What Hebrews 13:4 Says About Marriage, Whoremongers and Adulterers

What does Hebrews 13:4 say?

Hebrews 13:4 is a two-part sentence on marriage: a positive statement about its honour and purity, followed by a warning of divine judgment on those who break its boundaries. The King James Version reads: "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" ^[1].

The verse belongs to the practical closing chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, a series of short instructions for community life. In the KJV, verse 1 asks that brotherly love continue, verse 2 recommends hospitality to strangers, verse 3 asks readers to remember prisoners, and verse 5 warns against covetousness ^[1]. Marriage thus appears in a list of everyday duties rather than in a long theological argument.

The structure of the sentence matters for its interpretation. The first half praises marriage and the "bed," a discreet way of referring to the sexual relationship of spouses. The second half names two groups, the pornoi and the moichoi, and places them under the judgment of God, a word that several commentators describe as emphatic in the Greek ^[5].

The ten uses of the Greek pornos in the New Testament and their King James rendering

Verse	KJV rendering
1 Corinthians 5:9	fornicators
1 Corinthians 5:10	fornicators
1 Corinthians 5:11	fornicator
1 Corinthians 6:9	fornicators
Ephesians 5:5	whoremonger
1 Timothy 1:10	whoremongers
Hebrews 12:16	fornicator
Hebrews 13:4	whoremongers
Revelation 21:8	whoremongers
Revelation 22:15	whoremongers

Where does the verse fit in the Letter to the Hebrews?

Hebrews 13:4 comes near the end of an anonymous letter that is mostly a sustained argument about Christ as high priest. Britannica describes Hebrews as the 19th book of the New Testament canon, traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul but now widely believed to be the work of another Jewish Christian; some traditions name Barnabas or another associate of Paul ^[10]. It was composed sometime in the latter half of the first century ^[10].

According to the same entry, the letter addresses a Christian community whose faith was faltering, presents Christ as a perfect priest who offered a single sacrifice, and warns readers against apostasy and the "fearful prospect of judgment" of Hebrews 10:27 ^[10]. It also quotes the Old Testament more than any other New Testament book ^[10]. The warning that "God will judge" in 13:4 thus echoes a theme that runs through the whole letter.

Chapter 13 changes register. After twelve chapters dominated by theological argument, the author turns to short practical instructions on love, hospitality, prisoners, marriage and money ^[1]. Hebrews 13:4 is the only one of these opening instructions devoted to sexual conduct, which helps explain why it is quoted so often on its own.

Is the verse a statement or a command?

The Greek original has no verb in the first half, so translators must decide whether to supply "is" or "let it be." The King James translators chose the indicative: in printed editions the word "is" appears in italics, the convention they used for words added to make sense in English ^[1].

The same passage shows that the choice was deliberate. In verse 5, the KJV supplies imperative words, "Let your conversation be without covetousness," again marked in italics ^[1]. For verse 4, the translators preferred a statement about what marriage is rather than an instruction about how to treat it.

Commentators divide on the question. Benson's commentary reads the verse as a statement that marriage is honourable, and the Geneva Study Bible notes treat it as a commendation of marriage ^[5]. Ellicott, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Meyer, Bengel, the Cambridge Bible and the Pulpit Commentary prefer an exhortation, and several of them supply the Greek esto, "let it be," because the parallel clause about the bed reads more naturally as a command ^[5]. John Gill mentions both readings without forcing a choice ^[5].

Modern translations generally follow the exhortation reading. The ESV opens with "Let marriage be held in honor among all" ^[4], and the NIV says marriage "should be honored by all" ^[3]. The difference affects tone more than substance: as a statement, the verse defends the dignity of marriage; as a command, it asks readers to protect it.

What does "the bed undefiled" mean?

"The bed undefiled" means a marriage kept sexually faithful, free from adultery or other sexual relationships. The Greek word for "bed," koitē, stands here for the sexual relationship of the spouses, a usage that Meyer's commentary singles out as unusual ^[5].

The Expositor's Greek Testament explains that defiling the bed denoted the violation of conjugal relations ^[5]. Gill describes the bed as undefiled when it is not polluted by others, whether by fornication or adultery, and Barnes ties the image to fidelity to the marriage vow ^[5]. Poole speaks of the lawful and pure use of marriage ^[5].

The phrase is therefore about faithfulness, not about a code of conduct between spouses. Commentators who read the verse as a command take "let the bed be undefiled" as an instruction to the married, while those who read it as a statement see it as a reminder that marital sexuality carries no stain ^[5].

Who are the whoremongers in Hebrews 13:4?

The "whoremongers" of the KJV are pornoi, a Greek term for men who engage in unlawful sexual intercourse. Strong's lexicon (G4205) counts ten occurrences of pornos in the New Testament; the KJV translates it "fornicator" five times and "whoremonger" five times ^[2].

The lexicon traces the word to pernēmi, "to sell," and lists three senses: a man who prostitutes his body for hire, a male prostitute, and more generally a man who indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse, a fornicator ^[2]. The same root gives porneia, the noun the KJV renders "fornication," which covers illicit sexual intercourse broadly ^[6].

The pairing with "adulterers" led many older commentators to read a distinction of status. Benson writes that whoremongers are unmarried people and adulterers are those where one party is married, while noting that fornication sometimes includes adultery; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown and Gill draw the same line ^[5]. Bengel sees a chiasmus in the sentence and remarks that fornication was more common than adultery ^[5].

