FINDING THE MEANING AND REFERENCES OF GREEK WORDS — WITH FOCUS ON PORNEIA

THE MEANING AND REFERENCES OF THE WORDS NOMOS (“LAW”) AND THEOS (“GOD”) 

I use the word nomos (“law”) because it is a simple word and a good example. Below  are the definitions of “law” in three different lexicons:

A binding custom or practice of a community.[1]

A rule of conduct developed by the government or society over a certain territory.[2]

A rule, usually made by a government, that is used to order the way in which a society behaves:[3]

The precise wordings of the definitions are different, but the core meaning of them all is similar: A law is a rule or binding practice. I will now give some examples of the references of the word nomos(“law”) in the Christian Greek Scriptures. All quotations are taken from NWT84.

THE REFERENCES OF THE NOUN NOMOS (“LAW”) 

I use the following example of the references of nomos:

Luke 24:44

⁴⁴ He then said to them: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all the things written about me in the Law (nomos) of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled.”

John 10:34

³⁴ Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law (nomos), ‘I said: “You are gods”’?

Romans 3:27, 28

²⁷ Where, then, is the boasting? There is no place for it. Through what law (nomos)? That of works? No indeed, but through the law (nomos) of faith. ²⁸ For we consider that a man is declared righteous by faith apart from works of law (nomos).

Romans 7:21-25

²¹ I find, then, this law in my case: When I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. ²²I really delight in the law (nomos) of God according to the man I am within, ²³ but I see in my body another law (nomos) warring against the law (nomos) of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law (nomos) that is in my body.²⁴ Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death? ²⁵ Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, then, with my mind I myself am a slave to God’s law (nomos), but with my flesh to sin’s law (nomos).

Galatians 6:2

² Go on carrying the burdens of one another, and in this way you will fulfill the law (nomos) of the Christ.

Hebrews 10:16

¹⁶ “‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ says Jehovah. ‘I will put my laws (nomos) in their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.’”

James 1.25

²⁵ But the one who peers into the perfect law (nomos) that belongs to freedom and continues in it has become, not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; and he will be happy in what he does.

 Table 1.1 References of nomos (“law”)

Luke 24:44	The books of Moses.
Luke 10:34	The Hebrew Scriptures.
Romans 3:27	The rule of faith.
Romans 3:28	The books of Moses; the law of faith.
Romans 5:21-25	“Sin’s law” = inherited sin; “the law of my mind” = the conscience; “God’s law” = the Christian rules of faith.
Galatians 6:2	The law of Christ.
Hebrews 10:16	The Christian rules of faith.
James 1:25	The law of freedom.

The single meaning of nomos (“law”) is “a rule or a binding practice.” The references reflected in the above scriptural examples are different from the meaning, and table 1.1 identifies the different references of the Greek word nomos (“law”) used in those examples. It is important to note that none of these references are parts of the definition or core meaning of nomos. But they are the things in the world that are denoted or referred to by nomos.

For example, in Romans 5:23, we see the expressions “sin’s law,” which is inherited sin, and “the law of my mind,” which is the conscience. It is obvious that “inherited sin” and “the conscience” are not a part of the definition of nomos. But these expressions are references of nomos.

THE REFERENCES OF THE NOUN THEOS (“GOD”) 

The noun “god” is a familiar word to most persons, and instantly it means something to us. We can describe it by using the synonym “deity.” Because of our familiarity with it, this word is a particularly good example of the difference between meaning and reference.

Matthew 4:10

¹⁰  Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’”

John 10:34-36

³⁴  Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “You are gods”’? ³⁵ If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came—and yet the scripture cannot be nullified— ³⁶ do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?

Acts 7:39, 40

³⁹ Our forefathers refused to obey him, but they pushed him aside and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron: ‘Make gods for us to go ahead of us. For we do not know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt.’

Acts 14:11, 12

¹¹  When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in the Lyc·a·o’ni·an language: “The gods have become like humans and have come down to us!” ¹² And they started calling Bar’na·bas Zeus, but Paul Her’mes, since he was taking the lead in speaking.

Acts 17:23

²³ For instance, while passing along and carefully observing your objects of veneration, I found even an altar on which had been inscribed ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you are unknowingly worshipping, this I am declaring to you.

Acts 19:26

²⁶ Now you see and hear how, not only in Eph’e·susc but in nearly all the province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a considerable crowd and turned them to another opinion, saying that the gods made by hands are not really gods.

Acts 28:6

⁶ But they were expecting him to swell up or suddenly to drop dead. After they waited for a long time and saw that nothing bad happened to him, they changed their mind and began saying he was a god.

2 Corinthians 4:4

⁴ among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.

