![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joshua-Schachterle-Bart-Ehrman-Author-1-1.png\" "\\"Joshua")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Written by Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D<\/a><\/p>\n Author | \u00a0Professor | Scholar<\/p>\n Author | \u00a0Professor | BE Contributor<\/p>\n Verified! \u00a0See our editorial guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n Verified! \u00a0See our guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n\nDate written: May 5th, 2026\n\nDate written: May 5th, 2026\n Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p>\n What does the Bible say about lust? Does it treat it the same as other types of temptation? For many modern readers, the word immediately brings to mind sexual desire, often in a negative, or even shameful, sense. But the biblical picture is far more nuanced, ultimately prompting us to ask a question: when the Bible warns against lust, is it condemning a specific kind of desire, or something deeper within the human heart?<\/strong><\/p>\n To answer that, we need to look beyond modern definitions and explore how the concept of lust is used throughout Scripture. By examining both the Hebrew and Greek terms behind the word, as well as key passages in the Old and New Testaments, we can better understand what is actually being prohibited\u2014and why.<\/p>\n In its oldest English form, the word lust simply meant \u201cdesire, appetite, or inclination.\u201d<\/strong> This could include, but was not limited to, sex. We still see this meaning in modern phrases like \u201clust for life,\u201d which simply means a strong desire to live life fully. However, over time, the meaning of lust became more limited in English, and now most of us associate the word only with sexual desire. Is that limited meaning common to the Bible as well?<\/p>\n Actually, if we\u2019re going to look into what the Bible says about lust, we\u2019ll need to dig further into what it means, both now, and in the ancient languages in which the Bible was written. Since the Old Testament was written almost entirely in Hebrew (with a smidgen of Aramaic thrown in), let\u2019s begin there.<\/p>\n In Hebrew, the main verb translated as lust is \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f, a word that generally means \u201cdesire,\u201d and thus applies not only to sexual topics but to anything desirable. As we\u2019ll see below, \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f is applied to many different objects in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n The same is true in the New Testament<\/a>, where the Greek verb for lust is epithume\u00f3, a word which simply means \u201cto long for or desire.\u201d Where does it say that this word solely applies to sex? It doesn’t. Can it apply to sex? Of course. Does it have to apply to sex? No.<\/p>\n Keep these broader meanings in mind as we look at what the Bible says about lust and what is actually prohibited.<\/p>\n In the Old Testament, where does it say there are specific situations where someone may show lust? We first see this word used in the Ten Commandments, specifically in Exodus 20:17:<\/p>\n You shall not covet [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] your neighbor\u2019s house; you shall not covet [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] your neighbor\u2019s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.<\/p>\n Here, we see the general meaning of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f as covet or desire. While lusting for your neighbor\u2019s wife probably does include a sexual element, lusting for your neighbor\u2019s ox probably doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n In fact, most of the uses of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f in the Hebrew Bible refer to a strong desire for material objects rather than sex. Most of the time, this is not translated as \u201clust\u201d but rather as \u201ccovet.\u201d<\/p>\n The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God (Deut 7:25).<\/p>\n Given all the uses of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f as coveting, we see that it usually refers not only to sex, but more generally to greed<\/strong>. One can certainly be greedy for sex as one can be greedy for money, but it seems that the Old Testament<\/a> does not make a big distinction between these two inner inclinations. It does distinguish, however, between physical acts of greed (like theft) and physical acts of lust (like fornication or adultery), but the inner disposition that leads to those acts seems to be one and the same.<\/p>\n There is, however, an example of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f used in a sexual context in Proverbs 6:23\u201325:<\/p>\n For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, Note that even though the context here is sexual, the verses are not talking about any woman but \u201cthe wife of another.