דברים, פרק כ״ב, פסוק כ״ב

The sanctity of marriage serves as a central pillar of a healthy society, and any violation of it represents a severe moral fracture. Adultery is treated as a deep corruption that demands strict consequences and total eradication, holding both partners fully responsible. For the court to act, the offense must be clearly proven by witnesses [רלב״ג, מלבי״ם, רש״ר הירש, תורה תמימה]. However, there are also situations where the court must actively investigate and search for the truth following prior rumors and suspicions [העמק דבר]. The prohibition applies broadly; it includes a fully married woman [ביאור שטיינזלץ], a betrothed woman who has already had relations in her father's house [רלב״ג, תורה תמימה], and a widow awaiting levirate marriage [מלבי״ם, צפנת פענח]. The violation itself encompasses all forms of intercourse, whether typical or atypical [רלב״ג, מלבי״ם].

The law equates the severity of the punishment for both individuals involved. Although the man is often the initiator and primary seducer, the woman bears full and equal responsibility [רמב״ן, רבינו בחיי, צרור המור, ביאור יש״ר]. The primary approach among commentators is that liability for the death penalty requires an act from which both parties derive equal physical pleasure. This specific criterion excludes partial contact or unusual acts where the woman does not experience pleasure, thereby exempting the parties from the ultimate penalty in those instances.

The law also addresses complex edge cases. If an adulterous woman is pregnant, the court does not wait for her to give birth before carrying out the sentence. The fetus is considered an inseparable part of her body, and immediate action prevents bringing a child into the world who would carry the lifelong stigma of illegitimacy [רש״י, תורה תמימה, ברטנורא, ברכת אשר]. Commentators dispute how the law handles other unique circumstances. Some explain that if an offending couple has already been sentenced to death, and another person subsequently has relations with the woman, or the man with another woman, these new offenders are also sentenced to death. They are not exempt under the claim that the condemned are already considered legally dead [רש״י, מזרחי, רא״ש, גור אריה, חזקוני]. Conversely, others argue that this legal expansion simply reinforces the liability for atypical intercourse [דברי דוד].

While the focus is often on mutual guilt, situations exist where only one individual is legally punishable. If one partner is a minor, or if the act involved rape or an unintentional mistake, only the party who acted willingly and with maturity faces punishment [רמב״ן, טור, תורה תמימה, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם, רש״ר הירש]. However, if a woman claims she was forced but is found to be consenting during the act itself, she is punished, as her active participation proves the encounter began with her willing consent [העמק דבר]. Ultimately, the purpose of such severe consequences is not merely to exact retribution against the sinners. The court is commanded to actively uproot impurity and immorality, eradicating the very root of evil from society to ensure such acts are never repeated in Israel [צרור המור, מלבי״ם].