Philippians 3:19

¹⁹ Their end is destruction, and their god is their belly, and their glory is really their shame, and they have their minds on earthly things.

2 Thessalonians 2:4

⁴ He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god.

Table 1.2 References of theos (“god”)

Matthew 4:10	The Supreme Creator.
John 10:34-36	Humans (judges in Israel, Psalm 82:1).
Acts 7:39, 40	Carved statues.
Acts 14:11, 12	Gods believed to be living in the spiritual realm such as Zevs and Hermes.
Acts 17:23	An unknown god.
Acts 19:26	Molten statues.
Acts 28:6	A god.
2 Corinthians 4:4	Satan the Devil.
Philippians 3:19	The belly.
2 Thessalonians 2:4	So-called gods; the Supreme Creator; a god.

The list in table 1.2 is a good example of the difference between the meaning and references of a word. The core meaning of the word theos is a deity. However, as this Table shows, it refers to the Supreme Creator, to humans, to carved statues, to molten statues, to Satan, and even to the belly.

[1]. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/law.

[2]. https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-law-cs/introduction-to-law/various-definitions-of-law/.

[3]. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/law.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEANING AND REFERENCES OF THE GREEK WORD PORNEIA (“FORNICATION” = “ILLICIT SEXUAL INTERCOURSE”) AND MOIKHEIA (“ADULTERY”)

It is obvious that none of the references in table 1.2 is a part of the definition or meaning of theos.But they refer to something that can be revered or worshipped, and therefore each one can be called “god.” Clearly, grasping the difference between meaning and reference is important in understanding the meaning of the Greek word porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”) that existed in the minds of the native speakers who wrote the Christian Greek Scriptures versus the references to that word in Greek-English lexicons. The meaning of the Greek word porneia will be defined below.

THE SINGLE MEANING OF THE NOUN MOIKHEIA (“ADULTERY”) AND THE VERBS MOIKHAŌ AND MOIKHEUŌ (“TO COMMIT ADULTERY”)

The verb moikhaō (“to commit adultery”) occurs three times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. (Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11). And the verb moikheuō, with exactly the same meaning — it is only a dialectal variant — occurs 15 times. Below is the text of Matthew 5:32, and here we find both the verbs moikhaō and moikheuō as well as the substantive porneia (“fornication”):

³²  However, I say to YOU that everyone divorcing his wife, except on account of fornication (sexual immorality, NWT13) (porneia), makes her a subject for adultery (moikheuō), and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (moikhaō).[1]

It is important to realize, as I have shown above, that the lexical meaning of a word is not found in Greek-English lexicons but in the minds of native speakers of Greek. Greek-English lexicons contain English glosses of a particular word from Classical Greek and from the Christian Greek Scriptures. It is also important to realize that the meaning of a word and its references in Classical Greek often are different from the meaning and references in the Christian Greek Scriptures.

This difference has been expressed in the Watchtower literature. The Watchtower of February 15, 1989, page 10, shows that the meaning of a word may be different in Classical Greek compared with the Christian Greek Scriptures:

They heard a memorable speech by the Christian apostle Paul to the famous court of the Areopagus. He first reasoned on the existence of one God, the Creator, to whom all of us owe our life. This led to the logical conclusion that we are accountable to this God. At this point Paul declared: “God has overlooked the times of such ignorance [as of men’s worshiping idols], yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent.”​—Acts 17:30.

Frankly, repentance would be a startling concept for that audience. Why so? The ancient Greeks knew of repentance in the sense of feeling remorse over some deed or statement. As one dictionary points out, however, the word “never suggest[ed] an alteration in the total moral attitude, a profound change in life’s direction, a conversion which affects the whole of conduct.”

The only way to find the meaning of a Greek word in the Christian Greek Scriptures is to look at the context where this word occurs. The verbs moikhaō and moikheuō are translations of a Hebrew verb, and because of this, the meaning of these two verbs can be known with certainty.

Romans 13:9 (NWT13) says:

For the law code, “You must not commit adultery, you must not murder, you must not steal, you must not covet,” and whatever other commandment there is, is summed up in this saying: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

The English expression “commit adultery” is translated from the Greek verb moikheuō, and it is a quotation from Exodus 20:14, where the Hebrew verb nā’ap (“commit adultery”) is used.

In Israel in the time of Jesus, there was a difference in viewpoint regarding what situation warranted a Scriptural divorce — a woman’s committing adultery or a man’s committing adultery. But Jesus speaks of adultery in connection with a woman in Matthew 5:32 and in connection with a man in Matthew 19:9. So, in the Christian Greek Scriptures, there is no difference.

The meaning of the verbs moikheuō/moikhaō is clear from their contexts. Both verbs refer to a married person who has sexual intercourse with another person to whom he or she is not married.