The KJV's word choice varies from book to book rather than from meaning to meaning. Paul's lists in 1 Corinthians use "fornicators" ^[2], including 1 Corinthians 6:9, where fornicators and adulterers appear side by side ^[9]. Ephesians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews 13:4 and Revelation use "whoremonger" or "whoremongers," while Hebrews 12:16 has "fornicator" ^[2]. The site's language section looks at both old English words in Fornicators and Whoremongers.

How do modern translations render the verse?

Modern translations replace "whoremongers" with "the sexually immoral" and turn the opening into an exhortation. The NIV reads that marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge "the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" ^[3]. The ESV keeps "undefiled" but likewise speaks of the sexually immoral and adulterous ^[4]. The NIV also joins the two halves with "for," where the KJV has "but" ^{[1] [3]}; Vincent's Word Studies treats that connecting word, gar in the Greek it follows, as one reason to read the first half as an exhortation ^[5].

These choices reflect the breadth of pornos. "Whoremonger" keeps the link to prostitution found in the first sense of the Greek word, whereas "sexually immoral" reflects the broader sense of unlawful intercourse that lexicons also give ^[2].

Cross-references reveal how editors connect the verse to other texts. The NIV links the praise of marriage to Malachi 2:15, 1 Corinthians 7:38 and 1 Timothy 4:3, and the warning to Deuteronomy 22:22, 1 Corinthians 6:9 and Revelation 22:15 ^[3]. The ESV links "sexually immoral" to Hebrews 12:16 and "adulterous" to Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9 ^[4]. The link to 1 Timothy 4:3 points to one of the oldest uses of the verse, as a defence of marriage itself.

How is Hebrews 13:4 used in Christian teaching on marriage?

Christian teachers have used Hebrews 13:4 in two main ways: to defend marriage against those who belittle it, and to teach that sexual relations belong within it. The emphasis has shifted over time and between traditions.

The first use dominated older Protestant commentary. Reading "in all" as applying to all kinds of people, Benson, Gill, Poole and Barnes saw the verse as proof that marriage is honourable for every class and condition, and Benson and Gill turned it explicitly against the Catholic discipline of clerical celibacy ^[5]. The Cambridge Bible took a more balanced line, holding that marriage and celibacy stand equal in honour according to each person's calling ^[5]. Other commentators, including Vincent and the Pulpit Commentary, preferred "in all respects," which removes the polemical edge ^[5].

The second use is now the more familiar one. Read alongside 1 Corinthians 6:18 (see "Flee Fornication": Reading 1 Corinthians 6:18), the verse is cited for the view that the marriage bed is the only legitimate setting for sex and that both premarital and extramarital relations fall under the warning. Catholic teaching reaches the same conclusion through its own definitions: the Catechism defines fornication as carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman ^[7] and adultery as marital infidelity, which it says the New Testament forbids absolutely ^[8].

The final clause has its own pastoral reading. Ellicott, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Bengel and the Cambridge Bible all observe that such sins often escape human courts, which is why the verse reserves judgment to God ^[5]. That reading gives the verse a role in debates about law and morality: what the state no longer punishes, churches may still regard as sin.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hebrews 13:4 a command or a statement?

It can be read either way, because the Greek has no verb in the first clause. The KJV supplies "is," marked in italics, and treats it as a statement ^[1]. Most modern versions, such as the ESV, render it as an exhortation, "Let marriage be held in honor" ^[4], following commentators like Ellicott and Meyer ^[5].

What is the difference between whoremongers and adulterers?

In traditional interpretation, whoremongers (pornoi) are people who have sexual relations outside marriage, especially the unmarried, while adulterers (moichoi) violate an existing marriage. Benson, Gill and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown all draw this distinction ^[5]. Benson adds that fornication can sometimes include adultery, and the lexicon gives pornos the broad sense of a man who engages in unlawful intercourse ^[2].

Does Hebrews 13:4 apply to unmarried couples?

Yes, in most Christian readings. The term pornoi covers people engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse, which traditional teaching takes to include unmarried partners ^[2]. Churches that hold sex to be reserved for marriage therefore apply the warning to premarital relationships as well as to adultery.

What does "honourable in all" mean?

The phrase "in all" is ambiguous in Greek and can mean "among all people" or "in all respects." Older Protestant commentators such as Benson and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown preferred "among all," and Benson argued that marriage is honourable for every class, including clergy ^[5]. Vincent and the Pulpit Commentary preferred "in all respects" ^[5].

What does "whoremonger" mean in the Bible?

In the KJV, "whoremonger" translates the Greek pornos, a man who engages in unlawful sexual intercourse. It appears five times, in Ephesians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 13:4, Revelation 21:8 and Revelation 22:15 ^[2]. The same Greek word is rendered "fornicator" five other times ^[2].

Who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews?

No one knows for certain, because the letter is anonymous. It was traditionally attributed to Paul, but Britannica notes that it is now widely believed to be the work of another Jewish Christian, with some traditions naming Barnabas ^[10]. It dates from the latter half of the first century ^[10].

Does "the bed undefiled" mean anything is allowed in marriage?

No such general permission is stated in the verse. Commentators read "undefiled" as describing a marriage kept free of adultery and fornication, in other words a faithful relationship ^[5]. The verse addresses fidelity between spouses and third parties, not a detailed code of conduct within marriage.