Accusations of Adultery

In biblical law, the institution of marriage was protected by a categorical prohibition of adultery (Exod. 20:14; Deut. 5:17). However, we must turn to the various legal compilations in the Hebrew Bible for further insight into the jurisprudence of this apociictic censure. ¹ The collation of laws known as the Holiness Code (Lev. 17–26) is very strict as regards family purity. We are here interested in the catalogue of injunctions on sex and marriage as recorded in Lev. 20:10–21. Lev. 20:10 states the following case against adultery:

If a man commits adultery with a married woman, committing adultery with his kinsman’s wife, both the adulterer and adultress shall be killed. ²

But despite its explicit formulation, this statute does not explicate the circumstances under which such a law could be enforced. The requisite details are clearly stated in Deut. 22:22. This case is also included within a corpus of laws on sex and marriage (Deut. 22:13–29). It promulgates the law for adultery whensoever the perpetrators of said act are caught in flagrante delicto. As formulated, the crime is both a public and witnessed event. Laws addressed to the same social situation, with similar terminology, are known from cuneiform law from diverse periods and locales. ³ Deut. 22:22 states:

If a man is caught having intercourse with a married woman, both that man—who had intercourse with the woman—and that woman shall die. You must destroy evil from Israel. ⁴