\u201d In the commandment not to covet someone else\u2019s wife from Exodus, the wife is listed among possessions, just like a house and livestock. In other words, even in a sexual context, \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f can be associated more broadly with avarice than with sexual desire as such.<\/p>\n Remember that the Greek word for lust is epithume\u00f3, a word that, like \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f, simply means to desire. So where does it say that sexual lust is forbidden? It\u2019s addressed directly by Jesus in Matthew 5:27-28<\/p>\n You have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall not commit adultery.\u2019 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust [epithym\u0113sai] has already committed adultery with her in his heart.<\/p>\n From the context, there is no doubt that Jesus is referring here to our modern usage of lust as sexual desire or lust of the flesh. Rather than simply condemn the physical acts of fornication or adultery, Jesus here actually condemns the inner inclination that precedes those acts. This is a radical statement, requiring men to somehow prevent lustful thoughts from even arising.<\/p>\n This verse explains, for example, how Catholicism views lust<\/a>. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2351<\/a>, it says that \u201cLust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.\u201d In other words, sexual activity is to be used for procreation and to bring a married couple closer to each other. Any other inner disposition which might lead to extramarital sexual activity of any kind is considered sinful.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the New Testament, Paul<\/a> refers to the lust of the flesh explicitly in 1 Thessalonians 4:3\u20135, where he is discussing God\u2019s will in relation to sex:<\/p>\n For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful [epithymias] passion, like the gentiles who do not know God;<\/p>\n Note that Paul is not condemning lust in general\u2014he knows that all people experience it\u2014 but he is condemning \u201csexual immortality,\u201d or porneias in Greek<\/strong>. This Greek word was applied to any act deemed sexually sinful but certainly applied to sex outside of marriage in Christian writings. David Fox Sandmel, writing in the Jewish Annotated New Testament<\/a>, clarifies that the importance of maintaining sexual purity in Paul\u2019s opinion is to \u201cset themselves apart from non-believers.\u201d<\/p>\n What does the Bible say about sex before marriage? In 1 Corinthians 7:1\u20133, Paul has a clear answer for this question:<\/p>\n (Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!<\/em>)<\/p>\n Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: \u201cIt is good for a man not to touch a woman.\u201d But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife what is due her and likewise the wife to her husband.<\/strong><\/p>\n Interestingly, Paul acknowledges that because it\u2019s almost impossible to suppress lust entirely, it\u2019s better to channel it into marriage.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, an interesting use of a form of epithume\u00f3, one in which the meaning is a general desire but certainly could be applied to sexual desire, is found in James 4:1\u20132:<\/p>\n Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something [epithymeite] and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet [z\u0113loute] something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts\u2026<\/p>\n In this case, the author is not concerned at all about the specific object of desire\u2014it could be a mere thing, or it could be a person as in the modern notion of lust. Instead, he is concerned that a strong desire for anything causes conflicts and thus leads to other sins. Incidentally, the word translated as \u201ccovet\u201d here\u2014 z\u0113loute\u2014means \u201cto envy.\u201d When it comes to the Ten Commandments in the Greek Old Testament (known as the Septuagint), however, the word for covet is epithymiseis, another form of epithume\u00f3.<\/p>\n Most other NT verses about sexual immorality deal directly with sexual acts outside of marriage, not with the inclination that causes them<\/strong> (see 1 Cor 6:12\u201313 and 1 Cor 6:18\u201320). It\u2019s abundantly clear in context, however, when epithume\u00f3 refers to sexual lust and when it refers to strong desire or greed more generally. Again, we\u2019re left with the impression that while acts of sexual immorality, porneia, and acts of greed like theft, klept\u014d, are condemned separately, the inclinations that drive them\u2014strong desire\u2014are viewed as one and the same.<\/p>\n DID PAUL AND JESUS HAVE THE SAME RELIGION?<\/p>\n Jesus taught a message of repentance to prepare for the Kingdom of God while Paul taught faith in Jesus. \u00a0Did they agree?\u00a0 Should they be considered the \u201cco-founders\u201d of Christianity?