Is homosexuality condemned in Leviticus 18:22, 20:13?
God gave Moses laws to relate directly to the people of Israel and as statutes for the Israelites to follow, as stated in Lev. 18:1-2"And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God'" Lev. 18:1-2 ESV., 19:1-2"And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy'" Lev. 19:1-2 ESV., 20:1-2 "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones'" Lev. 20:1-2 ESV., 23:1-2"The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts'" Lev. 23:1-2 ESV., 25:1-2"The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD'" Lev. 25:1-2 ESV., and 27:1-2"The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons . . .'" Lev. 27:1-2 ESV.. The rules describe Jewish social norms and laws, some of which were already commonly followed during that time period. God specifically states in Lev. 18:3-5"You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD" Lev. 18:3-5. , that God gave the Israelites these rules as a way to distinguish themselves from the pagan practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites. In fact, many rules and regulations that are set forth for the Israelites in the Old Testament were actually devised in direct opposition to Canaanite practices.1 For example, most scholars believe that the Canaanites practiced temple prostitution, bestiality, and homosexual rituals during ceremonies in which they worshipped Baal.2
Deut. 23:17 ESV states, "None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute." Interestingly, Deut. 23:17 KJV states, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel." Notice that the KJV and ESV translations are slightly different. Both passages use the ancient Hebrew word qâdêsh, but the KJV translates the word as "sodomite" and the ESV translates the word as "cult prostitute." Nevertheless, both translations of Deut. 23:17 refer to cult prostitution, which was common among pagan tribes such as the Canaanites, and the Israelites believed that male homosexuality and heterosexuality was practiced by the prostitutes.
Other Old Testament biblical passages solidify the belief that pagans often worshipped false idols through sexual expressions, or at least they exhibited a genuine concern that Christians would "whore themselves" to false idols as the pagans did, and they prohibited Christians from doing such: Lev. 17:7"So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations" Lev. 17:7 ESV., Exod. 34:15-16"(L)est you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods" Exod. 34:15-16 ESV., Deut. 31:16"And the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them'" Deut. 31:16 ESV., Judg. 2:17"Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so" Judg. 2:17 ESV., Judg. 8:27"And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family" Judg. 8:27 ESV, Judg. 8:33"As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god" Judg. 8:33 ESV., 1 Chron. 5:25"But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them" 1 Chron. 5:25 ESV., 2 Chron. 21:11 "Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray" 2 Chron. 21:11 ESV., Ezek. 16:17"You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore" Ezek. 16:17 ESV., Ezek. 23:29-30"Your lewdness and your whoring have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols" Ezek. 23:29-30 ESV., and Mic. 1:7"All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return" Mic. 1:7 ESV.. Moreover, Num. 24:3"So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel" Num. 24:3 ESV., Hos. 9:10"Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved" Hos. 9:10 ESV., and Ps. 106:28"Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead" Ps. 106:28 ESV. state that many Israelites actually worshipped Baal of Peor when the Isrealites lived in Shittim before they entered Canaan.3 Baal of Peor was a god derived from the Canaanite god Baal, and Baal of Peor worshippers were known for engaging in ritualistic temple prostitution, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia.
Several biblical passages show that some of the rules Moses gave to the Israelites were in direct response to Canaanite practices such as the prohibition against transvestism as in Deut 22:5"'A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God'" Deut. 22:5 ESV., the prohibition against coveting neighbor's goods as in Exod. 20:17"'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's'" Exod. 20:17 ESV., the prohibition against incest as in Lev. 18:6-18, and the prohibition against sacrificing honey as in Lev. 2:11"No grain offering that you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the LORD" Lev. 2:11 ESV.. It should also be noted that, according to ancient Hittite, Babylonian, and Assyrian texts, transvestite eunuch priests existed, and Deut. 22:5"'A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God'" Deut. 22:5 ESV. could have been written to condemn these individuals as well.4
It is not surprising that God promulgated these rules which directly condemned Canaanite practices because many Israelites intermingled with the Canaanites, and they adopted their gods and idol worship, as stated in Ps. 106:7-8, 34-38"Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power. . . .
