Years ago I remember hearing wedding vows from the Old Anglican Book of Common Prayer. One phrase has always remained stuck in my head, “I plight thee my troth.” Now that’s something you don’t hear every day.
“Troth” is from the Old English word treowth, from which we also get “truth” today. So, troth means a state of being true, loyal, and faithful. And so developed the word “faithfulness” in the Christian marriage ceremony. You may notice that the word “betrothal” is related to troth. A betrothal signifies a promise that a marriage will surely take place, vows will truly be spoken.
You sometimes hear the word “plight” used today. This is often in the context of “the plight of the poor.” Here plight means endangered circumstances. But used as a verb, coming from Germanic roots in the word pflicht, meaning duty, plight is giving a pledge. So in many wedding vows promised today people say to each other, “I pledge you my faithfulness,” which is plighting your troth.
In order to protect the marriage and resulting family unit, one of the commandments God gave to Moses for the Hebrew people was, “Do not na’aph,” in Exodus chapter 20. The Hebrew word na’aph means to have an intimate relationship with another man’s wife. Stay troth or true to your spouse. Remain faithful to your spouse. Do not adulterate the marriage covenant.
The word “adulterate” means to corrupt or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance. If you’ve ever taken the Tunnels of Moose Jaw – Chicago Connection you are aware that during prohibition some illegal bootleggers diluted the booze with water, in other words adulterated the alcohol. Mixing into a marriage another person adulterates the union. Therefore Exodus 20:14 is often translated, “Do not commit adultery.”
The word “adultery” comes from the Latin adulterare, meaning to pollute, to defile. It is made up of the Latin “ad,” meaning “near,” and “alter,” meaning “other.” So, if you bring another near to the marriage agreement, you defile the vows of “plighting your troth.” Family relationships breaks down when na’aph occurs.
The ancient Jewish prophets used the same word to describe the people of Israel worshipping other gods. Do not na’aph in your spiritual relationship with Yahweh. The prophets pointed out that na’aph with other gods was the cause of many of the misfortunes effecting the Israelites, up to and including the exile to Babylon and destruction of the city of Jerusalem and burning of the great temple of Solomon.
A literal meaning of na’aph would apply only to a man in a relationship with a married woman. But the point of the commandment is to go much deeper into the lives of married people and have an impact on all those who would follow the directives of the God of the Bible.
As Jesus commented in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This charge could also be directed at any person, not just a man.
Jesus used the word epithymeo for “lustful intent.” This word comes from the Greek root thyo meaning boil up, make smoke, a violent movement. As the saying goes, “Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.” When desire boils over, lustful intent is close at hand. And this too can begin to adulterate a marriage.
As we consider all the many relationships in our lives and families, not just the marriage covenant, it would do well to think about our actions, and yes, even our thoughts, that could adulterate the connections we hold dear. When we do things on impulse, without thought, trust can be broken. And trust is a difficult thing to restore. But there is some hope as we remember the concept of adulterate and work on keeping our relationships pure.