<\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default Palette”,”value”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”,”hsl”:{“h”:26,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.5667}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ LEARN MORE<\/strong> <\/a> Unsurprisingly, Jewish tradition after the Hebrew Bible has continued to prohibit extramarital sex. Lust outside of marriage was classified by the rabbis as yetzer hara, usually translated as \u201cevil inclination.\u201d It is the tendency to misuse what we need to survive. The yetzer hara can thus turn the natural need for food into gluttony or the natural inclination to procreate into promiscuity. This means that sexual lust is not classified as explicitly sinful unless it is followed by a forbidden sexual act.<\/p>\n For this reason, Rabbi Michael Gold<\/a> writes that<\/p>\n The rabbis of the talmudic era also laid down strict rulings regarding modesty and the separation of the sexes. The intermingling of the sexes in public, even in synagogue, was frowned upon. A man and a woman unrelated by blood or marriage were not permitted yihud, being alone together in private.<\/p>\n In other words, by separating the sexes and maintaining modesty, the rabbis hoped to avoid the occurrence of extramarital relations when the yetzer hara attempted to turn lustful thoughts into unlawful actions. Gold writes that all forms of modern Judaism maintain the prohibition on sexual activity outside of marriage.<\/p>\n The Quran warns about controlling lust before it results in a harmful action, that is, sexual activity outside of marriage. For instance, Quran 24:30<\/a> says<\/p>\n \u02f9O Prophet!\u02fa Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do.<\/p>\n Notice two factors here: Men are ordered not to allow the sight of an attractive woman to trick them into unchastity, but they are also warned that Allah is always watching. For women, as for most ancient religions, the instructions involve dressing with modesty so as not to excite the men, seen here in Quran 24:31<\/a>:<\/p>\n And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments except what normally appears. Let them draw their veils over their chests, and not reveal their \u02f9hidden\u02fa adornments except to their husbands, their fathers, their fathers-in-law, their sons, their stepsons, their brothers, their brothers\u2019 sons or sisters\u2019 sons, their fellow women, those \u02f9bondwomen\u02fa in their possession, male attendants with no desire, or children who are still unaware of women\u2019s nakedness.<\/p>\n For both men and women, the Quran recognizes that once lust has been stirred up within a person, an unlawful act may easily follow. For this reason, there is a hadith, one of a collection of traditions and sayings of the prophet Muhammad, in which Muhammad tells his cousin Ali<\/p>\n “O ‘Ali! Do not follow a look with a look, the first is for you, but the next is not for you.”<\/p>\n That is, a first look at an attractive woman is permissible but a second look, allowing lustful inclination to increase, is not.<\/p>\n In one of the best-known Hindu scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita, there are several warnings about the dangers of lust, both as sexual desire and desire in general. For example, in BG 3.37<\/a>, we read<\/p>\n The Supreme Lord said: It is lust alone, which is born of contact with the mode of passion, and later transformed into anger. Know this as the sinful, all-devouring enemy in the world.<\/p>\n The Bhagavad Gita was written in an ancient Indian language called Sanskrit. In that language, the word k\u0101m can mean either sexual lust or merely a strong desire<\/strong>, much like the words for these concepts in Hebrew and Greek we discussed above. It is interesting, though, to see how this strong desire, sexual or otherwise, is also seen in the Bhagavad Gita as the beginning of anger, which is considered an even more serious probelm. There is a similarity here to the passage in James above which identified desire with conflict.<\/p>\n Another Bhagavad Gita passage (2.62<\/a>) emphasizes this connection between lust and anger:<\/p>\n While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. Attachment leads to desire, and from desire arises anger.<\/p>\n A commentary on this verse<\/a> notes that \u201canger, greed, lust, etc. are considered in the Vedic scriptures as m\u0101nas rog, or diseases of the mind.\u201d The list above then, from attachment to desire to anger, reads like an etiology of these \u201cdiseases.\u201d<\/p>\n In a final passage from BG 3.39<\/a>, we read that<\/p>\n The knowledge of even the most discerning gets covered by this perpetual enemy in the form of insatiable desire, which is never satisfied and burns like fire, O son of Kunti.<\/p>\n While again, desire here means any strong desire, this passage specifically emphasizes how even wise people lose their wisdom when their minds\/hearts are overtaken by strong desires.<\/p>\n As something most humans experience in their lives, lust is a complicated topic. L While most religions clearly state that sex is only permitted within the bonds of marriage, lust, as an inner inclination, is more difficult to legislate.