Four Treatises Dissuading from Four Heinous and Common Sins, Treatise 3 · Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI. Of the puniſhment of Adulterie.
ANd thus hauehave I ſhewed that adulterie is a grieuous ſinne.§. Sect. 1. That by the law of God adulterie was pun ſhed with death. The conſideration whereof ſhould bee an effectuall argument to reſtraine all men from falling into it; for if eueryevery ordinarie ſinne deſerueth Gods anger and eternall condemnation, then what fierce wrath and deepe condemnation is due vntounto them, who make no conſcience of committing theſe ſinnes, which are ſo capitall and hainous? But becauſe many ſecure worldlings make light account of the heauieſt burthen of ſinne, and care little for prouoking Gods wrath, ſo they may ſecurely enioy their carnall pleaſures; therefore in the next place I will alſo ſhew how fearefully this ſinne is puniſhed, and that both in this life, and the life to come. In this life the puniſhment of adulterie is either ordinarie, or extraordinarie. The ordinarie puniſhment which by the law of God is to be inflicted, vponupon adulterers,Leuit. 20.10. is death it ſelfe, as appeareth, Leuit. 20.10. The man that committeth adulterie with another mans wife, becauſe he hath committed adulterie with his neighbours wife, the adulterer and adultereſſe ſhall die the death. Deut. 22.22.So Deut. 22.22. If a man be found lying with a woman married to a man, then they ſhall dye euen both twaine, to wit, the man that lay with the wife, and the wife: ſo thou ſhalt put away euill from Iſrael. The which law was executed with the greateſt ſeueritie among the people of God by his owne expreſſe appointment; for whereas other crimes were not puniſhed with death, vnleſſe the party were conuicted by the direct teſtimonie of two witneſſes at the leaſt, the Lord permitted the iealous husband to make a ſpeciall triall of his wiues chaſtitie and honeſtie; and gaue vntounto him an extraordinary, and moſt admirable meanes for the conuincing her (if ſhe were guiltie) of her ſinne when no witneſſes could bee produced; namely, that ſhee ſhould drinke of the curſed water, which ſhould not hurt her being innocent, but rather ſhould make her fruitfull; but if ſhee were guiltie, then vponupon the drinking thereof, her bellie ſhould ſwell, and her thigh rot, and ſo the woman ſhould be accurſed among her people, Num. 5.14.15.27.28.Numb. 5.14.27. So that rather then the Lord would hauehave this hainous ſinne of adulterie goe vnpuniſhed, he would himſelfe after this wonderfull manner diſcouer and puniſh it.
Now this puniſhment of adulterie by death,§. Sect. 2. That the puniſhment of adulterie by death, is a law of common equitie. ſeemeth to be not a meere iudiciall law, which was proper and peculiar to the common-wealth of Iſrael, but a law of common equity, which bindeth and holdeth in ſubiection all nations vntounto it. Firſt, becauſe long before the iudiciall law was giuen, the ſame puniſhment was inflicted vponupon adulterrers, as appeareth by Iuda his ſentence againſt his daughter in law Thamar, Gen. 38.24.namely, that becauſe being eſpouſed to his ſonne, ſhee had plaied the harlot, ſhe ſhould be burnt to death. So when Abimilech being a king had no ſuperiour to execute this law vponupon him, the Lord himſelfe threatneth death againſt him if he abuſed Sara Abrahams wife.Gen. 20.3.7. The ſame puniſhment alſo Abimilech threatneth againſt any of his people without exception that ſhould touch Iſaacs wife. Secondly,Gen. 26.11. becauſe the Heathens themſelues who had not Moſes law, by the light of nature inflicted the puniſhment of death vponupon adulterers, whereby it appeareth that it is not iudiciall, but morall and perpetuall, ſeeing it was common to the Iewes and Gentils.Ier. 29.22.23. Lucianus. Strab. geograph. lib. 16. Euſeb. de praeparat. Euangel. lib. 6. cap. 8. Alex. ab Alex. lib. 4. cap. 1. Lib. 1. bell. Ieth. So Nebuchadnezzar cauſed thoſe two adulterous Prophets, Zedechias and Achab, to bee burnt with fire, as the Prophet foretelleth, Ier. 29.22.23. So Saletus Prince of Crotone a citie of Greece, enacted a law, that adulterers ſhould be burnt to death. By Draco his law likewiſe the ſame puniſhment was inflicted vponupon the like offenders. In like manner this ſin was capital among the Arabians, as Euſebius recordeth. And ſo alſo among the Gothes, as Procopius writeth. Finallie, among the Romans adulterie was puniſhed with death, both by the twelue tablei, and by their law called lex Iulia, which was made by Auguſtuſtus Ceſar.