They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood" Ps. 106:7-8, 34-38 ESV.. Likewise, Hos. 2:1-2, 8"Say to your brothers, 'You are my people,' and to your sisters, 'You have received mercy.' Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face. . . . And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal" Hos. 2:1-2, 8 ESV. states that the Israelites offered gifts of grain, wine, gold, oil, and silver to Baal instead of to God, despite the fact that these were gifts that God had bestowed upon the Israelites. Furthermore, Hos. 13:1-2"When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, 'Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!'" Hos. 13:1-2 ESV. states that Ephraim, the son of Joseph and father of the Ephraim tribe,5 converted from a Jew to a pagan, worshipped Baal, and died, and Israel followed his example by worshipping idols. Judg. 2:11"And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals" Judges 2:11 ESV., Judg. 3:7"And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth" Judg. 3:7 ESV., Judg. 8:33"As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god" Judg. 8:33 ESV., Judg. 10:6"The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him" Judg. 10:6 ESV., and Judg. 10:10"And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, 'We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals'" Judg. 10:10 ESV. simply state that the Israelites worshipped the Baal gods and other gods.
Some scholars argue that there is no proof that the qâdêsh (a.k.a kadash and kadesh) were temple prostitutes or practiced homosexual relations based on the meaning of the word qâdêsh. However, there is a well-known religious doctrine known as imitatio dei by which scholars understand that the actions and passions of the gods in mythological texts reflected the actions and desires of humans in that particular society.6 Even MacArthur, who wrote the ESV Study Bible and who believes that the Bible supports the argument that homosexuality is a sin (see MacArthur, 2010, p. 178 note for Lev. 18:22"18:22 not lie with a male. This outlaws all homosexuality (cf. 20:13; Rom. 1:27, 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10). See notes on Gen. 19:1-29" (MacArthur, 2010, p. 178).), states in his note on p. 1698 for 1 Cor. 10:19-20, "If pagan worshipers believe an idol was god, demons act out the part of the imagined god (cf. 2 Thess. 2:9-11)." Imitatio dei is a well-known concept among theologians and scholars.
Our knowledge of Canaanite worship and practices comes from the Ugarit.7 In the Ugarit, Baal, the god of fertility, has sexual intercourse with the goddess Anat, who is his sister"In one passage he (Baal) makes love to the goddess Anat who is both his consort and his sister" (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 159)., and he also has sexual intercourse with a heiferhe Ugarit: "Puissant Baal complies. He desires a cow-calf in Dubr, A heifer in Shihlmemat-field (šd šḥlmmt); Lies with her times seventy-seven, . . . times eighty-eight. She [conc]eives and gives birth to Math" (Pritchard, 1969, p. 139).. Thus, based on imitatio dei and the Ugarit, scholars believe that sexual intercourse, bestiality, and incest were all a part of Canaanite's religious practices.8 The Ugaritic reference to the Canaanite's bestial religious practices seems to be verified in Hos. 13:2"And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, 'Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!'" Hos. 13:2 ESV., which states that the idol worshippers (pagans) who offered human sacrifices also kissed calves.
Thus, based on imitatio dei, the most common belief among religious scholars is that the qâdêsh were temple prostitutes who took part in religious orgies. Deut. 23:18 ESV states, "You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD." Although Deut. 23:18 mentions the fees of a prostitute and although temple prostitution and regular prostitution had different moral significances to the Canaanite people, the term "a dog" referred specifically to temple prostitution.9 Moreover, the Ugarit is incomplete and it has many missing and illegible passages. Even though Canaanite temple prostitution is not specifically referenced in the salvaged Ugarit passages, it is still possible that the Canaanite temple prostitutes partook in homosexual rituals during their worship.
Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. clearly condemn all homosexual activity. No ancient Hebrew word existed for "homosexuality," so the passages actually describe the sin. Some scholars believe that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. don't actually condemn homosexual acts committed between homosexual men; instead, they believe that the passages condemn the homosexual acts committed by pagans during religious ceremonies.
