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 | "homosexuals," (NASB); |
| "homosexual perversion," (NEB); |
| "homosexual offenders," (NIV). |
In doing this, they appear to have little respect to the actual meaning of the original Greek verse. By using the term "homosexual" the translators changed the scope of the verse. The original Greek refers to men only; the English translation refers to both males and females; i.e. to gays and lesbians. We suspect that the temptation to attack lesbians overcame the translators' desire to be accurate.
The author of 1 Timothy also used "arsenokoitai." The KJV translated it similarly:
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." (Emphasis ours)
Christian theologians generally agree that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians circa 55 CE. However, they differ on the authorship and date of the three Pastoral Epistles -- 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus.
| Conservative Protestants generally believe that Paul wrote the Pastoral epistles during the interval 62 to 64 CE. |
| Liberals generally believe that they were written up to 85 years after Paul's execution, circa 100 to 150 CE by an unknown person who pretended to be Paul. |
What does "arsenokoitai" really mean?
Nobody knows for certain.
"Arsenokoitai" is made up of two parts: "arsen" means "man"; "koitai" means "beds."
Although the word in English Bibles is interpreted as referring to homosexuals, we can be fairly certain that this is not the meaning that Paul wanted to convey. If he had, he would have used the word "paiderasste." That was the standard Greek term at the time for sexual behavior between males. We can conclude that he probably meant something different than people who engaged in male-male adult sexual behavior.
Many sources have speculated about the meaning of "arsenokoitai:"
| "Homosexual offenders:" The NIV contains this phrase. Suppose for the moment that Paul had attacked "heterosexual offenders" or "heterosexual sexual offenders." We would not interpret this today as a general condemnation of heterosexuality. It would be seen as an attack only on those heterosexuals who commit sexual offences. Perhaps the appropriate interpretation of this verse is that it does not condemn all homosexuals. Rather it condemns only those homosexuals who engage in sexual offences (e.g. child sexual abuse). |
| Male prostitutes in Pagan temples: One source states that the Septuagint (an ancient, pre-Christian translation of the Old Testament into Greek made between the 3rd and 1st century BCE) translated the Hebrew "quadesh" in I Kings 14:24, 15:12 and 22:46 into a Greek word somewhat similar to "arsenokoitai." This passage referred to "male temple prostitutes" - people who engaged in ritual sex in Pagan temples. 1 Some leaders in the early Christian church also thought 1 Corinthians was referring to temple prostitutes. Some authorities believe that it simply means male prostitutes with female customers - a practice which appears to have been a common practice in the Roman empire. |
| Pimp: Another source refers to other writings, written later than 1 Corinthians, which containe the word "arsenokoitai:" This includes the Sibylline Oracles 2.70-77, Acts of John, and Theophilus of Antioch's Ad Autolycum. The source suggests that the term refers "to some kind of economic exploitation by means of sex (but not necessarily homosexual sex)." 2 Probably "pimp" or "man living off of the avails of prostitution" would be the closest English translations. It is worth noting that "Much Greek homosexual erotic literature has survived, none of it contains the word arsenokoitai." 3 |
| Masturbators. At the time of Martin Luther, "arsenokoitai" was universally interpreted as masturbator. But by the 20th century, masturbation had become a more generally accepted behavior. So, new translations abandoned references to masturbators and switched the attack to homosexuals. The last religious writing in English that interpreted 1 Corinthians 6:9 as referring to masturbation is believed to be the [Roman] Catholic Encyclopedia of 1967. |
| Abusive pedophiles: Many would consider "malakoi" --
the word preceding "arsenokoitai," in 1 Corinthians -- to refer to a boy or young male who engaged in sexual
activities with men. Such boys were often slaves, kept by rich men as sex partners. The second term might then refer to
the men who engaged in sex with the catamites. That is, they were abusive pedophiles or hebephiles. The
New American Bible contains a footnote which reads:
In their footnote, the translators recognize that the term refers to abusive male pedophiles, but apparently cannot resist the temptation to attack all homosexuals -- both gays and lesbians, non-abusive and abusive. Harper's Bible Commentary (1998) states that the passage refers to:
Many religious liberals might agree that the center portion of 6:9 might be accurately translated as: "male child abusers and the boys that they sexually abuse." i.e. the two behaviors probably relate to male pedophiles who are also child rapists, and the male children that they victimize. The verse would then refer to the crime of child sexual abuse and has no relation to homosexuality in the normal sense of the term: i.e. to consensual sexual relations between adults of the same gender. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male prostitutes: Justin Cannon has provided an interesting analysis of
1 Corinthians. 4 He
noticed a pattern in verse 9 and 10. They are composed up of pairs or triads of related groups
of people:
From the repeated pairs or triads made up of synonyms or near synonyms, one might expect that whoremongers, "malakoi arsenokoitai" and meanstealers are interconnected with a common theme.
If we assume that the three words are linked together, as the other five groups are, then we have to look for some sense in which the words refer to a common theme. Cannon suggests:
The common theme is slavery. Cannon suggests a translation: "It is as if Paul were saying, 'male prostitutes, men who sleep with them, and slave dealers who procure them'." 1 That is, all three words deal with slavery. They are unrelated to homosexual behavior in the modern sense of the term i.e. consensual sex between persons of the same sex. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A boy sex slave: An alternative interpretation, following Canon's analysis, could be:
Again, the common theme is slavery. Translating "arsenokoitai" as a boy who is kept as a sex slave has some support in at least two Bible translations:
A possible translation of 1 Timothy 1:10 would be: "...male prostitutes, boys who have sex with men, and slave dealers who enslave them both." |
Jesus and homosexuality:
It is worthwhile to check the words attributed to Jesus by the author of the Gospel of Matthew. He also had a list of sins that could bring doom on a person: Matt 15:18-20: "...those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man..." It is worth noting that homosexual behavior is not one of the behaviors that is mentioned in this passage. One might conclude that Jesus did not consider it a sin, or that he viewed it as a minor sin not worth mentioning, or that the author of Matthew did not fully record all of Jesus' categories.
Related essays on this website:
| Two definitions of homosexuality and six interpretations about the nature of homosexuality | ||||
| Six "clobber passages" in the Bible:
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| The impact of religion on homosexuality and bisexuality (Menu) |
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Paul Thomas Cahill, "An investigation into the Bible and homosexuality," at: http://www.christianlesbians.com/
- "How to be true to the Bible and say 'Yes' to same-sex unions," at: http://members.aol.com/DrSwiney/bennett.html
- "Celebrating diversity: texts recently applied to homosexuality," at: http://members.tripod.com/~uniting/resource/bible.html
- Justin Cannon, "The Bible, Christianity and Homosexuality," at: http://www.truthsetsfree.net/study.html Copyright © 2005 All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
- "New Testament Greek Lexicon," Search God's Word, at: http://www.searchgodsword.org/
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Copyright © 1996 to 2007 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-AUG-02
Author: B.A. Robinson
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