Adulterers Meaning in the Bible: What the Bible Means by Adulterers

In the Bible, adulterers are people who break the marriage covenant through sexual unfaithfulness. Most simply, an adulterer is a married person who has sexual relations with someone other than his or her spouse. Scripture treats that sin seriously because marriage is meant to be a faithful one-flesh union, not an open bond with outside partners.

The Bible also uses the word in a deeper way sometimes. Jesus says lust can be adultery in the heart, and some prophetic and New Testament passages use adultery as a picture of spiritual unfaithfulness to God. So the word can point either to literal betrayal in marriage or, in some passages, to covenant betrayal more broadly. If you saw this phrase linked to the old "Wicked Bible" printing story, that is a separate historical anecdote; in normal Bible usage the word refers to people who commit adultery.

What does adulterers mean in the Bible?

The simplest definition is that adulterers are people who commit adultery. In plain Bible language, adultery is sexual unfaithfulness within marriage. The word points to a third person entering what God meant to be a faithful covenant between husband and wife.

That is why adultery is closely tied to the Bible's teaching on marriage covenant, lifelong faithfulness, and commitment in marriage. It is not treated as a small private mistake. Scripture sees it as a violation of trust, a sin against God, and a wound against the spouse and the covenant itself. If you want a verse-by-verse roundup, PrayersFor already has a helpful page on adultery.

In other words, the word adulterers is not just a vague label for "bad people." It is a marriage word. It names people who have broken covenant faithfulness in one of the most intimate places God designed for trust.

How do the Old Testament and New Testament describe adulterers?

In the Old Testament, adultery is often described in legal terms involving a married or betrothed woman and a man who is not her husband. That older framing reflects Israel's covenant law and ancient legal setting. Leviticus 20:10 speaks of both the adulterer and the adulteress, showing that the sin was serious and covenant-breaking.

By the New Testament, Jesus makes the moral meaning unmistakably clear for both men and women. In Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18, He teaches that a husband or a wife becomes guilty of adultery by breaking marriage faithfulness and taking another partner. That matters because it shows the heart of the command is not legal loopholes. It is covenant faithfulness.

This also helps readers distinguish adultery from the Bible's broader language about sexual immorality. All adultery is sexual sin, but adultery is a specific kind of sexual sin because it directly breaks a marriage bond. That is why it sits close to questions about sex outside of marriage, vows, and fidelity.

How did Jesus deepen the meaning of adultery?

Jesus did not loosen the command against adultery. He deepened it. In Matthew 5:27-28, He says that whoever looks lustfully has already committed adultery in the heart. That means the sin is not only the outward act that other people can see. God also sees desire, fantasy, and willful inward betrayal.

This does not erase the difference between thoughts and physical actions in their earthly consequences. But it does show why Jesus would not let people reduce holiness to technical innocence. His teaching moves the conversation deeper than asking how far is too far or whether only a visible act "counts." In God's sight, the heart matters.

That is one reason adultery is never just a body issue in Scripture. It is also a loyalty issue, a worship issue, and a truth issue. When desire is separated from covenant love, it begins to corrupt the person from the inside out.

What is spiritual adultery in the Bible?

Some Bible passages use adultery as a picture of unfaithfulness to God. The prophets describe Israel this way when the people chase idols and abandon the Lord. James 4:4 uses similar language when it warns that friendship with the world can become enmity with God.

In those places, adulterers does not primarily mean people caught in a literal affair. It means people who are pledged to God yet give their love, trust, loyalty, and devotion elsewhere. The image is strong because covenant unfaithfulness in worship is as real and offensive as covenant unfaithfulness in marriage.

This spiritual use does not cancel the literal meaning. It builds on it. Scripture treats marriage faithfulness as so serious that it becomes a fitting picture of what faithfulness to God should look like too.

Can adulterers be forgiven in the Bible?

Yes. The Bible never calls adultery a light sin, but it also does not say repentant adulterers are beyond God's mercy. Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. First Corinthians 6:9-11 warns that adulterers cannot treat sin casually, yet it also says, "and such were some of you," because Christ washes and changes people.

That means the right biblical response is not denial or excuse-making. It is confession, repentance, truth, and a real turning back to God. Forgiveness does not erase the pain adultery can cause inside a marriage, but it does mean sin does not have to be the final word.

If adultery has wounded a marriage, PrayersFor also has verse collections on forgiveness in marriage and reconciliation in marriage. Those pages cannot remove every consequence, but they can help point hurting people back toward grace, wisdom, and honest healing.

Key Bible passages that show the meaning of adulterers

• Exodus 20:14 - the command, "You shall not commit adultery," gives the clearest starting point.
• Leviticus 20:10 - names both the adulterer and adulteress and shows how seriously the covenant was treated.
• Matthew 5:27-28 - Jesus teaches that lust can be adultery in the heart.
• Mark 10:11-12 - makes clear that adultery applies to both husband and wife who break marriage faithfulness.
• James 4:4 - shows the spiritual-adultery picture of being unfaithful to God.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - warns adulterers seriously, then points to cleansing and new life in Christ.

The simplest way to understand adulterers in the Bible

Adulterers are people who break covenant faithfulness - literally through sexual unfaithfulness in marriage, and sometimes spiritually through unfaithfulness to God.

That summary keeps both main uses in view. Most passages mean the literal marriage sin. Some passages use the word as a powerful metaphor for idolatry or divided loyalty. Either way, the core idea is the same: a covenant has been betrayed.

So if you ask what adulterers mean in the Bible, the clearest answer is that the word describes people who violate the faithfulness God intended, especially in marriage, and that is why Scripture treats it with such seriousness.

A short prayer for faithfulness and mercy

Lord, teach me to honor what You call holy. Guard my heart, my thoughts, and my relationships from unfaithfulness. Where there has been sin, bring honest repentance and real mercy. Strengthen marriages, heal what has been wounded, and keep my loyalty fixed on You. In Jesus' name, amen.