On 1 Corinthians 7:2 I think that translating it as “own” in both cases is accurate although a bit unclear. However, with Matthew 5:28 I believe you are correct. I’ll have to dig a little deeper, but it appears that the specific word “γυναῖκα”, the Greek word used in Matthew 5:28, is translated as a married woman everywhere else it’s used, unlike the word “γυνή” which is elsewhere translated as woman.
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On 1 Corinthians 7:2 I think that translating it as “own” in both cases is accurate although a bit unclear. However, with Matthew 5:28 I believe you are correct. I’ll have to dig a little deeper, but it appears that the specific word “γυναῖκα”, the Greek word used in Matthew 5:28, is translated as a married woman everywhere else it’s used, unlike the word “γυνή” which is elsewhere translated as woman.
Yes, you will see it in biblehub. It is true that in some places, it is translated "woman", but not in Matthew nor Mark's gospel, and many of the places that it has been translated "woman", it could have been and perhaps should have been translated "wife".
The passages where it is translated as woman, which is only a few times, each place seems to be talking about a married woman or wife.
The difficulty is the change in the meaning of words over time. There isn't a particular word in Hebrew or Greek Scripture for "wife" as we use that word today. The word γυναῖκα is the Feminine Accusative Singular of the word γυνή; referring to a particular woman, nothing more. It's always the context that gives us the understanding for the meaning of the word. In Matthew 5:27 Jesus says He is speaking about adultery so the meaning of the word γυναῖκα in verse 28 comes from the context of adultery. And only sexual activity involving a woman who belongs to another man constitutes adultery - even adultery of the heart. Cheers
This article below does a superb job going into a “deep dive” on 1 Corinthians 7:2:
Does 1 Corinthians 7:2 Make Husbands and Wives Sexual Equals?
1 Corinthians 7:2 is a verse that is commonly used to try and teach that God no longer allows polygamy in the New Testament and that husbands and wives mutually and exclusively own one another. So …
biblicalsexology.com
Here’s a small quote from it:
The difference between the Greek words heautou and idios is that heautou always means exclusive ownership and idios can mean exclusive ownership, shared ownership, shared access or even someone belonging to another.
For idios, the “context” in which the word is used is very important for determining its correct meaning.
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Yes I’ve noticed that. Almost each time the translators translated it correctly to wife elsewhere. The Greek has words that mean “woman.” So if the Holy Spirit wanted it could had used a word for “woman/female” in the Greek for Matthew 5:28. But the Holy Spirit used a Greek word that specially means “wife.” That’s the introduction to the Good News of the Gospel. Matthew is the first Gospel. And reading that - one may believe that all sexual lust is sin. Therefore - polygamy immediately becomes out of the question from the front gates. But correctly translating it to “wife” would keep the door open; especially in context of the scripture before Matthew (Old Testament).
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The KJV is heavily based off of the New Matthew Bible from Mr. Tyndale. William Tyndale wanted even a little boy doing labor work on a farm to be able to read scripture in English. And that cost him his life. I bought his New Matthew Bible on Amazon. It’s the only physical Bible I own with “wife” correctly translated in the New Testament for those certain passages. Definitely prefer the NMB over the KJV.
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You are incorrect, and need to read again what @frederick posted above. That word does not specifically mean "wife".
Exactly. If you think that means that the word always means "wife" you really aren't reading it correctly. It means woman, but is frequently used to refer to married women, which means it can mean either "wife" or "woman" depending on the context. Hence why the definition is explicitly stated to be "wife, woman", not just "wife".
To verify this, do read Thayer's more exhaustive definition also at the same source you're using, not just the brief Strong's definition:
For one obvious counter example, consider Matthew 14:21. Jesus fed 5000 men, besides "women" and children. The word "woman" is the same word "gyne" that we are discussing. Was every single adult female in that crowd a "wife", and no single or widowed women present at all? That would be highly unlikely. The word "gyne" is used here because it refers to all adult females, not just wives - in this case it truly does simply mean woman.
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14:21 οἱ δὲ ἐσθίοντες ἦσαν ἄνδρες ὡσεὶ πεντακισχίλιοι χωρὶς ~ γυναικῶν ~ καὶ παιδίων
5:28 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων ~ γυναῖκα ~ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ
It’s a different spelling or form of the word. The form of the word used in Matthew 5:28 is used 51 times in Scripture and seems to pretty much always be speaking of married or widowed (previously married) women. The form of the word used in Matthew 14:21 seems to almost always be used for women in the generic sense.
γυναῖκα vs. γυναικῶν
Yes of course. I find it extremely helpful though to be able to counter those who say that there are no translations out there, that use the word "woman" here. In the past I have always pointed out that every time that word is used [with that spelling of course], in Matthew's gospel, it is translated "wife" and can only be translated "wife". Trying to explain why the context here demands "wife" instead of "woman" is harder to accomplish in conversational settings, and it requires more typing, when presenting this in debate forums.
...and, @FollowingHim, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just curious as to why it is case that the different forms are used and why it seems like it is a bit of an anomaly to translate γυναῖκα as any “woman” and not wife, especially in the context of adultery.
I'm curious why every single translation chose "woman" instead of "wife?" With the lone case of the New Matthew Bible, and that person was hunted down, and persecuted to death. Why did the churches take such a strong stance against polygamy? But where is the enforced heterosexuality? If you're going to judge - judge accordingly. I don't see that. But I see a very strong bias towards enforced monogamy -- even to the point where they are going against the words of the Holy Spirit.
