μοιχαλίς

From the study of Matthew 16:4

Range of meaning

Literally "adulteress", a woman who breaks her marriage vow. In Jewish Greek it was also a standard image for a people's unfaithfulness to its God, pictured as a husband. Used as an adjective, as here, it means "adulterous" in that covenant sense: one partner in the relationship has betrayed the other.

Against the English

Every major English version says "adulterous", which is correct as a word. But modern readers usually take it literally, as if Jesus were accusing his questioners of sexual affairs. Nothing in Matthew 16 is about sexual behaviour. The issue is loyalty to God.

How it drifted

In everyday modern English, "adultery" is almost only about marriage and sex. The prophets' use of the marriage picture for the bond between God and Israel is unfamiliar to most readers, so the figure of speech gets read literally.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) uses μοιχαλίς for the unfaithful wife in Hosea 3:1 and for Jerusalem as an adulteress in Ezekiel 16:38 and 23:45. Behind it stands the prophets' long-running image: Hosea 1–3, Jeremiah 3:8–9 (Israel "committed adultery with stone and tree", meaning idols) and Isaiah 57:3. In the New Testament, Mark 8:38 has "this adulterous and sinful generation", and James 4:4 calls his readers "adulteresses" for making friends with the world. Both uses are clearly figurative.

From the study of James 4:4

Range of meaning

An adulterous woman, a wife who breaks faith with her husband. Used figuratively, from the prophets onward, for a people unfaithful to God, and also as an adjective meaning "adulterous" (as in "an adulterous generation").

Against the English

"Adulteresses" (BSB, NASB) keeps the feminine but can sound as if only women are meant, or as if James is accusing people of sexual affairs. "Adulterous people" (NIV, ESV) makes clear the whole group is addressed but loses the bride picture. "Adulterers and adulteresses" (KJV, WEB) comes from a later scribal expansion and steers readers toward literal adultery.

How it drifted

Scribes who missed the prophetic metaphor seem to have read it literally and added the masculine "adulterers" so that men were included. English Bibles that followed this text passed the literal reading on.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) uses it for Israel as an unfaithful wife in Hosea 3:1 and Ezekiel 16:38 and 23:45, part of the prophets' larger marriage picture (Hosea 1–3; Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16, 23). Jesus calls his contemporaries "an evil and adulterous generation" (γενεὰ… μοιχαλίς, Matthew 12:39; 16:4; Mark 8:38), with the same sense of covenant betrayal.

From the study of Mark 8:38

Range of meaning

Literally 'adulteress' (as a noun) or 'adulterous' (as an adjective). In biblical usage it is very often a metaphor for a people unfaithful to God, drawn from the prophets' picture of the covenant between God and Israel as a marriage.

Against the English

English 'adulterous' points first to sexual infidelity. Here the main point is religious disloyalty: a people that belongs to God but gives its loyalty elsewhere.

How it drifted

Once the prophetic marriage picture of the covenant is forgotten, readers take the word literally, as a comment on sexual morals.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea 1-3; Jeremiah 3:8-9 (Israel committed adultery 'with stone and tree', meaning idols); Ezekiel 16 and 23; Isaiah 57:3 ('offspring of an adulterer'). In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), moichalis is used for the unfaithful wife in Ezekiel 16:38 and 23:45. Jesus uses the phrase 'evil and adulterous generation' when he refuses to give a sign (Matthew 12:39; 16:4). James 4:4 calls friendship with the world 'adultery' against God.