THE SINGLE MEANING OF THE NOUN PORNEIA AND THE VERB PORNEUŌ AND THE REFERENCES 

In the last section, I showed that the noun moikheia and the verbs moikhaō and moikheuō have only one meaning and one reference, namely adultery, which is sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married. In this section, I will show that the noun porneia and the verb porneuō have one meaning and three references.

THE GOVERNING BODY’S ATTEMPT TO CHANGE THE MEANING AND REFERENCES OF PORNEIA 

The Christian Greek Scriptures of the New World Translation was published in 1950. Because more than 50 years had passed in the beginning of the 21st century, the English language had to some degree changed, and there was a need for a revision. The New World Translation that was published in 2013 (NWT13) can be viewed as a new translation rather than a revision of the NWT84. This is so, because the translators, under the guidance of the Governing Body, rejected all the basic translation principles that made NWT84 such and outstanding and accurate translation.

NWT13 does not render the subtleties and nuances of the original text to the English readers, as NWT84 did, and its renderings show that it is not an accurate translation of the original text. Moreover, the members of the Governing Body have, in several instances, read their viewpoints into the text. One example of this is the rendering of the word porneia. NWT84 renders porneia as “fornication,” while NWT13 renders the word as “sexual immorality.”

What is the semantic difference? Merriam-Webster defines “fornication” as “sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other”[2] This can be expressed by the words “illicit sexual intercourse.” Thus, NWT84 has the unambiguous rendering “fornication” for porneia. However, the rendering “sexual immorality” is ambiguous and can include a great number sexual actions in addition to “illicit sexual intercourse.” The Appendix 5A in NWT13 says:

5A “Fornication”—Every Kind of Unlawful Sexual Intercourse

Mt 5:32—Gr., πορνεία (por·neiʹa); Lat., for·ni·caʹti·o

The Greek word por·neiʹa covers a broad meaning. Bauer, p. 693, says under the word por·neiʹa that it means “prostitution, unchastity, fornication, of every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.”

Commenting on Jesus’ words in Mt 5:32 and Mt 19:9, TDNT, Vol. VI, p. 592, says that “πορνεία[por·neiʹa] refers to extra-marital intercourse.” Therefore, the Scriptures use the term por·neiʹa in connection with married persons. The same dictionary, on p. 594, in connection with Eph 5:3, 5, says that Paul “realises that not every one has the gift of continence, 1 C. 1Co 7:7. As a protection against the evil of fornication the [single] man who does not have [continence] should take the divinely prescribed way of a lawful marriage, 1 C. 1Co 7:2.” Hence, the Scriptures use the term por·neiʹa also in connection with unmarried persons engaging in unlawful sex relations and practices.—See 1Co 6:9.

F. Westcott, coeditor of the Westcott and Hort Greek text, in his work,Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians,London and New York, 1906, p. 76, comments on the various meanings of por·neiʹa in the Scriptures in a note on Eph 5:3, saying: “This is a general term for all unlawful intercourse, (I) adultery: Hos. ii. 2, 4(LXX.); Matt. v. 32; xix. 9; (2) unlawful marriage, I Cor. 5:1 v. I; (3) fornication, the common sense as here [Eph 5:3].” By “the common sense” evidently reference is made to the modern, limited, sense involving only unmarried persons.

In addition to this literal meaning, in certain places in the Christian Greek Scriptures por·neiʹa has a symbolic meaning. Concerning this meaning Zorell^Gr, col. 1106, says under por·neiʹa: “apostasy from the true faith, committed either entirely or partially, defection from the one true God Jahve to foreign gods [4Ki 2Ki 9:22; Jer 32:9; Ho 6:10 etc.; for God’s union with his people was considered like a kind of spiritual matrimony]: Re 14:8; 17:2, 4;18:3; 19:2.” (Brackets his; 4Ki in LXX corresponds to 2Ki in M.)

In the Greek text por·neiʹa occurs in the following 25 places: Mt 5:32; 15:19;19:9; Mr 7:21; Joh 8:41; Ac 15:20, 29; 21:25; 1Co 5:1, 1; 6:13, 18; 7:2; 2Co 12:21;Ga 5:19; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5; 1Th 4:3; Re 2:21; 9:21; 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3; 19:2.

It is interesting that the explanation of porneia in Appendix 5A fully supports the rendering “fornication” The heading has the words “unlawful sexual intercourse,” Two of the sources quoted have the same words, and the third source has “fornication” which is exactly the same. In view of this, the conclusion drawn at the end of paragraph 2 is not warranted: “Hence, the Scriptures use the term por·neiʹa also in connection with unmarried persons engaging in unlawful sex relations and practices.” This conclusion supports the ambiguous rendering “sexual immorality” in NWT13. But the three quoted authorities has the meaning “unlawful sexual intercourse” and not “unlawful sex relations and practices.” These words include more than the penetration of the penis, which is required for “sexual intercourse.” So the mentioned words mislead the readers.