The devil knows what he's doing. Don't forget - the 12 sons of Jacob almost overthrew the entire population of Egypt (after a few hundred years). The pharaoh at the time was so alarmed by their growing population, that he ordered the baby boys (his future slave labor) to be thrown into the Nile river. I believe that the devil has deceived/tempted the church leaders to mis-translate the Holy Spirit's words in a few select places. If polygamy was allowed -- that's less women he can deceive, because they'd be under the godly husband's covering. If you limit godly men from marrying more than one wife = less women under the godly husband's covering = less options for the women. So many end up marrying un-godly men, or sleeping with a married woman's husband; which in many cases leads to divorce, and destruction of the family unit.
We haven't even closely examined 1 Corinthians 7:2.
The devil knows what he's doing. Don't forget - the 12 sons of Jacob almost overthrew the entire population of Egypt (after a few hundred years). The pharaoh at the time was so alarmed by their growing population, that he ordered the baby boys (his future slave labor) to be thrown into the Nile river. I believe that the devil has deceived/tempted the church leaders to mis-translate the Holy Spirit's words in a few select places. If polygamy was allowed -- that's less women he can deceive, because they'd be under the godly husband's covering. If you limit godly men from marrying more than one wife = less women under the godly husband's covering = less options for the women. So many end up marrying un-godly men, or sleeping with a married woman's husband; which in many cases leads to divorce, and destruction of the family unit.
We haven't even closely examined 1 Corinthians 7:2.
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1 Corinthians 7:2
The first thing you will notice is that there's a different word for "own" between the husband and wife. Why would the Holy Spirit use a different word for "own?" Let's investigate:
Matthew 9:1
You can see that the same word 'idios' is used above, and a town is 'shared access.' So many people can live in that town.
Another example from a different Gospel:
Romans 14:4
Once again - we see the same word 'idios.' Does a master have a right to just one servant? Or can he have more than one servant? Does Jesus just provide for one family? Or does he provide for many families? Is Jesus the master of just one family? Or is he the master of many families? So once again - idios can represent "shared access."
So the context is very important. How does the Holy Spirit define the relationship between the husband and wife?
1 Peter 3:5-6
So the Holy Spirit says the husband is the master in his own household. Therefore, it makes sense to use "idios" here to represent shared access, since the master can have more than one wife. So it should be translated as follows:
Every single translation that I've looked at completely ignored that the Holy Spirit chose different words for "own" between the husband and wife. At least with Matthew 5:28 I was able to find the New Matthew Bible that correctly translated it to "wife." If these are "scholars and distinguished language experts" how can they make such a mistake? I think we've already demonstrated Matthew 5:28 can not be a simple mis-understanding, or mistake. But these two mis-translations together demonstrate a strong bias for enforced monogamy, and clearly a lack of respect for what the Holy Spirit had the Apostles write in the original Greek.
The first thing you will notice is that there's a different word for "own" between the husband and wife. Why would the Holy Spirit use a different word for "own?" Let's investigate:
Matthew 9:1
You can see that the same word 'idios' is used above, and a town is 'shared access.' So many people can live in that town.
Another example from a different Gospel:
Does a person have exclusive rights to a country, or is a country 'shared access?'
Romans 14:4
Once again - we see the same word 'idios.' Does a master have a right to just one servant? Or can he have more than one servant? Does Jesus just provide for one family? Or does he provide for many families? Is Jesus the master of just one family? Or is he the master of many families? So once again - idios can represent "shared access."
So the context is very important. How does the Holy Spirit define the relationship between the husband and wife?
1 Peter 3:5-6
So the Holy Spirit says the husband is the master in his own household. Therefore, it makes sense to use "idios" here to represent shared access, since the master can have more than one wife. So it should be translated as follows:
Every single translation that I've looked at completely ignored that the Holy Spirit chose different words for "own" between the husband and wife. At least with Matthew 5:28 I was able to find the New Matthew Bible that correctly translated it to "wife." If these are "scholars and distinguished language experts" how can they make such a mistake? I think we've already demonstrated Matthew 5:28 can not be a simple mis-understanding, or mistake. But these two mis-translations together demonstrate a strong bias for enforced monogamy, and clearly a lack of respect for what the Holy Spirit had the Apostles write in the original Greek.
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It sure would be nice if the NMB had translated idios and heitous different!
Who knows -- maybe the very first edition of it did. But it was changed over time. But I agree - it would be nice to have at least one translation correctly translate 1 Corinthians 7:2. But if it was correctly translated -- enforced monogamy wouldn't have a leg to stand on. It would crumble to the ground like a tall stack of Jenga.
Praying and working for that day to come, but willing to wait until I get my second, as it is somewhat convenient that I have less competition out there for the time being.
Commitment ceremony is the way. Even if they allowed it - there’s zero guarantee it would be permanent. You’d just be on the government’s list for easy persecution if they reverse course. Do you want to be forced by the government to go to jail or go against Jesus and divorce the extra wives?
Greek adds suffixes to the ends of words, or varies the spelling of a word, to denote nuances of meaning, a lot more than English does. They're still the same word fundamentally.
Is the "accusative singular" form. Accusative meaning it is talking about a specific woman, and singular meaning one. So here Jesus is talking about a man looking at a "specific individual woman" to lust after. But instead of adding the words "specific individual", Greek adds some extra letters to the end which mean the same thing.
Is the "genitive plural" form. In this case, being "genitive" rather than "accusative" means it is refering to women existing out there in general but not focussing on a specific few women as the object of the conversation. So this means more generally just "multiple women".
Note that even in English the spelling of women / woman is changed to show the plural or singular, but it's still the same word with the same meaning. In Greek the spelling is also changed to denote "case" and gender. This is why the same word can be written so many different ways in Greek just to denote minor differences in how it is being used.
This is a complex issue which I am no expert in, and I am sure to have oversimplified it, but I hope that is helpful.