It is generally accepted that the Canaanites practiced incest and bestiality during religious rituals.1 However, there is no evidence in the Ugarit, which documents Canaanite laws, rules, and religious practices, that the Canaanites practiced homosexual temple prostitution or homosexual rituals during their worship. Since there is no evidence that the Canaanites partook in homosexual temple prostitution, Christians must conclude that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. condemns homosexual practices between men, in general, just as various scholars and theologians have concluded.
Bailey, a historian, states that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. must be referring to male homosexual activities in general and not cult prostitution because there is no evidence that the Canaanites practiced homosexual temple prostitution.2 Likewise, another well-known contemporary author, John Boswell, who wrote a couple books supporting the premise that homosexuality is not a sin, admits that there is very little evidence indicating that cult prostitutes engaged in homosexual acts during that time period.3
Furthermore, Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. do not state that they restrict male homosexual activities in relation to pagan religious worship. If God had wanted the Israelites to restrict the passages' interpretations to be applicable to only instances of cult prostitution, the passages would have stated as such. Moreover, one of the main goals of the Torah was to ensure that the Israelites remain pure and holy for God. If the Israelites were to use their bodies for sexual purposes other than for procreation, then this would have been considered a grave sin against the Lord.
Marriage was integral to the Israelites. Marriage defined family structure and identity and was the basis for property ownership and inheritance.4 The head of the house was the father, and his sons would inherit his estate when he died.5 Marriage for a woman meant that she was transferred from her father, who was the head of the household, to her husband, who became the new head of the household, assuming that the newly married couple lived separately from the wife's father.6 In fact, marriages and families were so important to the Israelites that the relationship between the Lord and the Israelites is sometimes depicted in the Old Testament as a marriage or family relationship: The Lord is viewed as a husband or father (a master and guide) and the Israelites are viewed as a wife or children (rebellious, weak, and submissive).7
Since the Israelites highly valued marriage and families, one can surmise that procreation was also very important to them, so much so that "spilling one's seed" was considered a sin.8 In fact, the Lord kills Onan for refusing to impregnate his brother's sister and deliberately spilling his seed in Gen. 8-10"Then Judah said to Onan, 'Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.' But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also." Gen. 8-10 ESV.. Of course, some people view the prohibition against homosexuality in Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. as only condemning sexual acts which do not result in procreation;9 however, the passages are concerned with the people who are performing the sexual acts, not the specific sexual acts, themselves. Since the Bible describes how the Israelites placed such a high importance on procreation and how they condemned any sexual activity that was not used for this purpose, we must strictly interpret Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. as condemning male homosexual acts in all situations, and not just during pagan worship.
The Canaanites' Ugarit is not the only ancient manuscript which describes pagans' religious practices during that time period. Ancient Babylonian and Assyrian texts mention priests "who played music, wore masks, and carried a spindle, a symbol of women's work," and who were believed to hold magical powers and supposedly submitted to anal intercourse.10 These Babylonian and Assyrian worshipers were known as assinu and kurgarru. Although there is very little evidence in the Ugarit that the Canaanite temple prostitutes practiced homosexual rituals, most scholars believe that the Babylonian and Assyrian assinu and kurgarru practiced homosexual rituals.11
Several textual references explicitly describe the role of the assinu, such as an ancient omen which states that "if a man has intercourse with an assinu, trouble will leave him."12 In fact, the ancient Hebrew word assinu possesses the same root as the ancient Hebrew word assinutu, which meant 'to practice sodomy,' and an omen existed that referred to an owner of a sacrificial lamb submitting to sodomy or assinutu if the lamb's right cheek is dark.13 Female temple prostitutes known as assinutum also existed, and they would avoid pregnancy by submitting to anal intercourse as well, according to ancient Babylonian and Assyrian texts.14