In what follows, I will show that the contexts where porneia is used in the Christian Greek Scriptures show that porneia has one single meaning, namely “fornication” (“illicit sexual intercourse”).

EXAMPLES SHOWING THAT THE GREEK WORD PORNEIA HAS THE MEANING “FORNICATION” (“ILLICIT SEXUAL INTERCOURSE”)

Jesus spoke about marriage and divorce, and his words in Matthew 5:27, 28, 31, 32 show that porneia has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.”

²⁷ “You heard that it was said: ‘You must not commit adultery (moikheia).’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery (moikheuō) with her in his heart… ³¹ “Moreover, it was said: ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² However, I say to you that everyone divorcing his wife, except on account of fornication [sexual immorality, NWT13] (porneia), makes her a subject for adultery (moikheuō), and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (moikheia).

As I have shown above, the Greek word moikheia has the meaning “adultery,” which means sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married. And by applying the Greek word porneia to moikheia, Jesus shows that “adultery” is one of the references of porneia. Thus, the meaning of porneia is “illicit sexual intercourse.”

There is another example of the words of Jesus showing that the meaning of porneia and the corresponding verb porneuō is “illicit sexual intercourse.” This is the expression “one flesh.” The meaning of this expression can be seen in the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:5, 6 (above) and Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:16-18 (below):

⁵ and said: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’?  ⁶ So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together, let no man put apart.”

¹⁶ What! Do YOU not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? For, “The two,” says he, “will be one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ¹⁸ Flee from fornication [sexual immorality, NWT13] (porneia). Every other sin that a man may commit is outside his body, but he that practices fornication [sexual immorality, NWT13] (porneia) is sinning against his own body.

The key expression here is “one flesh,” and the study note for Matthew 19:5 in the online NWT13 says:

One flesh: The expression is a literal rendering into Greek of the Hebrew term at Ge 2:24 and could also be rendered “one body” or “one person.” It describes the closest bond possible between two humans. It not only refers to sexual relations but extends to the whole relationship, making the two individuals faithful and inseparable companions. Such a union cannot be broken up without damage to the partners bound by it.

These comments are excellent. The phrase “one flesh” refers to sexual intercourse and to the closest possible bond between two persons. On this background, I will discuss the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:16-18. I give a literal translation of these words.

¹⁶ Do you not know that anyone who is gluing together (kollaō) with a prostitute, he is one body with her? For it is being said “the two to one flesh will become.” ¹⁷ The one who is being glued to the Lord is one spirit with him.” ¹⁸ Flee from fornication (porneia)! Any sin that a man would do is outside the body. But the one who is practicing fornication (porneuō) is sinning against his own body.

The Greek word kollaō has the meaning “stick or cling to something” according to Louw and Nida, and “to glue or weld together,” according to Mounce. It is obvious that “gluing together” with a prostitute does not refer to the closest possible bond between the prostitute and the man. In this verse, the expressions “gluing together” and “the two to one flesh will become” can only refer to sexual intercourse, and this is connected with porneia two times in verse 18.

We can also see this in 1 Corinthians 10:8:

⁸ Neither let us practice fornication [sexual immorality, NWT13] (porneuō), as some of them committed fornication [sexual immorality, NWT13] (porneuō), only to fall, 23,000 of them in one day.

The Israelites were at the point of entering the promised land. But on the plains of Moab, Moabite women enticed Israelite men to have sexual intercourse with them. In this verse, the verb porneuō is used two times, and the situation shows that the verb has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.” There are three more verses where this is the meaning:

John 8:41:

⁴¹ YOU do the works of YOUR father.” They said to him: “We were not born from fornication (porneia); we have one Father, God.”

A person cannot be born without sexual intercourse between his father and his mother.

1 Corinthians 5:1

¹Actually fornication (porneia) is reported among YOU, and such fornication (porneia) as is not even among the nations, that a wife a certain [man] has of [his] father.

The man took his father’s wife, and this would include sexual intercourse between the two.

Revelation 2:14

¹⁴ “‘Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, that you have there those holding fast the teaching of Baʹlaam, who went teaching Baʹlak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication (porneuō).

Balaam was the one who suggested that the women from Moab should entice the men of Israel to have sexual intercourse with them. This is a reference to the situation mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:8, and there can be no doubt that porneia in this case has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.” . I include the six instances where porneia clearly means “illicit sexual intercourse” in Table 1:3.