Other nations which did not inflict death vponupon the adulterers, puniſhed them with tortures, as bitter as death. The Egyptians decreed that ye noſe of the adultreſſe ſhould be cut off,Diodor. Sic. lib. 1. cap. 6. and that the adulterer ſhould bee beaten with a 1000. ſtripes, almoſt vntounto death. Zaleucus King of the Locrenſes made a law that the adulterer ſhould loſe both his eies: which law when his owne ſonne tranſgreſſed, notwithſtanding, that the people being inclined to pitie, would hauehave had his fault remitted, he would not condeſcend, but cauſed one of his owne,Aelian. in varia hiſt. lib. 13. and one of his ſonnes eies to be pulled out. Among the Germans, as Cornelius Tacitus recordeth, the adultres being ſtripped naked before her kindred and friends, had firſt her haire cut off, and afterwards was beaten with cudgels through the towne by her husband.
By all which it appeareth,§. Sect. 3. An obiection anſvvered. that euen by the light of nature, adultery in all ages hath bin condemned & puniſhed as a capitall crime, and conſequently that this puniſhment among the Iewes was not meerely iudiciall, but morall and of common equitie. Neither is that obiection of any force, that our Sauiour Chriſt refuſed to condemne the woman taken in adulterie, ſeeing hee came into the world not to execute the office of an earthlie Iudge, but of a mediatour who ſhould from God procure the pardon of our ſinnes; he came not to condemne, but to ſaue, and to giuegive his life a ranſome for manie; againe whereas our Sauiour asketh the woman if any man had condemned her according to the law in that caſe prouided, it ſeemeth thereby that if the ſentence of death had been lawfully paſſed againſt her, he would not hauehave repealed it; for he came not to violate the law, but to fulfill it.§. Sect. 4. That Magiſtrates ought to puniſh this ſinne of adulterie vvith all ſeueritie.
And therefore our Chriſtian Magiſtrates are to be exhorted, that they would not lightly account of this ſinne of whoredome, which the law of God and the law of nations, hath condemned as capitall; but that they would enact ſeuere lawes for the puniſhment of this ſinne, which is ſo abominable vntounto God, and ſo pernicious vntounto humane ſocietie; otherwiſe the guilt thereof will lie heauie vponupon the land, and prouoke the Lord in his iuſt diſpleaſure,Deut. 22.22. Ezech. 22.11. not only to puniſh them and the whole country for their negligence and remiſneſſe, but alſo to take vengeance of the offenders himſelfe by his extraordinarie iudgements, when ordinarie puniſhments are not inflicted. For when Magiſtrates neglect their dutie in puniſhing this ſinne, then the Lord will take the ſword of iuſtice into his owne hand, according to that, Heb. 13.4.Heb. 13.4. Mal. 3.5. Whoremongers and adulterers God will iudge. So he ſaith, Mal. 3.5. that himſelfe would come neere vntounto the people of Iuda in iudgement, and would be a ſwife witneſſe againſt the adulterers: and Ier. 5.7.8.9.Ier. 5.7.8. he profeſſeth that in his inſtice he could not ſpare them who were guiltie of this ſinne of whoredome, but would viſit them, and be auenged on them for this and ſuch other abominations. As therefore it is impoſſible for a man to take fire into his boſome, or to walke vponupon the hot coales and not be burnt; ſo impoſſible is it, that a man ſhould defile his neighbours wife, and be acquitted of the Lord as innocent, as the Wiſe man telleth vsus: Prou. 6.27.29.Prou. 6.27.29.