Although Leviticus prohibits the Israelites from acting as the Egyptians and the Canaanites, there is much evidence, including biblical evidence, that the Israelites intermingled with the Phoenicians and Mesopotamians, to include the Babylonians and Assyrians, as stated in 2 Kings 17:23-24"So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities" 2 Kings 17:23-24 ESV. and 2 Kings 18:11"The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes . . ." 2 Kings 18:11 ESV., and that the Israelites adopted some of their pagan religious practices, as stated in Deut. 23:18"You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD . . ." Deut. 23:18 ESV.15 Thus, it is possible that the Israelites were familiar with the roles of the assinu and temple prostitutes, and Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. was written to prohibit the Israelites from engaging in these roles.16
Tribes other than the Canaanites may have practiced homosexuality during religious ceremonies; however, the Israelites are not compared to these tribes in Leviticus. Instead, the Israelites are only compared to the Egyptians and Canaanites, and there is no evidence that the Canaanites or Egyptians practiced homosexual religious rituals. In fact, some scholars believed that cult prostitution was absent in Egypt because of the way in which the kingdom was established.10
In Egypt, a king was viewed as "an incarnation of divinity" and religious ceremonies were performed specifically for him; whereas in kinship-structured societies, male youths may have been sodomized and in aristocratic societies, young nobles may have been sodomized during and outside of religious ceremonies.11 The Egyptians viewed their kings as a sort of god, and they may have considered it an indignation for the king to have sexual relations with a common mortal.12
When one takes into account one of the main purposes of the Mosaic law, to differentiate the Israelites from pagans, it is easy to see how one could conclude that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. do not actually prohibit homosexual men in loving monogamous relations from having homosexual relations, but were created as a direct response to prohibit homosexual acts that were performed by pagan temple prostitutes.17 Notice that the prohibition or even mention of sexual acts between homosexual women is absent in the entire Old Testament, although some conservative Christians believe that Lev. 18:22, 20:13 condemns lesbians as well. We know that their interpretation is incorrect because, during Old Testament times, women were unskilled and uneducated, and they completely depended on their husbands for their livelihood. It would have been a completely foreign concept to the Israelites for a woman to be with another woman in such a strong patriarchal society.
If we examine where Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. lie in the Old Testament, we can see that both verses lie directly below a verse that describes a tribe who sacrificed their children to the god Molech during a religious ritual and above a verse condemning incestual relations and bestiality. We have proof in the Ugarit that the gods practiced both incest"In one passage he (Baal) makes love to the goddess Anat who is both his consort and his sister" (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 159). and bestialityFrom the Ugarit: "Puissant Baal complies. He desires a cow-calf in Dubr, A heifer in Shihlmemat-field (šd šḥlmmt); Lies with her times seventy-seven, . . . times eighty-eight. She [conc]eives and gives birth to Math" (Pritchard, 1969, p. 139)., and the Canaanites most likely practiced both during their worship of the gods based on the doctrine of imitatio deo. Since Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. lie between two biblical verses that pertain to pagan ritual practices, we can easily deduce that these passages pertained to pagan worship practices as well.
Since there is no evidence that the Canaanites or Egyptians practiced homosexual religious rituals and since the Israelites are only compared to these groups in Leviticus, we must assume that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. were written to condemn homosexuality, in general. Scholars also support this conclusion and question the relation of the Leviticus verses to cult prostitution. For example, Bailey states, "It is hardly open to doubt that both the laws in Leviticus relate to ordinary homosexual acts between men, and not to ritual or other acts performed in the name of religion."13
Based on the fact that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. do not specify that homosexuality is only to be condemned during religious rituals and due to the fact that there is no evidence that proves the Canaanite cult prostitutes partook in cult homosexual rituals, there is no chance that Lev. 18:22"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" Lev. 18:22 ESV. and Lev. 20:13"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" Lev. 20:13 ESV. only condemn homosexuality in regards to cult prostitution. Moreover, if Lev. 18:22, 20:13 condemns male homosexuality, then we can infer that it also condemns female homosexuality, since all homosexuality is morally wrong and goes against God's plan for a man and woman to marry each other and procreate afterwards.
