Editing Lust (section)

=====New Testament=====
In many translations of the [[New Testament]], the word "lust" translates the Greek word ἐπιθυμέω, particularly in [[Matthew 5:27-28]]:
{{"|Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust (ἐπιθυμέω) after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.}}

In English-speaking countries, the term "lust" is often associated with [[sexual desire]], probably because of this verse. But just as the English word was originally a general term for ''desire'', the Greek word ἐπιθυμέω was also a general term for desire. The [[LSJ]] lexicon suggests "set one's heart upon a thing, long for, covet, desire" as glosses for ἐπιθυμέω, which is used in verses that clearly have nothing to do with sexual desire. In the [[Septuagint]], ἐπιθυμέω is the word used in the commandment to not covet:

{{"|You shall not covet your neighbour's wife; you shall not covet your neighbour's house or his field or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his draft animal or any animal of his or whatever belongs to your neighbour.|Exodus 20:17, New English Translation of the Septuagint}}

While coveting your neighbour's wife may involve sexual desire, it's unlikely that coveting a neighbour's house or field is sexual in nature. And in most New Testament uses, the same Greek word, ἐπιθυμέω, does not have a clear sexual connotation. For example, from the [[American Standard Version]] the same word is used outside of any sexual connotation:

# [[Wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#13:17|Matthew 13:17]]: For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men ''desired'' to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.
# [[Wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Luke#22:15|Luke 22:15-16]]: And he said unto them, With ''desire'' I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
# [[Wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Acts#20:33|Acts 20:33]]: I ''coveted'' no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
# [[Wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Luke#15:14|Luke 15:14-16]]: And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he ''would fain'' have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.