[b-greek] RE: Why MOICOS?

From: Al Jacobson (abj@the-bridge.net)
Date: Thu May 03 2001 - 21:55:38 EDT


Bill:

You asked: "If she is divorced, then how is she another man's wife?" The
implicit assumption in your question may be the source of your difficulty.
That assumption is that "divorce" recognized by men is recognized by God.
But that is not necessarily true, is it? (I mean logic does not compel us
to that conclusion, given that premise.) Indeed, isn't that the point of
Jesus's statement? I mean if we accept the premise that the verse in fact
says what you thought it said, i.e., one who marries a divorced woman
MOICATAI, and if MOICATAI means "adultery" or "have intercourse with another
man's wife," (as your sources told you) then the logical conclusion from the
verse is that the woman is not divorced (or perhaps a better way to say it
is that she is still married), at least in God's eyes. In that case, there
is no logical inconsistency in the passage.

So is the conclusion above any less warranted than to conclude that the
sources you consulted have not recgonized the use Jesus made of the word
"MOICOS" (or MOICAW) in Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9?

-----Original Message-----
From: William Hale Boyd [mailto:wmhboyd@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 4:16 PM
To: Biblical Greek
Subject: [b-greek] Why MOICOS?


I have limited sources, but those I do have (Thayers, Vines & such like)
tell me that MOICOS is intercourse with another man's wife. Why then did
Jesus say, "Whoever marries a divorced woman MOICATAI?" If she is
divorced, then how is she another man's wife? and if she is NOT another
man's wife, then how is this MOICOS? So far my conclusion is that the
sources I consulted have not recgonized the use Jesus made of the word
"MOICOS" in Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9. Are there lexicons (sources)
that do? Is MOICOS always intercourse with another's spouse?

Another question: (along the same line)

I heard a story about an old Greek that borded up his unwed daughter in a
house with a horse until she died because she was guilty of MOICOS. If
she was unwed, how was this MOICOS? Could the MOICOS have been the
violation of the trust (or legal obligation) she had to her father to
remain a virgin until until her marriage? Does someone know the source
for this story?

Thanks,

William Boyd
Little Rock

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