1Alexander, D. & Alexander, P. (Eds.), 1999, p. 188; Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 158; & Lev. 18:3 Return
2Alexander, D. & Alexander, P. (Eds.), 1999, p. 188; Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 158; Levine, 1989, p. 118, note 3; Crompton, 2003, p. 33 Return
3See MacArthur, 2010, p. 1230, note for Hos. 9:10"Hos. 9:10 grapes in the wilderness . . . Baal-peor. Prior to entering the Promised Land, Israel fell into worship of Baal at Baal-peor (Num. 25:3-18)." stating that the Israelites worshipped Baal-peor. Return
4Spencer, 1995, p. 56; Greenberg, 1988, p. 96. Return
5"Ephrajim, a son of Joseph; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory" Strong, 1995/1996, Hebrew section p. 12, entry 669. Return
6Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 158 & Levine, 1989, p. 125 Return
7Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 158 Return
8Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 159 Return
9"'A dog' denotes a servant of the temple who serves as a temple prostitute" (Boadt, 1988, p. 375). Return
10"Hittite texts document transvestite eunuch priests; Babylonian and Assyrian texts refer to the priests who chanted, played music, wore masks and carried a spindle, a symbol of women's work. They were thought to have magical powers and all the references to them indicate that they had been castrated and that they submitted to anal intercourse" (Spencer, 1995, p. 56). See also Greenberg, 1988, p. 96. Return
11Greenberg, 1988, p. 96 Return
12Greenberg, 1988, p. 96, citing Grayson & Redford, 1974, p. 148-149; Nissinen, 1998, p. 27"If a man copulates with an assinnu, a hard destiny will leave him" (Nissinen, 1998, p. 27).. Return
13Greenberg, 1988, p. 97 Return
14Greenberg, 1988, p. 97 Return
15Greenberg, 1988, p. 99; "(C)ult temple prostitution had been common in Mesopotamia since at least 2000 BC, and as these are vassal cities it might seem reasonable to suppose that they had adopted such rights. It would accompany the pagan idol-worshiping mentioned above" (Spencer, 1995, p. 61). Return
16"The fact that these laws occur in chapters which expressly associate homosexual and other immoralities with the customs of the Canaanites and the Egyptians may suggest that the object of this legislation was rather to prevent the contamination of God's people by the depravities of the heathen than to extirpate the vices of Israel" (Bailey, 1955/1975, p. 30). Return
17"(I)n condemnations of temple prostitution involving idolatry, 'toevah' (tô‛êbah) is employed (e.g. 1 Kings 14:24"(A)nd there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel" 1 Kings 14:24 KJV.), while in prohibitions of prostitution in general a different word, 'zimah,' appears (e.g., "" ESV.Lev. 19:29). Often 'toevah' . . . (is associated with idolatry, as in Ezek. 7:20"His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them" Ezek. 7:20 ESV., 16:36"Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them" Ezek. 16:36 ESV.; Jer. 16:18"But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations" Jer. 16:18 ESV.; and Deut. 7:25-26"The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction" Deut. 7:25-26 ESV.), . . . and its connection with idolatry is patent even within the context of the passages regarding homosexual acts. Leviticus 18 is specifically designed to destinguish the Jews from the pagans . . . (as stated in Lev. 18:3"You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes" Lev. 18:3 ESV.) . . . (a)nd the prohibition of homosexual acts (Lev. 18:22) follows immediately upon a prohibition of idolatrous sexuality: 'And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God' (Lev. 18:21 KJV). Moreover, since the actions of the kadeshim (qâdêsh) were specifically labeled as toevah (tô‛êbah) (e.g., in 1 Kings 14:24"(A)nd there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel" 1 Kings 14:24 KJV.), one might infer that the condemnations in Leviticus were in fact aimed at curbing temple prostitution in particular rather than homosexual behavior in general" (Boswell, 1980, p. 100-101) Return
18"In these laws against incest, relation by marriage has the same force as blood relationship. Each partner in the marriage transfers his set of incest taboos to the other. The list prohibits unions that were customary in patriarchal and Mosaic times and even during the early kingdom (c.f. e.g. Gen. 20:12"Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife" Gen. 20:12 ESV. ; Gen. 29:21-30"As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son . . ." Gen. 29:13. "Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel" Gen. 29:16. Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed" Gen. 29:21 ESV. "But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her" Gen. 29:23 ESV. "Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife" Gen. 29:28 ESV. "So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years" Gen. 29:30 ESV. ; Exod. 6:20"Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years" Exod. 6:20 ESV. ; 2 Sam. 13:13"As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you" 2 Sam. 13:13 ESV. )" (Laymon (Ed.), 1971, p. 79). Return
19Levine, 1989, p. 118, note 3 & Laymon (Ed.), 1971, p. 79 Return
1Alexander, D. & Alexander, P. (Eds.), 1999, p. 188; Crompton, 2003, p. 33; Levine, 1989, p. 118, note 3; Levine, 1989, p. 123; Mays, 1988, p. 172 Return
2Bailey, 1955/1975, p. 30"It has generally been supposed that the Deuteronomic passage refers to male homosexual temple prostitution, but this surmise is groundless, due mainly to misunderstanding of the function of the qādhē - a word unfortunately translated 'sodomite' in the Authorized and Revised Versions of the English Bible. It is hardly open to doubt that both the laws in Leviticus relate to ordinary homosexual acts between men, and not to ritual or other acts performed in the name of religion. . . ." (Bailey, 1955/1975, p. 3. Return
3Boswell, 1980, p. 99 Return
4"As part of the kinship system in ancient Isreal, marriage not only regulated family structure and identity but also was closely linked to the central institutions of of property ownership and inheritance" (Dearman, 1996, p. 56). Return
5Dearman, 1996, p. 56. Return
6"A man take (laqaḥ) a woman and she becomes (hayah le) for him a wife. these verbs signify the legal transfer of the woman from her father's house to that of her husband" (Dearman, 1996, p. 57). Return
7"The Lord plays the roles of husband and father (parent). These roles allow the Lord to prosecute his spouse or children. Israel and Judah can be either spouse or children. Jerusalem and Samaria also play the roles of wife and daughter. Sexuality infidelity in various forms is a common metaphor for Israelite or Judean failure" (Dearman, 1996, p. 60); "Personified Jerusalem plays an assortment of marital roles in Isaiah 40-66, a section of scripture originating in the exilic and early postexilic periods. She is a restored daughter (52:1-2; 62:10-12; cf. 40:1-2), a barren woman who bears children (54:1-3), a forsaken wife now reconciled to her husband (54:4-8), a queen and bride (62:3, 5). . . . As married land and nursing mother, she also provides sustenance for the people (62:4; 66:10-11). The Lord is husband (54:5), bridegroom (62:5), and like a nursing mother (49:15-16); in these roles of restoring Jerusalem and people, the Lord is faithful to a family bond that has been temporarily destroyed" (Dearman, 1996, p. 61). Return
8"Because male sexuality and marriage was so highly valued, every other sexual activity, even the most trivial, was banned. For example, a man was forbidden to hold his penis even while urinating. It was thought this ban existed for fear that the man might begin to masturbate, and one Talmudic writer even suggested that such an act should deserve the death penalty" (Spencer, 1995, p. 54-55). Return
9"As the UCC study guide says: 'The condemnation of male homosexual acts must be seen in the context of the procreative ethic which it served' (Scroggs, 1983, p. 13, citing Human Sexuality, p. 56). Thus the law may be primarily directed not against same-sex relationships in and of themselves but rather against the result (sic) of male homosexuality. Since today 'wasting of semen' may not be considered a sin at all, the contemporary relevance of the law is nullified" (Scroggs, 1983, p. 13). Return
10Greenberg, 1988, p. 128 Return
11Greenberg, 1988, p. 128, 129-130 Return
12Greenberg, 1988, p. 128, 129-130 Return
13Bailey, 1955/1975, p. 30 Return
A history of the word qâdêsh: The word for a male "cult prostitute" and "sodomite" in Hebrew is qâdêsh and the word for a female cult prostitute in Hebrew is qedêshâh. In the ancient Hebrew language, these words are literally translated as a 'sacred' or 'hallowed' male or female. This meaning has caused a huge problem for translators, and Greek translators choose six different translations just for the Hebrew word qâdêsh (Spencer, 1995, p. 57). In fact, the word qâdêsh in Strong's Concordance is translated as "a (quasi) sacred person, i.e. (tech.) a male devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry:-sodomite, unclean." (Strong, 1995/1996, Hebrew section p. 124, entry 6945).
