Hebrews 13:4

Hebrews 13:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
• New International Version (NIV)Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Context of Hebrews 13:4

2Always remember to be kind to strangers. Let them stay in your homes. In this way, some people have received angels as visitors, and they did not know that they were angels. 3Remember to help those believers who are in prison. Think about what that would be like, if you were there with them. Remember those believers who are receiving trouble from people. Think about them as if you were receiving the same pain in your own body. When a man and a woman have married each other, they must each respect the marriage. Husbands and wives must only have sex with each other. God will punish anyone who has sex with another person's husband or wife. He will punish anyone who has sex in a wrong way. 5In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this: ‘I will never leave you; I will always be there with you.’ 6Because of that, we can bravely say this: ‘The Lord is the one who helps me, so I will not be afraid. I will not be afraid of anything that people can do to me.’

Hebrews 13:4 word by word

Τίμιος ὁ γάμος ἐν πᾶσιν καὶ ἡ κοίτη ἀμίαντος· πόρνους γὰρ καὶ μοιχοὺς κρινεῖ ὁ θεός.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Marriageὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Marriageγάμοςgamos · weddingG1062
• honourableτίμιοςtimios · preciousG5093
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the bedκοίτηkoitē · bedG2845
• undefiledἀμίαντοςamiantos · pureG283
• butδέde · thenG1161
• whoremongersπόρνοςpornos · sexual sinnerG4205
• adulterersμοιχόςmoichos · adultererG3432
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• will judgeκρίνωkrinō · to judgeG2919

Cross-references for Hebrews 13:4

• Genesis 1:27God made humans. He made them to be like himself. He made some of them males and some of them females.
• Genesis 2:21So the Lord God caused the man to sleep. While the man was sleeping, God took a rib from the man. Then he closed up the place in his body and he covered it again.
• Leviticus 21:13The leader of the priests must marry a woman who has not had sex before.
• 2 Kings 22:14So Hilkiah, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to Huldah. Huldah was a prophetess who lived in the north part of Jerusalem. She was the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah. Tikvah was the son of Harhas, who took care of the king's clothes. The king's men told Huldah why they had come to meet her.
• Proverbs 5:15You should enjoy your own wife, as you enjoy clean water to drink.
• Isaiah 8:3Then I slept with my wife, the prophetess. She became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, ‘Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
• 1 Corinthians 7:2That may be true, but then people may have sex in wrong ways. So every man should have his own wife and every woman should have her own husband.
• 1 Corinthians 9:5If we have a Christian wife, we should take her with us as we travel. The other apostles do this. So do the Lord's brothers, and also Peter. We have the same authority that they have.
• 1 Timothy 3:2For that reason, a leader of the church must live a life that everyone knows is good. He must be the husband of one wife. He must think seriously about how he lives and he must control himself well. He must be someone that people respect. He must be happy to have visitors in his home. He must be a good teacher.
• 1 Timothy 5:14So I think that widows who are still young women should marry again. Then they can have children and they can take care of their own homes. If they live well like that, the enemy of God's people will not have a chance to say bad things against us.
• Hebrews 12:16Make sure that nobody among you has sex in a wrong way. Be careful that nobody is careless about God's rules, like Esau was long ago. He gave away everything that he would have received as his father's first son. He gave it all away so that he could get only one meal.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9People who do wrong things like that will never belong to God's kingdom. You surely know that. Do not think that people like this will receive God's good things: People who have sex in wrong ways. People who worship idols. People who have sex with anyone that they are not married to. Men who have sex with other men.
• Galatians 5:19Everyone knows the kinds of bad things that weak people want to do. They have sex with people that they are not married to. They do things that are bad and disgusting.
• Ephesians 5:5You can be sure about this: If anyone has sex in a wrong way, that person does not belong to God's people. Nobody who does any kind of disgusting thing belongs to God's people. People who want many things just to please themselves are like people who worship an idol. They also do not belong to God's people. Nobody like that belongs to the kingdom where Christ and God rule. They will not receive the good things that God has prepared for his people.
• Colossians 3:5Your old nature likes to do bad things that belong to this earth. But your old nature is dead, so do not do these bad things any more. Do not have sex with someone that you are not married to. Do not think bad, disgusting thoughts. Do not want to have sex in a wrong way. Do not want to do any kinds of bad things. Do not want to have many things for yourselves. That shows that you worship those things as your idol.
• Revelation 22:15But other people must stay outside the city: wicked people; people who do magic; people who have sex in a wrong way; people who murder other people; people who worship idols; everyone who likes to tell lies and deceive people.

Commentaries on Hebrews 13:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Marriage is honorable in all - Let this state be highly esteemed as one of God's own instituting, and as highly calculated to produce the best interests of mankind. This may have been said against the opinions of the Essenes, called Therapeutae, who held marriage in little repute, and totally abstained from it themselves as a state of comparative imperfection. At the same time it shows the absurdity of the popish tenet, that marriage in the clergy is both…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Marriage is honorable in all - The object here is to state that “honor” is to be shown to the marriage relation. It is not to be undervalued by the pretence of the superior purity of a state of celibacy, as if marriage were improper for any class of people or any condition of life; and it should not be dishonored by any violation of the marriage contract. The course of things has shown that there was abundant reason for the apostle to assert with…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4To honor marriage means to protect it and see it as very important. Sexually immoral refers to any inappropriate sexual behavior. Adultery breaks the marriage promise by having sexual relations outside the marriage.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. is, &c.--Translate, "Let marriage be treated as honorable": as He 13:5 also is an exhortation. in all--"in the case of all men": "among all." "To avoid fornication let EVERY MAN have his own wife" (1Co 7:2). Judaism and Gnosticism combined were soon about to throw discredit on marriage. The venerable Paphnutius, in the Council of Nice, quoted this verse for the justification of the married state. If one does not himself marry, he should not prevent…Read the comment

Topics related to Hebrews 13:4

• Adultery
• Marriage

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Altar
• Bed
• Continuing
• Entertain
• Forgetful
• Marriage
• Meat
• Restore

Commentaries on Hebrews 13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings