You have heard that it was said translates the same formula that is used to introduce verse 21, except that the phrase “to the men of old” does not appear here. According to Jewish law, the term “adultery” referred to sexual intercourse with the wife or the betrothed of a Jew. Both the commandment itself (Exo 20.14; Deut 5.18) and the Jewish interpretation of the commandment condemned adultery, because it involved the taking of another man’s wife. That is, it was considered the illicit use of another man’s property.

Many translators have used a word for adultery that is too broad for the Jewish use of the word. Either they have used a word that included all sexual relations between people not married to each other (really fornication), or they have used the word that would apply to such actions where at least one of the people involved was married, whether it was the woman or the man. This is the way the word is generally used in English today, for example. However, as we pointed out above, for the Jews, the word “adultery” was restricted to situations where the woman was married to someone else.

In those cases where the word normally used in the language is a general word for illicit sex, then translators can add the phrase “with a married woman” or “with someone else’s wife.” Or they can use the normal word for sexual relations and add the same phrase “with someone else’s wife.”

Translators must be sure that whatever word they use for sexual relations is acceptable in polite company. They must avoid words that would be shocking or offensive. Many languages use a euphemism such as “sleep with.”

Again, as in verse 21, a commandment is being cited. Shall is not being used as a simple future but marks an imperative.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .