Homosexuality in the Ancient World

[Delta4Embassy]

...Didn't exist.

"As minister Gray Temple aptly put it in his book, Gay Unions: in the Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, if we could stand Moses and Paul before us — the only two biblical authors who have been attributed as having said anything pertaining to or about homosexuality — and applaud (or deride) them for their condemnation of homosexuality, they would almost certainly stare at us in blank incomprehension. Why? Because homosexuality per se simply isn’t anything they’d ever been aware of. No kidding.

It may well take time to get used to seeing this in ancient writings — and none of us assimilates this notion on the first pass — but like it or not, this understanding operates in biblical interpretation and more and more bible scholars working in good faith and out in the open find this reality necessary for grasping what the biblical writers were talking about when they were treating something sexual.

Perhaps even more startling, in the biblical world and in their schema of sexual understanding, there was no such thing as “heterosexuality” either. In fact, we only had clinical words for “gay” and “straight” as of 1869, and those were only heard in German for several years. Harper’s Bible Dictionary says of homosexuality:

“A word for which there is no specific equivalent in the Hebrew Old Testament or the Greek New Testament, since the concept itself as well as the English word originated only in the 19th century.”

The human race did not divide into gender identities or orientations of “homosexual” and “heterosexual.” Readers are often misinformed and encouraged to believe something that is untrue, that the Bible condemns “homosexuality.” The truth is that the Bible cannot condemn homosexuality since no such concept as homosexual orientation existed at the time of the Bible’s writing."
Why No One in the Biblical World Had a Word for Homosexuality On Being Jewish Christian and Gay

Can't forbid something if you have no earthly conception of it. And we didn't until 1869.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Read that first paragraph VERY closely. Moses and Paul...

Now ask yourself if Judaism and Christianity worship Moses and/or Paul or Jesus and God. If the latter, you REALLY need to ask yourselves who you're listening to. God, or Man.

 

[onefour1]

I've never heard something so ridiculous in all my life. The verses of the Old and New Testament are quite clear on the subject. To pretend that they didn't know what they were talking about is an all time low for trying to rationalize the sin away or preying on people's ignorance of the Bible.

Leviticus 18:1-2,22-25
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God.
...
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

Leviticus 20:1,13
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
...
13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Take note of the word "knew" in the following two verses:

Genesis 4:1
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

Genesis 4:25
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

The word in Hebrew is yada` according to Yada - Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon - King James Version and one of its meanings is to know someone carnally. This is the usage of this word in the above two verses.

Certainly the word "knew' would have no other context since Adam knew his wife again or a second time. This same word with the same context is used in the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 19:1-13
1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

Certainly God was not angry with Sodom and Gomorrah for doing nothing wrong. The men who came to Lot's home were sent to destroy the city because of its wickedness. Homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of God. The men of these cities came to Lot's home to have sex with the men in his house. This is why Lot said in verse 7 for them not to do so wickedly. He then offered them his daughters instead of his guests but they were not so inclined. The men of the city were then about to break down the door when the two men (angels) who were sent to Lot and his family pulled Lot into the house and cursed the men of the city with blindness. The word "know" and "known" in these verses are used in the same context as in Genesis 4:1. They wanted to know the men carnally. Certainly God would not strike these men blind for only wanting to become a friend and casual acquaintance with the visitors. They sought to do wickedly and both the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were totally destroyed by God.

The term "sodomy" and "sodomite" has been used ever since as evidenced in the following verse:

Deuteronomy 23:17
17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

In the New Testament in the book of Jude, homosexuality is called, "going after strange flesh".

Jude 1:7
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

The Apostle Paul was very clear about what he meant when writing to the Romans:

Romans 1:20-32
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

They may not have had the word, "homosexuality" as a word in their vocabulary, but it is absolutely absurd to think that they did not understand that having sexual relations with the opposite sex was an abomination in the eyes of their God. You may question whether Moses or Paul or all of Israel's God is real or not or whether they were inspired by God himself, but Israel certainly had a knowledge of homosexuality and according to all that they professed to believe, they knew it to be an abomination in the eyes of God.