Leviticus
18:22
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as
with womankind: it is
abomination.
a. NLT: “Do not
practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a
detestable sin.
b. NIV: “ ‘Do not
have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
c. Amplified
Bible: You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.
d. Septuagint: And
thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination.
e. Stone Edition
Torah/Writings/Prophets: You shall not lie with a man as one lies with a woman,
it is an abomination.
1. Thou shalt not lie with mankind,
as with womankind
a. lie [7901 *
shakab][Strong: a primitive root; to lie down (for rest, sexual connection,
decease or any other purpose):--X at all, cast down, ((lover-))lay (self)
(down), (make to) lie (down, down to sleep, still with), lodge, ravish, take
rest, sleep, stay.
b. mankind [2145 *
zakar][Strong: properly, remembered, i.e. a male (of man or animals, as being
the most noteworthy sex):--X him, male, man(child, -kind).
c. as with [4904 *
mishkab][Strong: a bed (figuratively, a
bier); abstractly, sleep; by euphemism, carnal intercourse:--bed((-chamber)),
couch, lieth (lying) with.]
d. womankind [802
* ‘ishshah][Strong: irregular plural,
nashiym {naw-sheem'}; a woman (used in the same wide sense as ''enowsh' (582)):--(adulter)ess,
each, every, female, X many, + none, one, + together, wife, woman. Often
unexpressed in English.]
1). I must repeat
here what I mentioned in the notes on Leviticus 18:1-4 : An interesting fact
about this passage is that the use of the Hebrew word for “ordinance” used in
describing the “ordinances” of God and the “ordinances” of Canaan are the same
Hebrew word. The word for ordinances is [2708 * [huqqah][Gesenius: that which
is established or defined, law, ordinance, practice, custom, right, privilege.]
The rest of chapter 18 in Leviticus, particularly verses 6-23 then lists a
whole range of immoral sexual practices that the cultures of Egypt and Canaan
not only practiced but made ordinances concerning them. It looks as if there
were laws on the books in Egypt and in the Canaanite nations regarding their
incest, their child sacrifice, their homosexuality, their bestiality. They
codified their immorality into their legal systems, they legislated their
immorality. Hence, Leviticus 18:22 is one of many sexually immoral behaviors
that Canaanite culture legally protected their citizens to engage in.
2). The New
Testament And Homosexuality, Robin Scroggs, pp 71, 72. “Only with the
codification of the Priestly code in the fifth-fourth centuries B.C.E. does an
explicit law emerge which deals with male homosexuality in general (Leviticus
18:22; 20:13). The prohibition in Leviticus 18:22 is terse: “With a male you
shall not lie (shakav) the lyings of a woman; it is an abomination” (au.
trans.). The awkwardness of the sentence is caused by the fact that there is no
technical term for homosexuality in Hebrew. Nevertheless the meaning is clear.
Shakav is frequently used to denote sexual intercourse; thus the sentence is a
general prohibition of male homosexuality.”
a). Don Costello: Because
he clings to a myth that certain portions of the five books of Moses weren’t
written until the fourth or fifth centuries B.C.E, he is rejecting Moses’ authorship of
Leviticus, thus calling Jesus a liar. Jesus accepted Moses’ authorship of Leviticus
as evidenced by citing him to the leper and calling on him to be obedient to
what Moses wrote. Moses wrote concerning leprosy in Leviticus 13 & 14.
b). Matthew
8:4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou
tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift
that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
c). Don Costello: The
instruction concerning the “gift” that Jesus spoke of concerning Moses writing
is listed in Leviticus 14.
3). Don Costello: The
Torah, the law, was received on Mt. Sinai in the third month after they had
departed from Egypt. Deuteronomy was written in the 40th year after
the deliverance from Egypt, (Deuteronomy 1:3; 31:24-26). Thus all 5 books of
the Torah, the Law were written within 40 years of their leaving Egypt.
a). Deuteronomy
1:3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the
first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according
unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them;
b). Deuteronomy
31:24-26 And it came to pass, when Moses
had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were
finished,
31:25 That Moses
commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
31:26 Take this
book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord
your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
4). The New
Testament And Homosexuality, Robin Scroggs, p72. “Male homosexuality is but one
of several crimes listed as punishable by death in this chapter; that is, it is
not singled out as a uniquely heinous sin.”
a). Don Costello:
Rabbinic commentary says differently, Rabbinic Commentary, Stone Edition
Tanach: Note 18:22 None of the relationships forbidden earlier are described
with this term, an abomination, a term of disgust, because they involve normal
activity, though with prohibited mates. Homosexuality, however, is unnatural
and therefore abominable.
