The Bible and Homosexuality: The Books of Kings

In the context of discussion about the depiction of homosexuality in scripture Kings takes somewhat of a backseat, with debate more often focused on Old Testament passages from the books of Genesis and Leviticus, or on Romans from the New Testament. Despite being marginalised to some extent, Kings is used to support arguments that, at the very least, uphold homosexual acts as perverse.

Such arguments are often based on the literal interpretation of the Bible, a view which advocates the idea that the whole of scripture is true and without error. I grew up with such an opinion being from an Evangelical background; however through in-depth research I discovered that such interpretations are too narrow, are often blinded to the wider historical context and significance of the text, and can lead to very dangerous and radical beliefs.

As the passages from the books of Kings supposedly concerning homosexuality are short and reference the same issues they are all contended in this one post. All quotes below are from the English Standard Version.

1 Kings 14:24:

“And 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 22:46:

“And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa.”

2 Kings 23:7:

“And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.”

The intolerance of male cult prostitutes in the passages above is often used as an additional example to illustrate how the Bible condemns sexual acts between men, and thus homosexuality. However the passage’s focus on describing them as “male cult prostitutes” implies a condemnation, not of homosexuality itself, but of a concept already touched upon in previous posts.

Idolatrous rituals were common religious practices in the countries that surrounded the relatively new kingdom of Israel, and throughout the tumultuous period that Kings covers Israel was affronted by the pagan nations of Canaan and Babylon who condoned such practices. Cults of fertility, which commonly exploited male prostitutes, were widespread in these neighbouring nations and directly contradicted the Judaic principles of ceremonial purity. Indeed scripture already appears to have condemned idolatrous worship that involved the use of male prostitutes in Leviticus 18:22, thought to have been written by Moses many generations previously. In fact 1 Kings 22:46 overtly references the existence of male cult prostitutes in previous generations by stating they were the remnants of Asa’s era, the father of the then King of Judah Jehoshaphat. By labelling these men explicitly as “cult prostitutes”, and stating their “houses” as being in “the house of the Lord”, Kings appears to directly refer to the condemnation of idolatrous worship rather than anything related to homosexuality. During a period where the Israelites were often assaulted by nations, the peoples of which who already were involved in idolatrous worship that heavily involved male-orientated sexual intercourse, it’s not surprising that Kings would devote three passages to condemning the practices of their rival countries.

However some controversy revolves around the translation of the passages themselves; “cult prostitutes” may be in fact a mistranslation of the Hebrew word ‘qadesh’, the root meaning of which means sacred. This would be in reference to non-jewish religious practices, and where female qadesh were often associated with sexual worship male qadesh were often priests who divulged in other tasks. Given the sexual connotations associated with female qadesh it’s easy to see how the male equivalent may be misconstrued as “male cult prostitutes”.

If this is true then any basis for using Kings as an example of biblical condemnation is fundamentally flawed. Even if the passages itself were translated correctly then using them to condemn homosexuality appears to be a much more contrived conclusion, especially given the emphasis of the men being “cult prostitutes”. As such it is more likely that it was in reference to the ancient Israelite condemnation of temple prostitution that pervaded their enemy nations.