Table 1.3 Passages where it is clear that the meaning of porneia is “illicit sexual intercourse”

Matthew 5:32	Adultery (moikheia) is a reference of porneia.
1 Corinthians 6:16-18	One flesh with a prostitute is poeneia.
1 Corinthians 10:8	Sexual intercourse on the plains of Moab is porneia.
John 8:41	The Jews were not born from fornication (porneia).
1 Corinthians 5:1	The man who took his father’s wife were guilty of poeneia.
Revelation 2:14	Balaam caused Isrelite men to commit fornication (porneia)

As the table shows, there are six passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures where the context shows that porneia has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.”  There are 19 more occurrences of the noun porneia and four occurrences of the verb porneuō. The passages where these words occur are listed below, and anyone can analyze the passages and see that porneia has no other meaning than “fornication.”

Matthew 15:19

¹⁹ For example, out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications (porneia), thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies.

Mark 7:21

²¹ for from inside, out of the heart of men, injurious reasonings issue forth: fornications (porneia), thieveries, murders.

Acts 15:20

²⁰ but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication (porneia) and from what is strangled and from blood.

Acts 15:29

²⁹ to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication (porneia). If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!”

Acts 21:25

²⁵ As for the believers from among the nations, we have sent out, rendering our decision that they should keep themselves from what is sacrificed to idols as well as from blood and what is strangled and from fornication (porneia).”

2 Corinthians 12:21

²¹ Perhaps, when I come again, my God might humiliate me among YOU, and I might mourn over many of those who formerly sinned but have not repented over their uncleanness and fornication (porneia) and loose conduct  that they have practiced.

Galatians 5:19

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and they are fornication (porneia), uncleanness, loose conduct.

Ephesians 5:3

³ Let fornication (porneia) and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among YOU, just as it befits holy people.

Colossians 3:5

⁵ Deaden, therefore, YOUR body members  that are upon the earth as respects fornication (porneia), uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

1. Thessalonians 4:3

³ For this is what God wills, the sanctifying of YOU, that YOU abstain from fornication (porneia).

Revelation 2:20

²⁰ “‘Nevertheless, I do hold [this] against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezʹe·bel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and misleads my slaves to commit fornication (poreuō) and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

Revelation 2:21

²¹ And I gave her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her fornication (porneia).

Revelation 9:21

²¹ and they did not repent of their murders nor of their spiritistic practices nor of their fornication (porneia) nor of their thefts.

Revelation 14:8

⁸ And another, a second angel, followed, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication (porneia)!”

Revelation 17:2

² with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication (poreuō), whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication (porneia).”

Revelation 17:4

⁴ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication (porneia).

Revelation 18:3

³ For because of the wine of the anger of her fornication all the nations have fallen [victim], and the kings of the earth committed fornication (porneuō) with her, and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameless luxury.”

Revelation 18:9

⁹ “And the kings of the earth who committed fornication (porneuō) with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her.

Revelation 19:20

² because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication (porneia), and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.”

Where porneia is listed together with other negative words without any context, its meaning cannot be known. This occurs in ten passages (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21; Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; Revelation 9:21). There are four examples of porneia and three examples of porneuō that are used in a symbolic sense in connection with Babylon the great (Revelation 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3, 9, and 19:20). In addittion to these passages, there are only two examples of porneia and one example of porneuō that do not belong to one of these two groups (1. Thessalonians 4:3, and Revelation 2:20, 21). And the contexts of these three passages do not tell us anything about the meaning of porneia or porneuō. So, we can only rely on the six examples where the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse” is clear.

The Greek word porneia has only one meaning but three references:

• Sexual intercourse with a married person and one to whom he or she is not married — Matthew 5:32:

32 However, I say to you that everyone divorcing his wife, except on account of fornication (porneia), makes her a subject for adultery (moikheuō), and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (moikhaō).

The words of Jesus show that “committing adultery” (moikheuō) is porneia.

• Sexual intercourse between unmarried persons — 1 Corinthians 7:2

² yet, because of prevalence of fornication (porneia), let each man have his own wife and each woman have her own husband.

The man Paul speaks about must have been unmarried, and he could be guilty of fornication (porneia).

• Jude 1:7 shows that sexual intercourse between homosexuals is porneia:

7 So too Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah and the cities about them, after they in the same manner as the foregoing ones had committed fornication [ gross sexual immorality, NWT13] (ekporneuō) excessively and gone out after flesh for unnatural use, are placed before [us] as a [warning] example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.

The Greek word ekpoeneuō have about the same meaning as the verb porneuō. We see that the homosexual actions that were performed in Sodom and Gomorra are classified as porneia.