Now the puniſhments which the Lord vſually inflicteth vponupon adulterers in this life,§. Sect. 5. God puniſheth adulterie by the lavv of requitall. are not only the ſame which hee inflicteth vponupon fornicators, of which I hauehave alreadie ſpoken, as pouertie, infamie, ſlauerie to their luſts and harlots, lothſome diſeaſes, impenitencie and ſuch like, the which the Lord encreaſeth according to the rule of his iuſtice in a due proportion to their ſinne, and cauſeth them to light much more heauily vponupon the adulterer then vponupon the fornicator, in as much as hee much more hainouſlie offendeth; but alſo with ſome peculiar puniſhments which are more proper to this ſinne. As firſt hee puniſheth adulterie by the law of requitall, and as they defile other mens wiues, ſo hee ſuffereth other men to abuſe theirs with the like filthines and vncleanneſſe. And this is that puniſhment which the Lord threatned againſt Dauid, 2. Sam. 12.11. and 16.22.and afterwards inflicted vponupon him for his adulterie with Vriahs wife, 2. Sam. 12.11. Thus ſaith the Lord, Behold, I will raiſe vp euill againſt thee out of thine owne houſe, and will take thy wiues before thine eies, and giuegive them vntounto thine neighbour, and he ſhall lie with thy wiues in the ſight of this ſunne. The which was accordingly executed, as appeareth, 2. Sam. 16.22. And this iudgement Iob to approoue his innocencie in this behalfe, imprecateth againſt himſelfe if he had at anie time polluted himſelfe and his neighbours wife with this ſin: Iob 31.9.10.Iob 31.9.10. If mine heart hath been deceiued with a woman, or if I hauehave laid waite at the doore of my neighbour; let my wife grinde vntounto another man, and let other men bow downe vponupon her.
Secondly,§. Sect. 6. God puniſheth adulterie with his heauie curſe. Gal. 3.10. the Lord puniſheth this hainous ſinne, with his heauie curſe and malediction, for howſoeuer the curſe of the law belongeth generally to all tranſgreſſors, yet in ſome ſpeciall manner it is denounced againſt this ſinne of Adulterie; and therefore the Prophet foretelleth, that when they of the captiuitie of Iudah ſhould take vp a fearefull curſe againſt any, it ſhould bee in this forme, that the Lord would make them like vntounto Zedechiah and like Ahab, two notable adulterers; as appeareth,Ier. 29.22. Ier. 29.22. So the Lord ſaith in his law, that when the adulteres had drunke the curſed water, is ſhuld be turned into bitterneſſe, and cauſe her bellie to ſwell, and her thighe to rot, and the woman ſhould be accurſed among her people: as it is Numb. 5.27.Numb. 5.27. §. Sect. 7. The puniſhment of adulterie in the life to come.
But ſhoweuer the Lord, to ſhew the riches of his merciemercy to all repentant ſinners, and to make the impenitent much more vnexcuſable, doth ſometimes forbeare to inflict theſe puniſhments vponupon adulterers in this life, yet will hee moſt ſurely, and moſt ſeuerely puniſh them in the life to come. For if fornicators ſhall be depriued of the ioyes of heauen, and hauehave their portion in hell fire, euen in the lake which burneth with fire and brimſtone, as before I hauehave ſhewed; then ſurely the adulterers, whoſe ſinne is much more vnexcuſable and hainous, ſhall be plunged into a farre deeper degree of condemnation, and be much more exquiſitely tormented in thoſe helliſh torments. And theſe are thoſe intollerable and eternall puniſhments, which are in ſo many places of the holy Scriptures denounced againſt adulterers, ſome whereof I will annex, that who ſo wil may ſearch and examine them. 1. Cor. 6.9.10. Gal. 5.19.21. Epheſ. 5.5. Apoc. 21.8. and 22.15.