<\/p>\n What does the Bible say about lust? Most of the ancient languages discussed in this article make no explicit distinction between sexual lust and other strong inner desires, using one word for both. In other words, as an inner tendency, lust for sex and a strong desire for money come from the same place. However, in the prohibited acts that such tendencies encourage, a distinction is definitely made.<\/p>\n In the Hebrew Bible, for instance, the word for lust is often used to mean coveting\u2014that is, wanting what someone else has. In other places, such as the warnings against promiscuous women in Proverbs, the meaning is more explicitly sexual, although even there, many of the warnings are about taking the wife of another man.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in one of Jesus\u2019 best-known sayings from the Sermon on the Mount, he equates lust with adultery. While it\u2019s hard to imagine that he thought the two entirely equal, it\u2019s likely that he meant to encourage his followers to guard their thoughts as well as their actions.<\/p>\n Finally, it\u2019s clear that in other world religions, such as Islam and Hinduism, the same prohibitions on extramarital sexual involvements apply, prohibitions which also encourage curbing inner desires. While in some cases the reasons for these differ from each other, in practice, requirements of fidelity and chastity look quite similar across traditions.<\/p>\n NOW AVAILABLE!<\/p>\n In The Beginning\u2122 – History, Legend, & Myth in Genesis<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n In Part One of Bart’s new “How Scholars Read the Bible” Series, dive into the stories of the first book of the Bible from a historical perspective.<\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default Palette”,”value”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”,”hsl”:{“h”:26,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.5667}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ LEARN MORE<\/strong> <\/a> What Does the Bible Say About Lust? Written by Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D Author | \u00a0Professor | Scholar Author | \u00a0Professor | BE Contributor Verified! \u00a0See our editorial guidelines Verified! \u00a0See our guidelines Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – Dr. Bart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":25069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":" Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p><\/div> What does the Bible say about lust? Does it treat it the same as other types of temptation? For many modern readers, the word immediately brings to mind sexual desire, often in a negative, or even shameful, sense. But the biblical picture is far more nuanced, ultimately prompting us to ask a question: when the Bible warns against lust, is it condemning a specific kind of desire, or something deeper within the human heart?<\/strong><\/p> To answer that, we need to look beyond modern definitions and explore how the concept of lust is used throughout Scripture. By examining both the Hebrew and Greek terms behind the word, as well as key passages in the Old and New Testaments, we can better understand what is actually being prohibited\u2014and why. <\/strong><\/p><\/div> In its oldest English form, the word lust simply meant \u201cdesire, appetite, or inclination.\u201d<\/strong> This could include, but was not limited to, sex. We still see this meaning in modern phrases like \u201clust for life,\u201d which simply means a strong desire to live life fully. However, over time, the meaning of lust became more limited in English, and now most of us associate the word only with sexual desire. Is that limited meaning common to the Bible as well?<\/p> Actually, if we\u2019re going to look into what the Bible says about lust, we\u2019ll need to dig further into what it means, both now, and in the ancient languages in which the Bible was written. Since the Old Testament was written almost entirely in Hebrew (with a smidgen of Aramaic thrown in), let\u2019s begin there.<\/p> In Hebrew, the main verb translated as lust is \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f, a word that generally means \u201cdesire,\u201d and thus applies not only to sexual topics but to anything desirable. As we\u2019ll see below, \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f is applied to many different objects in the Old Testament.<\/p> The same is true in the New Testament<\/a>, where the Greek verb for lust is epithume\u00f3, a word which simply means \u201cto long for or desire.\u201d Where does it say that this word solely applies to sex? It doesn't. Can it apply to sex? Of course. Does it have to apply to sex? No.<\/p> Keep these broader meanings in mind as we look at what the Bible says about lust and what is actually prohibited.