Table 1.4 References of porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”)

Matthew 5:32	Sexual intercourse with a married person and and one to whom he or she is not married.
1 Corinthians 7:2	Sexual intercourse between unmarried persons.
Jude 7	Sexual intercourse between homosexuals.

This section has dealt with the meaning and references of the three Greek words nomos (“law”), theos (“god”) and porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”). Each word has on single meaning but several references. These references are listed in three tables. The Greek word nomos has ten references, the Greek word theos also has ten references. Bu the Greek word porneia has only three references. The similarity between the references of each word, is that they are construed on the basis of the use of each word in the Christian Greek Scriptures.

However, table 1.5 shows how the members of the Governing Body at different times have given porneia different meanings and references, and these have no basis in the Bible. Some of these even contradicts each other.

Table 1.5 Different definitions of porneia by the Governing Body

1956	Artificial insemination from another man than her husband.
1969	Bestiality is not porneia, but it is a disfellowshipping offense.
1970	The word porneia can possibly include homosexual acts.
1972, January	The word porneia does not include homosexual acts and bestiality.
1972, December	The word porneia includes homosexual acts.
1974	The word porneia can be applied inside marriage to anal an oral sex and other lewd practices performed by married persons. Such actions can lead to divorce and disfellowshipping.
1978	The word porneia cannot be applied inside marriage to anal an oral sex, and such actions cannot lead to divorce. However, one marriage mate can view sexual actions by the other mate so lewd that he or she defines them as porneia. On this basis, the married mate can rightly demand a divorce.
1978	No Scriptural instruction regarding sexual relations inside marriage exists. Only the married couple can decide how their sexual relations should be performed.
1983	The members of the Governing Body have decided that they have the right to make rules for sexual relations between married couples: While oral and anal sex by a married couple is not porneia, they are “perversions”. Such actions are not reasons for divorce, but they can still lead to disfellowshipping.
1983	The word porneia includes sexual relations between a human being and a beast.
1999	The word porneia includes oral and anal sex by unmarried persons and deliberate fondling of the genitals of a person to whom he or she is not married.
2018	The word porneia can include actions of fully clothed persons without any skin-to- skin contact.

The real problems with all unbiblical meanings of porneia that the members of the Governing Body at different times have ascribed to porneia, are that tens of thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been unjustly disfellowshipped because of these. In order to show the real meaning of the Greek word porneia based on God’s word, I have written three different articles on the meaning and references of porneia.

In the next section, I will discuss some of meanings and references the members of the Governing Body have ascribed to porneia.

[1] . https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fornication.

[2]. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fornication.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEFINITION OF PORNEIA IN THE SHEPHERD BOOK 

Dissolving the marriage and disfellowshipping are very serious actions. Therefore, we need to know exactly how Jehovah God views these actions. The only source of God’s thoughts is the Holy Bible, and I will now scrutinize the definition of porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”) in the Shepherd book in the light of the Bible. The following definition is given in chapter 12, point 3:

Por·nei’a involved immoral use of the genitals, whether in a natural or in a perverted way. There must have been another party to the immorality — a human of either sex or a beast…it includes oral sex, anal sex, and manipulation of the genitals between individuals not married to each other… Por·nei’a does not require skin-to-skin contact, copulation (as in penetration), or sexual climax.

The Watchtower of January 1, 1972, page 3, has a much narrower definition:

On the basis of the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus pointed out that a man and his wife became “one flesh,” and then added: “What God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Matt. 19:5, 6) Now, in homosexual acts the sex organs are used in an unnatural way, in a way for which they were never purposed. Two persons of the same sex are not complements of each other, as Adam and Eve were. They could never become “one flesh” in order to procreate. It might be added, in the case of human copulation with a beast, two different kinds of flesh are involved.

As I have shown above, in the Christian Greek Scriptures, porneia has only one meaning (“illicit sexual intercourse”) but three different references. By following the way from the narrow definition in 1972 to the wide definition in the 2023 quotations, we may learn something about the thoughts of the members of the Governing Body.

PORNEIA AND THE PROCREATION OF CHILDREN 

In 1972, the view was that porneia included an action where a married person became “one flesh” with a person to whom he or she was not married, and the reference was to sexual intercourse between these two persons. What was important in this situation?

One of the ten commandments was, “You must not commit adultery?” (Exodus 20:14) This commandment allowed sexual relations between a man and more than one woman. But the requirement was that the man must be married to the women with whom he had sexual relations.

Jesus implied that a Jew could have more than one wife and that he could divorce a wife albeit “out of regards for your hardheartedness.” (Matthew 19:8) But now this situation would be changed. The important point was not the sexual relations a man had with more than one woman. But the important point was marriage as a protection for the children that would be born in  such a union. What can we learn from this?

