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Hebrews 13

Heb. 13:4 KJV (With Strong’s)

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4

Marriageb is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongersc and adulterers God will judge.*

b

Prov. 5:15‑23• (Prov. 5:15‑23)

c

1 Cor. 6:9• ⁹What! know ye not that unjust [men] shall not inherit God's kingdom? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of themselves as women, nor abusers of themselves with men, (1 Cor. 6:9)

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Rev. 22:15• ¹⁵Without {i}are{/i} the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and every one that loveth and practiceth a lie. (Rev. 22:15)

More on:

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God,

Marriage

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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Marriage.

Gen. 1:27‑28• (Gen. 1:27‑28)

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Gen. 2:21,24• (Gen. 2:21,24)

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Lev. 21:13‑15• (Lev. 21:13‑15)

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2 Kings 22:14• (2 Kings 22:14)

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Prov. 5:15‑23• (Prov. 5:15‑23)

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Isa. 8:3• (Isa. 8:3)

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1 Cor. 7:2‑16• ²but on account of fornications let each have his own wife and each have her own husband.
³To the wife let the husband render her due, and likewise also the wife to the husband.
⁴The wife hath not authority over her own body, but the husband; and likewise, also the husband hath not authority over his own body, but the wife.
⁵Defraud not one another, unless by consent for a time, that ye may have leisure for prayer and again be together, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency.
⁶But this I say by way of permission, not by way of command.
⁷Now I desire all men to be even as myself; but each hath his own gift of God, one this way, and another that.
⁸But I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them that they remain even as I.
⁹But if they have not continency let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.
¹⁰But to the married not I enjoin but the Lord, that wife be not separated from husband
¹¹(but if also she be separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband), and that husband leave not wife.
¹²But to the rest I say, not the Lord, if any brother hath an unbelieving wife, and she consent to dwell with him, let him not leave her;
¹³and a woman which hath an unbelieving husband, and he consenteth to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother; since then your children are unclean, but now are they holy.
¹⁵But if the unbelieving separateth himself, let him be separated. The brother or the sister is not in bondage in such [circumstances]: but God hath called us in peace.
¹⁶For what knowest thou, O wife, if thou shalt save thy husband? or what knowest thou, O husband, if thou shalt save thy wife? (1 Cor. 7:2‑16)

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1 Cor. 9:5• ⁵have we not title to take about a sister wife, as also the other apostles and the brethren of the Lord and Cephas? (1 Cor. 9:5)

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1 Tim. 3:2,4,12• ²The overseer therefore must be irreproachable, husband of one wife, temperate, sober, orderly, hospitable, apt to teach,
⁴one that ruleth well his own house, having children in subjection with all gravity,
¹²Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling [their] children and their own houses well; (1 Tim. 3:2,4,12)

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1 Tim. 5:14• ¹⁴I wish therefore that the younger marry, bear children, rule the house, give none occasion to the adversary for railing; (1 Tim. 5:14)

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Titus 1:6• ⁶If anyone is blameless, husband of one wife, having children faithful, not under charge of profligacy, or unruly. (Titus 1:6)

and the bed.

Heb. 12:16• ¹⁶lest [there be] any fornicator or profane one as Esau who for one meal sold his own birthright; (Heb. 12:16)

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1 Cor. 6:9• ⁹What! know ye not that unjust [men] shall not inherit God's kingdom? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of themselves as women, nor abusers of themselves with men, (1 Cor. 6:9)

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Gal. 5:19,21• ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness,
²¹envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revels, and things like these, as to which I forewarn you, even as also I forewarned, that they who do such things shall not inherit God's kingdom. (Gal. 5:19,21)

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Eph. 5:5• ⁵For this ye are aware of, knowing that no fornicator nor unclean nor covetous [person], who is an idolater, hath inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and God. (Eph. 5:5)

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Col. 3:5‑6• ⁵Put to death therefore your members that [are] on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
⁶on account of which things cometh the wrath of God [upon the sons of disobedience]: (Col. 3:5‑6)

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Rev. 22:15• ¹⁵Without {i}are{/i} the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and every one that loveth and practiceth a lie. (Rev. 22:15)

God.

Psa. 50:16‑22• (Psa. 50:16‑22)

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Mal. 3:5• (Mal. 3:5)

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1 Cor. 5:13• ¹³But those without God judgeth. Put out the wicked person from among yourselves. (1 Cor. 5:13)

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2 Cor. 5:10• ¹⁰For we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each may receive the things [done] in the body according to what he did, whether good or evil. (2 Cor. 5:10)

• it is in no way a certificate of respectability which all people possess because they are in wedlock, but a solemn charge to married saints that their use of the relationship be thus pleasing to the Lord in every detail. (“Hebrews 13:1-6” by W. Kelly)

• Every violation of holiness or of the marriage tie will meet with judgment, either governmental or eternal. (“Outside the Camp: Hebrews 13” by H. Smith)

J. N. Darby Translation

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Let marriage be held every way in honourk, and the bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers will God judge.

JND Translation Notes

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k

Or "Let marriage be held in honour amongst all." The expression does not mean simply that the marriage tie is to be respected when in it, and kept pure, but that the tie itself was to be held in honour. In purity of walk that was done by the married no doubt, but not in every case.

W. Kelly Translation

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[Be] marriagea in all [thingsb] held in honour, and the bed undefiledc; butd fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

WK Translation Notes

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a

The KJV is faulty in two respects. It is not a mere affirmative sentence stamping the relationship with dignity, but an exhortation in the imperative calling us to carry it on worthily, and to guard it from all taint of unchastity or impureness. And we are bid to set it in honor; not in this respect or in that, but "in all things." To say it is honorable "in all men" overlooks, if it does not destroy, the force of the scripture for the Christian’s conscience.

b

The true rendering is, Let marriage be honorable (not "among all" as the Revisers say, but) "in all things," and the bed be undefiled. The construction is alike before and after. It is an injunction, not an affirmation. The masculine sense, though popular among Protestants, is here harsh in construction and can hardly be laid down absolutely if we bear in mind {vi 128489}{/vi}.

c

The imperative is right, and "undefiled" is a predicate as "in honor."

d

Or, "for."