5). What The Bible
Really Says About Homosexuality, David Helminiak, pp. 52, 52, 53. “The book of Leviticus
calls male homogenital acts an abomination. That means it was considered
unclean. The early Israelites thought it was dirty. It was prohibited not
because it was wrong in itself but because it offended sensitivities. The Book
of Leviticus associated those sensitivities with Israelite religion and made
homogenital acts a ritual violation. So according to Leviticus male-male sex was abominable because it
offended religious sensitivities. Homogenitality made a man like a Canaanite.
And to the Israelites, God’s chosen people, that was unacceptable…All the
evidence points to the same conclusion. An analysis of the Holiness Code and
its cultural context and as study of the Hebrew and Greek terms used in the
Leviticus text both show that Leviticus 18:22 forbids male homogential acts
because of their cultural and religious implications. But Leviticus makes no
statement about the morality of homogenital acts as such. That was evidently
not a concern in the Hebrew Testament. Therefore, it is a misuse of the bible
to quote Leviticus as an answer for today’s ethical question, whether gay sex
is right or wrong. Leviticus was not addressing this question.”
a). This is 180
degrees apart what Jewish Commentary says, Rabbinic Commentary, Stone Edition
Tanach: Note 18:22 None of the relationships forbidden earlier are described
with this term, an abomination, a term of disgust, because they involve normal
activity, though with prohibited mates. Homosexuality, however, is unnatural
and therefore abominable.
b). Don Costello:
The level of mental gymnastics defenders of homosexuality go when discussing a
text amazes me. The fact that their interpretations deceive anybody is also
amazing. It demonstrates not only their own deception but the “willingness” of
people to be deceived 92 Timothy 3:13).
6). What The Bible
Really Says About Homosexuality, David Helminiak, p. 56. “Circumcision and the
purity requirements of the Jewish Law were part of being a Jew. They were not
necessarily part of being a good person, just and righteous before God. Jesus
knew the difference. He is very clear that being a good person and keeping the
requirements of the Jewish Law are not the same thing. He is also very clear
that the only thing that matters is being a good person. One of the reasons
Jesus was killed was because he challenged the real importance of the Law.
“Listen and understand”, he said. It is
not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of
the mouth that defiles…What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and
this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery,
fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but
to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” (Matthew 15:10, 18-20). In that
way Jesus rejected the importance of the Jewish purity/uncleaness laws. The
only purity that mattered to Jesus was “purity of heart”.
a). Helminiak
incredibly claims Jesus was rejecting “the importance of the Jewish
purity/uncleanness laws”. The laws of the Old Covenant are not what Jesus was
challenging, but Helminiak in his willingness to deceive leaves out the
contextual verses that precede what Jesus said. The preceding verses clearly
reveal what Jesus was challenging.
(1) Matthew 15:1-9
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands
when they eat bread.
But he answered
and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your
tradition?
For God commanded,
saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother,
let him die the death.
But ye say,
Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever
thou mightest be profited by me;
And honour not his
father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of
God of none effect by your tradition.
Ye hypocrites,
well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people
draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but
their heart is far from me.
But in vain they
do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
(2) Jesus was
clearly challenging the “traditions of the elders” i.e., manmade laws, and the
effect of their tradition their laws that circumvented the word of God. Jesus
rejected manmade laws, not the God inspired Mosaic Law. Jesus would never tell
a Jew under the Old Covenant to violate that Covenant. Jesus was an observant
Jew, he was a minister of circumcision, (Romans 15:8). He preached “keeping the
law” (Matthew 19:17, 18; Matthew 23:23). The debate between jesus and the
Pharisees in Matthew 15:1-20 not on the so called purity laws, but on the
tradition of the elders. Jesus was condemning the Pharisees and Scribes
practice of exalting their own man made tradition to the same level and even
above the word of God. They subverted Scripture in order to keep their man made
tradition.
2. “…it is abomination.”
a. abomination
[8441 * tow’ebah][Strong: properly, something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as
noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol:-- abominable
(custom, thing), abomination.]
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