Quote:
Originally Posted by Bond
Does the Bible really directly forbid pre-marital sex? If I recall the Bible forbids "sexual immorality," but this is a rather broad term that you could attach several different connotations to... not trying to make this into an enormous religious debate, just curious.
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Interesting question, I did some research.
Yes, it's called fornication and it's always been forbidden in the bible.
The Hebrew word for it was
zanah.
When Israelites got married, they needed to be virgins. After diner, they went inside and had sex for the first time (see for example Psalm 19:5).
As a proof of the woman's virginity, they needed to use a cloth to save blood traces. This could then be shown to proof she was a virgin (in case the man would start hating her and lie that she hadn't been a virgin). See Deuteronomy 22:13-21.
If people had broken the law by having sex before getting married, they didn't need to die, but they did have to get married. For life.
The Greek word for it was
porneia. Jesus mentioned it among murder, stealing, etc. (for example Matthew 15:19,20). Acts 15:19,20 says:
Hence my decision is not to trouble those from the nations who are turning to God, but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.
It's mentioned way more often than this.
So to answer your question, yes, the bible is pretty direct about it.