<\/p><\/div> In the Old Testament, where does it say there are specific situations where someone may show lust? We first see this word used in the Ten Commandments, specifically in Exodus 20:17:<\/p><\/div> You shall not covet [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] your neighbor\u2019s house; you shall not covet [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] your neighbor\u2019s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> Here, we see the general meaning of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f as covet or desire. While lusting for your neighbor\u2019s wife probably does include a sexual element, lusting for your neighbor\u2019s ox probably doesn\u2019t.<\/p> In fact, most of the uses of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f in the Hebrew Bible refer to a strong desire for material objects rather than sex. Most of the time, this is not translated as \u201clust\u201d but rather as \u201ccovet.\u201d<\/p><\/div> The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God (Deut 7:25).<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> Given all the uses of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f as coveting, we see that it usually refers not only to sex, but more generally to greed<\/strong>. One can certainly be greedy for sex as one can be greedy for money, but it seems that the Old Testament<\/a> does not make a big distinction between these two inner inclinations. It does distinguish, however, between physical acts of greed (like theft) and physical acts of lust (like fornication or adultery), but the inner disposition that leads to those acts seems to be one and the same.<\/p> There is, however, an example of \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f used in a sexual context in Proverbs 6:23\u201325: <\/p><\/div> For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, Note that even though the context here is sexual, the verses are not talking about any woman but \u201cthe wife of another.\u201d In the commandment not to covet someone else\u2019s wife from Exodus, the wife is listed among possessions, just like a house and livestock. In other words, even in a sexual context, \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f can be associated more broadly with avarice than with sexual desire as such.<\/p><\/div> Remember that the Greek word for lust is epithume\u00f3, a word that, like \u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f, simply means to desire. So where does it say that sexual lust is forbidden? It\u2019s addressed directly by Jesus in Matthew 5:27-28<\/p><\/div> You have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall not commit adultery.\u2019 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust [epithym\u0113sai] has already committed adultery with her in his heart.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> From the context, there is no doubt that Jesus is referring here to our modern usage of lust as sexual desire or lust of the flesh. Rather than simply condemn the physical acts of fornication or adultery, Jesus here actually condemns the inner inclination that precedes those acts. This is a radical statement, requiring men to somehow prevent lustful thoughts from even arising.<\/p> This verse explains, for example, how Catholicism views lust<\/a>. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2351<\/a>, it says that \u201cLust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.\u201d In other words, sexual activity is to be used for procreation and to bring a married couple closer to each other. Any other inner disposition which might lead to extramarital sexual activity of any kind is considered sinful.<\/p> Elsewhere in the New Testament, Paul<\/a> refers to the lust of the flesh explicitly in 1 Thessalonians 4:3\u20135, where he is discussing God\u2019s will in relation to sex:<\/p><\/div> For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful [epithymias] passion, like the gentiles who do not know God;<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> Note that Paul is not condemning lust in general\u2014he knows that all people experience it\u2014 but he is condemning \u201csexual immortality,\u201d or porneias in Greek<\/strong>. This Greek word was applied to any act deemed sexually sinful but certainly applied to sex outside of marriage in Christian writings. David Fox Sandmel, writing in the Jewish Annotated New Testament<\/a>, clarifies that the importance of maintaining sexual purity in Paul\u2019s opinion is to \u201cset themselves apart from non-believers.\u201d<\/p> What does the Bible say about sex before marriage? In 1 Corinthians 7:1\u20133, Paul has a clear answer for this question:<\/p><\/div> (Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!<\/em>)<\/p><\/div> Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: \u201cIt is good for a man not to touch a woman.\u201d But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife what is due her and likewise the wife to her husband.