaticanus (B), and the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C) – and in four other valuable Uncial manuscript, although two of these have a blank space, as if something had been left out; it is wanting also in upwards of 50 Cursive manuscripts: of ancient versions, it is wanting in the venerable Peshito Syriac and its Philoxenian revision, in one and probably both the Egyptian versions—the Thebaic and Memphitic-the Gothic, probably the Armenian, and two or three copies of the Old Latin: several of the fathers take no notice of it—as Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, Cyril, Chrysostom: it is wanting in the most ancient tables of the sectional contents of the Gospels, though afterward inserted as an additional section: the variations in the manuscript which insert it exceed in number and extent those in any other part of the New Testament: and of those manuscript which insert it, four Uncials and upwards of fifty Cursives have an asterisk or other critical mark attached to it, as subject to doubt or requiring investigation.

Is polygamy found in the Word? Yes. Is polygamy what Yahweh intended when He created a man and woman for marriage? No. Is polygamy how Yahweh defines a family? No. Did Yahweh give Adam more than one wife? No. Did he ever tell Adam he could have more later? No.

Genesis 2:24 defines marital boundaries: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Notice the singular “wife,” not “wives.” Yahweh never intended a man to have more than one wife.

What Yahweh may have allowed in the Old Testament (because of man’s hard heart) Yahshua raised the bar on in the New. Yahshua said even to look on a woman with lust is committing adultery, Matthew 5:28. How can lusting after another woman be adultery if additional wives are allowed?

The following passages are meaningless if Yahweh approves of polygamy:

• Matt. 19:9: “And I say unto you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery…” In Yahweh’s eyes the man is still married to the woman. But the sin of adultery is irrelevant if polygamy is sanctioned.

• 1Tim. 3:12: “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.”

Elders and deacons set the standard of behavior for the whole assembly. A key to that standard is one wife, a truth the next reference reinforces.

• 1Tim. 3:2: “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.” The limit of one wife per man is Yahweh’s prerequisite for sacred office and anything less disqualifies a man from pastoral positions.

The word fornication is a blanket term for illicit sexual intercourse in all its various forms. Adultery is fornication in a married state (Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature). These are sins as defined in the seventh commandment (Ex. 20:14 and 1Cor. 6:18-20). Fornication comes from five separate words in the Bible, two from the Hebrew and three from the Greek (zanah, taznuwth, porneia, porneuo, ekporneuo). These words all share similar connotations. They can mean illicit sexual relations between two unmarried persons. They can also mean adultery, whoredom, or a spiritual act of unfaithfulness in worship of Yahweh, as Israel committed being the betrothed of Yahweh.

The first time the word fornication is used in the Old Testament is in 2Chronicles 21:11. It is from the Hebrew Zanah (No. 2181 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary) and usually refers to prostitution. It is also defined in Strong’s as to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); zanah is used most frequently to signify spiritual prostitution or idolatry in worship.

The Complete Word Study Old Testament offers a more precise definition of fornication than Strong’s. It notes on p. 2312 in its Lexical Aid, “To fornicate, commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot, commit adultery; to apostatize, have intercourse with false g-ds or foreigners; to seduce. The main idea is to commit illicit sexual intercourse, particularly with women. However, this strong image is used in a figurative sense to describe illegal contact between Israel and other nations and their g-ds…”

*The second word translated fornication in the English is found once, in Ezekiel 16:29. It is the Hebrew taznuth (No. 8457) and means harlotry, idolatry.

*The third word translated fornication is the Greek porneia (No. 4202) and is first used in Matthew 5:32. It is defined in Strong’s as “from 4203; harlotry (incl. adultery and incest); fig. Idolatry: – fornication.” Porneia is used 32 times in the New Testament. The word fornication in Matthew 5:32 is often taken to denote an act of adultery, however an in-depth study will prove this understanding false, and confirm the true usage of this Greek word “porneia” in this particular passage, which is fornication, pre-material sex (RSB note). The Scriptures consider the betrothal or engagement period a virtual marriage (note that Joseph wanted to divorce Mary even though they were only betrothed, Matt. 1:19).

*The Greek porneuo is the fourth word translated fornication. It means to act the harlot and indulge in unlawful lust of either sex, or to practice idolatry.

*The fifth word translated fornication is the Greek ekporneuo and means to be utterly unchaste and implies excessive indulgence in illicit sex (Jude 7). It is porneuo on steroids.

In the fifth chapter of 1Corinthians Paul admonishes the Corinthian assembly to remove the sin that they were allowing in the assembly. One of the sins listed by the Apostle was a gentile committing “fornication” with his father’s wife. Now this is not what we consider fornication, but more accurately signifies incest with his stepmother.

In summation, fornication in either the Hebrew or Greek can have a wide range of definitions. It can mean literal fornication, adultery, harlotry, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, or any other sexual restriction that Yahweh has placed on mankind.