sexual immorality / impurity / debauchery

The Greek in Galatians 5:19 that is translated as “sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe as “different types of sexual sins,” since there were no other specific terms. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

fornication, sexual immorality

The Greek that is translated as “sexual immorality” or “fornication” or similar is translated much more specifically in some languages. Morelos Nahuatl has “let a man not yield himself to another woman except only to his wife. Also let a woman not yield herself to another man except only to her husband” or in Lalana Chinantec as “not proper for them to mix themselves with other women. The same is true of women for other men also.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

In Low German as Hurenkram or “things related to prostitution (and/or sleeping around)” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006) and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) typically as Sexgier or “sex cravings” (exceptions: Acts 15:10 and 15:29).

See also sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery and adulterous and sinful generation.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sexual Immorality (Word Study) .

flesh (human nature)

Click here to view graphically

The Greek that is often translated as “flesh” in English (when referring to the lower human nature) can, according to Nida (1947, p. 153) “very rarely be literally translated into another language. ‘My meat’ or ‘my muscle’ does not make sense in most languages.” He then gives a catalog of almost 30 questions to determine a correct translation for that term.

Accordingly, the translations are very varied:

The Toraja-Sa’dan translation uses a variety of terms for the translation of the same Greek term (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)

  • A form of kale tolinona or “corporeal” is for instance used in Romans 9:5 or Colossians 1:22 (and also in Genesis 6:3 and Exodus 30:32)
  • A form of mentolinona or “the human” is for instance used in Matthew 16:17 or John 1:14
  • Phrases that include pa’kalean or “bodiliness” (also: “human shape”) are for instance used in Romans 6:6 or 1 Peter 2:11 (as well as in Isa 52:14, Isa 53:2, and Lamentations 4:7

(Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 207ff. )

See also spirit / flesh, old self, and flesh (John 1:14).

licentiousness

The Greek that is translated as “licentiousness” and “impurity” or similar in English is translated in Bariai as “following behavior like dogs.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also adultery.

complete verse (Galatians 5:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 5:19:

  • Uma: “The deeds that we do if we follow the evil desires of our hearts are quite evident/recognizable. For instance: we commit adultery or behave wrongly with a woman or man, or we do other unseemly actions like that,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “If their greedy-desire is what people follow, it is easily known because this is their doings: they commit adultery/fornication, they are immoral and they are not ashamed to do folly (sexual things implied).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We can identify the evil behavior which is made possible by the evil desires of the body because it’s fooling around with someone who is not our spouse, filthy and ugly behavior,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It is easy to distinguish what people do that comes-from their human minds. It is these: they sleep-with those who are not their spouses and they do what is filthy and indecent;” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For those things which are the outcome of our congenital evil desires are clear to us all. Because it’s these things, all kinds of immoral behaviour with one who is not your spouse, disgusting habits/ways or thoughts and the indulging of disgusting desires with no self control at all.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It isn’t hard for us to know what is the evil done by people. It is adultery, a heart full of evil, one doesn’t want to control himself concerning walking in evil.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Galatians 5:19

In describing what human nature does as quite plain, Paul is simply saying that it is well-known to everyone; in other words, that anyone can recognize it as “works of the flesh” (New English Bible “anyone can see the kind of behaviour that belongs to the lower nature”; New American Bible “it is obvious what proceeds from the flesh”).

Human nature translates “flesh” as in verses 16 and 17.

In a number of languages one cannot speak of human nature doing certain things. Rather, one must speak of people doing certain things because of their human nature. One may therefore render the first sentence in this verse as “Because of what people really are, it is clear to everyone how they act; they are immoral….”

Scholars have suggested that what Paul enumerates falls logically into four groups. The first group includes “immorality,” “impurity,” and “licentiousness,” which seem to be acts connected with sex or sensuality. “Immorality” translates a word which originally meant “prostitution” but came to mean sexual unfaithfulness and was used as a general term for any kind of sexual sin or immoral acts.

“Impurity” translates a Greek word which originally was used to describe the contents of graves and came to mean ceremonial or moral uncleanness with no special emphasis on sexual vice. In Paul’s thinking, however, it is associated with “immorality” seven times (out of nine), and therefore in this passage also it may be interpreted as sexual uncleanness.

The third word in this series “licentiousness” (Revised Standard Version), probably refers here to sexual excesses, resulting in indecent conduct.

It is always possible to find some general term for immoral, but it may not be so easy to find two other corresponding terms which would indicate other aspects or increasingly evil degrees of sexual immorality. In some languages terms such as filthy and indecent actions may be expressed as idioms, for example, “acting like dogs,” or “copulating in evil ways.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 5:19

Paragraph 5:19–21

In this paragraph, Paul reminded the Galatians that they should not live sinful lives. He gave a list of examples of sinful actions. The list can be divided into several groups: sexual sins, wrong relationships to spiritual powers other than God, wrong relationships between people, and drunken living.

Paul’s list is not intended as a complete list of sins. Paul listed sins that represent the kinds of actions that come from the sinful nature. There are many more such sins.

5:19a

In 5:19, Paul began a new topic. He introduced this new topic with a Greek conjunction that most English versions translate as “now.” In this context, “now” is not a time word.

The Berean Standard Bible has not translated this conjunction, and some other versions, such as the New International Version and New Living Translation (2004), also do not translate it. In some languages, it will not be necessary to translate this conjunction either. Connect 5:19a to 5:18b in a way that is natural in your language.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as acts of the flesh refers to the sinful actions/deeds that a person does when he follows/obeys his corrupt human nature.

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as obvious means “are clearly seen.”

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

The wrong things the sinful self does are clear (New Century Version)
-or-
Anyone can see the behaviour that belongs to the unspiritual nature (Revised English Bible)
-or-
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Now, the effects of the corrupt nature are obvious (God’s Word)

See flesh, Meaning 5 in the Glossary.

5:19b

Paul’s list of sinful actions begins here. Some ways to introduce this list are:

For example:
-or-
They are deeds such as:
-or-
The sinful nature shows itself in

sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery: In Greek, the three words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery all refer to sexual sins. They include sins of thought, sins of actions, and sinful desires.

In some languages, it will be possible to translate these three Greek words with three words or phrases. In other languages, it may be possible to use two terms to translate these three Greek terms.

sexual immorality: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sexual immorality refers to having sexual relations with someone you are not married to.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

fornication/adultery
-or-
being sexually unfaithful (New Century Version)
-or-
immoral…actions (Good News Translation)
-or-
all kinds of immoral behavior with someone who is not your spouse

impurity: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as impurity is more literally “uncleanness.” In the Bible, immoral acts are referred to as “unclean.” This word refers to any shameful or wrong activity in the area of sex.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

indecency
-or-
filthy thoughts (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
filthy…actions (Good News Translation)
-or-
disgusting sexual habits/thoughts

debauchery: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as debauchery refers to indulging in wrong sexual desires, or being preoccupied with illicit sexual acts.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

perversion/indecency
-or-
taking part in sexual sins (New Century Version)
-or-
shameful deeds (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
indecent actions (Good News Translation)

© 2016 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.