<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> Interestingly, Paul acknowledges that because it\u2019s almost impossible to suppress lust entirely, it\u2019s better to channel it into marriage.<\/p> Meanwhile, an interesting use of a form of epithume\u00f3, one in which the meaning is a general desire but certainly could be applied to sexual desire, is found in James 4:1\u20132:<\/p><\/div> Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something [epithymeite] and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet [z\u0113loute] something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts\u2026<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> In this case, the author is not concerned at all about the specific object of desire\u2014it could be a mere thing, or it could be a person as in the modern notion of lust. Instead, he is concerned that a strong desire for anything causes conflicts and thus leads to other sins. Incidentally, the word translated as \u201ccovet\u201d here\u2014 z\u0113loute\u2014means \u201cto envy.\u201d When it comes to the Ten Commandments in the Greek Old Testament (known as the Septuagint), however, the word for covet is epithymiseis, another form of epithume\u00f3.<\/p> Most other NT verses about sexual immorality deal directly with sexual acts outside of marriage, not with the inclination that causes them<\/strong> (see 1 Cor 6:12\u201313 and 1 Cor 6:18\u201320). It\u2019s abundantly clear in context, however, when epithume\u00f3 refers to sexual lust and when it refers to strong desire or greed more generally. Again, we\u2019re left with the impression that while acts of sexual immorality, porneia, and acts of greed like theft, klept\u014d, are condemned separately, the inclinations that drive them\u2014strong desire\u2014are viewed as one and the same.<\/p><\/div> Unsurprisingly, Jewish tradition after the Hebrew Bible has continued to prohibit extramarital sex. Lust outside of marriage was classified by the rabbis as yetzer hara, usually translated as \u201cevil inclination.\u201d It is the tendency to misuse what we need to survive. The yetzer hara can thus turn the natural need for food into gluttony or the natural inclination to procreate into promiscuity. This means that sexual lust is not classified as explicitly sinful unless it is followed by a forbidden sexual act.<\/p> For this reason, Rabbi Michael Gold<\/a> writes that<\/p><\/div>![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/What-Does-the-Bible-Say-About-Lust.png\" "\\"What")
<\/p>\nDefinitions and Translations<\/h2>\n
What Does the Bible Say About Lust in the Old Testament?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" "\\"quote")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" "\\"quote")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nand the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
\nto preserve you from the wife of another,
\nfrom the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
\nDo not desire [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] her beauty in your heart\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p>\nWhat Does the Bible Say About Lust in the New Testament?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jesus-and-Paul-PBS-4x3-1.jpg\" "\\"Jesus")
<\/a><\/p>\nAdultery in the Bible: New Testament Verses<\/h2>\n
Judaism<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\nIslam<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nHinduism<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"lust](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lust-and-temptation.png\" "\\"lust")
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h2>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/In-the-Beginning-Online-Course-by-Dr-Bart-Ehrman-768x576-1.png\" "\\"In")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t__CONFIG_colors_palette__{\"active_palette\":0,\"config\":{\"colors\":{\"62516\":{\"name\":\"Main Accent\",\"parent\":-1}},\"gradients\":[]},\"palettes\":[{\"name\":\"Default Palette\",\"value\":{\"colors\":{\"62516\":{\"val\":\"var(--tcb-skin-color-0)\"}},\"gradients\":[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__<\/div>\n\t\n\t\tBurning Questions<\/span><\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/div><\/div>What Does the Bible Say About Lust?<\/h2><\/div>
__CONFIG_post_symbol__{\"id\":\"17826\"}__CONFIG_post_symbol__<\/div><\/div>\t<\/span><\/div>Definitions and Translations<\/h2><\/div>
What Does the Bible Say About Lust in the Old Testament?<\/h2><\/div>
\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
to preserve you from the wife of another,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Do not desire [\u1e6fa\u1e25m\u014d\u1e0f] her beauty in your heart\u2026<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\tWhat Does the Bible Say About Lust in the New Testament?<\/h2><\/div>
\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\t__CONFIG_post_symbol__{\"id\":\"10104\"}__CONFIG_post_symbol__<\/div><\/div>Adultery in the Bible: New Testament Verses<\/h2><\/div>
Judaism<\/h4><\/div>
\n\t<\/div>\n\t