We can answer this question with a modern example. Why do the Christian Greek Scriptures stress marriage? In our modern world, more people live together with a partner to whom he or she is not married than those who live in wedlock. For example, some unmarried couples have written detailed contracts in connection with the rights of each partner, and with a number of things in connection with ownership and inheritance.

Thus, their relationship is legally regulated and is very similar to a marriage. Why cannot Christians accept such a close and legal relationship as comparable to and acceptable as a marriage? There is one important difference between the mentioned relationships and marriage. The two partners have not bound themselves to each other for their entire lives. But each partner can just walk away and leave the other without taking any legal steps as is necessary to terminate a marriage.

And the important point here is the children. The will of Jehovah God is that when children are born, they must grow up in a favorable environment with two parents that love them and have committed themselves to each other, and who will not leave each other. So, the basic reason why porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”) is bad in God’s eyes is the possibility of procreating and bringing children into a substandard environment. That was also the reason why sexual relations with more than one woman were allowed in Israel — it took place within the protective parameters of a binding marriage.

The points above are indirectly supported by The Watchtower of January 1, 1972, where we read:

It is broken only by acts that make an individual “one flesh” with a person of the opposite sex other than his or her legal marriage mate.

The view expressed here is that the only meaning of the word porneia is that a married person becomes “one flesh” with one of the opposite sex to whom he or she was not married or that two unmarried persons become one flesh with each other. In other words, porneia only refers to illicit sexual intercourse (“becoming one flesh”) with a person to whom he or she is not married. As I have demonstrated above, this is the only reference of porneia in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Only by becoming “one flesh” can children be procreated by sexual intercourse. Homosexual intercourse is included in the references of porneia because it mimics sexual intercourse between heterophile persons.

HOMOSEXUAL INTERCOURSE

For 27 years after World War II, the only definition of porneia was heterosexual intercourse with someone to whom a person was not married. In the latter part of 1972, homosexual acts were also defined as porneia, and in 1983, sexual relations between a human and a beast were also defined as porneia.

Homosexuals cannot procreate children. So, if the original basis for the law against porneia was that by becoming “one flesh” with a person of the other sex, children could be procreated, why does porneia also refer to homosexual acts? This is a logical question, and therefore, I perfectly understand the reasoning of the leading brothers in January of 1972, who did not initially view homosexual acts as being included in porneia, and therefore such acts were not reasons for divorce.

However, Jude refers to the homosexual actions of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah as porneia. Jude was inspired by God’s spirit, and therefore, we must accept that homosexual acts, together with adultery and sexual relations between unmarried persons can be referred to as “illicit sexual intercourse.”

One possible explanation for the reference to homosexual actions as “illicit sexual intercourse” may be that male homosexuals mimic the way heterosexuals act in order to procreate children. This would also indicate that to be porneia, the penis must penetrate the anus of a man just like the penis penetrates the vagina of a woman — sexual intercourse is defined as the penetration of the penis.

The recent strides in the homosexual community to categorize such unscriptural unions as legalized “marriages” and to adopt children shows just how far the parallel has been taken. The Creator intended for children to be raised by a male father and a female mother — not two fathers or two mothers. Therefore, homosexuality has, in many ways, disrupted the environment Jehovah meant children to be raised in by conceptually mimicking the “one flesh” bond of divine marriage. So even if they cannot procreate children in this way, their actions are disgusting and immoral in the eyes of God. But the really important point is that the inspired writer Jude referred to homosexual actions as “fornication.”

BESTIALITY 

What can we say about bestiality, that is, a human having sex with an animal? The Watchtower publications do not discuss bestiality from the Christian point of view before 1969.  The lexicon Aid To Bible Understanding (1969), page 217, says that bestiality is not included in porneia and is not a reason for divorce. But bestiality is a disfellowshipping offense, according to the lexicon.

Insight on the Scriptures I (1988), page 292, has about the same description of bestiality as the Aid-book has. But Insight includes bestiality in porneia:

Unnatural sexual intercourse of a man or a woman with an animal. The Mosaic Law emphatically condemned this perverted practice, sentencing the guilty person and the beast to death. “Where a man gives his seminal emission to a beast, he should be put to death without fail, and you should kill the beast. And where a woman approaches any beast to have a connection with it, you must kill the woman and the beast.”​—Le 20:15, 16; 18:23; Ex 22:19; De 27:21…

The depraved practice of bestiality is included in the Greek word por·neiʹa that is rendered “fornication.”(See FORNICATION.) Anyone indulging in such filthy practice is morally unclean, and if a member of the Christian congregation was to indulge in such a practice, that one would be subject to disfellowshipping.​—Eph 5:3; Col 3:5, 6.