Incestuous relations: Some scholars believe that incestuous relations were quite common in ancient times.18 Other scholars, however, do not believe that incest was common among the Egyptians and Canaanites; but perhaps it was actually more common among the Israelites, themselves, since incest is referred to within several Old Testament passages, for example: Gen. 11:26-29"When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah" Gen. 11:26-29 ESV.; 19:36"Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father" Gen. 19:36 ESV.; 20:11-12"Abraham said, 'I did it because I thought, "There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife." Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife'" Gen. 20:11-12 ESV., 29:13-30"As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things . . . Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel . . . Jacob loved Rachel" Gen. 29:13, 16, 18 ESV.; 38:16-18"He turned to her at the roadside and said, "Come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?" He answered, "I will send you a young goat from the flock." And she said, "If you give me a pledge, until you send it—" He said, "What pledge shall I give you?" She replied, "Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand." So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him" Gen. 38:16-18 ESV.; Exod. 6:20"Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years" Exod. 6:20 ESV.; and 2 Sam. 13:11-14"But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, 'Come, lie with me, my sister.' She answered him, 'No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.' But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her" 2 Sam. 13:11-14 ESV..19
A summary of relevant Canaanite stories: In the Canaanite story of the Epic of Aqhat, Anat coveted bows and arrows that had been given to Aquat by the craftsman god Kothar-and-Hasis, and when Aquat refused to give them to Anat, she killed him (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 159). This story may have inspired the tenth commandment that Israelites are not to covet their neighbor's goods. Another Canaanite story exists in which the goddess Pughat disguises herself as a male to seek revenge against Anat who had earlier killed Aquat, and Canaanite literature describes the cross-dressing in a noble manner (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 160). Cross-dressing is also referred to positively in the Epic of Aqhat (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 160). Most likely these stories inspired the Israelite law (Deut. 22:5"A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God" Deut. 22:5 ESV.) that prohibits transvestism (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 160).
Another example of an Israelite law that was promulgated in direct response to a Canaanite story is the Lev. 2:11"No grain offering that you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the LORD" Lev. 2:11 ESV. rule against sacrificing honey. Obviously, there is nothing morally repugnant against sacrificing honey; however, in the Canaanite Legend of Kret, a hero sacrifices both wine and honey (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 161). The Israelites would not have sacrificed wine because it was the most important product in their country; however, honey was expendable, and the Israelites may have been sacrificed it to God had the Lev. 2:11"No grain offering that you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the LORD" Lev. 2:11 ESV. prohibition not existed (Gordon & Rendsburg, 1997, p. 161).
If a man has intercourse with the hindquarters of his equal (male), that man will be foremost among his brothers and colleagues. If a man yearns to express his manhood while in prison and, thus, like a male cult-prostitute, mating with men becomes his desire, he will experience evil. If a man has intercourse with a (male) cult prostitute, care [in the sense of 'trouble'] will leave him. If a man has intercourse with a [male] courtier, for one whole year the worry which plagued him will vanish. If a man has intercourse with a [male] slave, care will seize him (Greenberg, 1988, p. 126-127, citing Grayson & Redford, 1973, p. 149).
Based on this passage, it is easy to understand that homosexuality, itself, carried no negative moral implications. Instead, the positive or negative implications of the act depended on the participants' roles and social statuses. Greenberg states, "To penetrate someone of high social status (an equal, a cult prostitute, a courtier) anally is favorable; to be involved with one's slave, unfavorable. To prefer the receptive role, perhaps exclusively, appears to have been negatively regarded except in cultic context" (Greenberg, 1988, p. 127). There is even a well-established curse that states "one will make him the object of repeated coitus" (Greenberg, 1988, p. 127). Thus, the passive homosexual role was viewed in a negative context, but love between two men and homosexuality in general was not viewed negatively. In fact, none of the early Mesopotamia laws: The Laws of Urukagina (2375 B.C.), the Laws of Ur-Nammu (2100 B.C.), the Laws of Eshnunna (1750 B.C.), and the Laws of Hammurabi (1726 B.C.) disallowed homosexual acts (Greenberg, 1988, p. 124).
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