Apart from Insight, bestiality is only discussed one time in the Watchtower literature between 1985 and 2023.

I do not deny that bestiality represents perverted and disgusting actions. But because I believe in the Bible as the sole authority for faith and worship, and God’s word does not say that bestiality is a reference of porneia or is a disfellowshipping offense, I cannot accept the conclusion of Insight. But what about the fact that persons who engaged in bestiality were put to death in Israel; does that not strongly suggest that under the Christian arrangement, a disfellowshipping for such is in order? It should be noted that there were many things that called for the death penalty under the Mosaic Law that would not be considered as disfellowshipping offenses today. For example, Numbers 15:32-35 presents a situation where a man collected wood on the Sabbath. Jehovah decreed that such a man “should be put to death without fail.” The Watchtower of September 1998, page 20, summarized how this account can be applied today.

This article shows that ‘setting Christian priorities’ can be likened to keeping the Sabbath back in ancient Israel. But would anyone reason that because of not keeping the Sabbath called for the death penalty in ancient Israel, this shows that neglecting spiritual priorities today must be a disfellowshipping offense? Of course not. Clearly, the death penalty under the Mosaic Law cannot be used as a signaling criterion for what should be a disfellowshipping offense under the Christian arrangement. Therefore, ‘in the absence of clear scriptural instruction,’ one who believes in the Bible, cannot accept bestiality as a reference of porneia and a disfellowshipping offense. This is something that the members of the Governing Body have invented.

MANIPULATION OF THE GENITALS OF A PERSON TO WHOM HE OR SHE IS NOT MARRIED 

While discussing this point, I will refer to the arguments in The Watchtower of January 1, 1972, page 31, that adultery meant to become “one flesh” by sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex to whom  he or she is not married.

However, The Watchtower of March 15, 1983, page 30, says:

And the Jerusalem governing body’s edict at Acts 15:29, “to keep abstaining . . . from fornication,” must be understood to have the wide field of application. So, then, “fornication” in the broad sense, and as used at Matthew 5:32 and Mt 19:9, evidently refers to a broad range of unlawful or illicit sex relations outside marriage. Porneia involves the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human (whether in a natural or a perverted way); also, there must have been another party to the immorality​—a human of either sex, or a beast. 

The manipulation of another person’s genital organs is not the same as the penetration of the penis, which is the definition of porneia. That such actions are references of porneia is pulled out of thin air. And to claim that porneia used in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 refers to “a broad range of unlawful or illicit sex relations outside marriage,” when the noun moikheia and the verb moikhaō in these verses show that Jesus speaks about sexual relations between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married, is the same as corrupting God’s word.

The fact that manipulation of another person’s genitals was not viewed as porneia for 38 years, from 1945 to 1983, supports the fact that this disfellowshipping offense was made up and invented by the members of the Governing Body.

PORNEIA WITHOUT SKIN-TO-SKIN  CONTACT 

This viewpoint is very far from the viewpoint in 1972 that adultery is sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married and that “fornication” is sexual intercourse with between two persons who are not married to each other. The new viewpoint is extreme, and the The Watchtower of November 2018, page 27, says:

Lap dancing is defined as “an activity in which a usually seminude performer sits and gyrates on the lap of a customer.” Depending on the facts of an actual situation, this could constitute sexual immorality requiring judicial action. A Christian who has taken part in such activity should seek help from the elders.​—Jas. 5:14, 15.

The Shepherd book for Elders 12.3 confirms the decision mentioned in The Watchtower:

Por·nei’a does not require skin-to-skin contact, copulation (as in penetration), or sexual climax.

Porneia without skin-to-skin contact means that a person is fully or partially clothed, and his or her hands are not manipulating the genitals of another person. But still, a disfellowshipping offense is indicated, supposedly because the movements are mimicking sexual relations between two persons. This new commandment is the same as making a caricature of God’s moral laws.

CONCLUSION

If we believe that the Bible is the only source for the true Christian faith, every doctrine must have a direct basis in the Scriptures. And passages and words that regulate the lives of Christians must be used in the sense that these words have in the Bible. This means that Christians must study the contexts in which important words occur, and ascertain the meaning of these words on the basis of these contexts. Unfortunately, the members of the Governing Body have not followed these procedures.

As the article shows in detail, there is a difference between the meaning and the references of a word. This was shown by the detailed discussion of the three words nomos (“law”), theos (“god”), and porneia. The members of the Governing Body have given porneia a meaning that is different from the meaning that we find in the Christian Greek Scriptures, and they have given the word more references (see table 1.5) than the three found in the Scriptures (see table 1.4). The result of this is that tens of thousands of Witnesses have been disfellowshipped on the basis of human commandments that have no basis in the Bible.