This is the final post in the ‘Homosexuality and The Bible’ series that deals with passages often directly quoted by various Christian conservatives to be used as ammunition against homosexuality. Such denominations and movements, especially Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, take biblical scripture at face-value believing it to be inerrant. However such interpretations are often erroneous and liable to errors in translation, and ignore the influence of historical context and author bias.
The passages of 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10 in particular are the subject of debate because the words used to condemn homosexuality are wholly based on modern interpretation and could well be misinterpreted. Whilst not as influential as Romans 1: 26-27 and Leviticus 18:22 and 20:18, they are no less significant. Indeed, similarly to Romans, these letters are claimed to have been written by the apostle Paul; a highly influential figure in Christendom renowned for his pre-conversion background of a zealous, antichristian Jew. Due to the similar themes addressed within the two passages both will be discussed together. All quotes below are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
1 Corinthians 6:9:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,”
1 Timothy 1:9-10:
“9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine”
· The blatant condemnation expressed within the ESV of “men who practice homosexuality” is acquired from the translation of the word ‘arsenokoitai’. This particular word has been, and still is, under considerable debate amongst scholars as to its exact meaning. However general opinion is that its meaning pertains to perversion, most likely one orientated towards sex. Conservative Christians often translate this as a condemnation of homosexuality, however translations vary greatly across biblical translations. The New American Bible (NAB) interprets it as “sodomites”, however The New Jerusalem Version (NJV) makes a distinction between “sodomites” in 1 Corinthians whilst actually interpreting arsenokoitai as “homosexuals” in 1 Timothy. The King James Version (KJV) uses neither term however, interpreting it as those who “defile themselves with mankind”. Indeed the UK New International Version simply describes them as “perverts”. The dichotomy existing between the translations vary from an explicit identification of homosexuals to something more sexually ambiguous, although a consensus does exist on its relation to sex.
However it’s odd that Paul, in his preaching to the Greek-speaking Churches of Corinth (Corinthians) and Ephesus (Timothy), would use the word arsenokoitai to describe homosexuality; the notion of homosexuality, and indeed that of sexual orientation, is a relatively modern idea stemming from the 1800s, and thus Paul and his contemporaries would have little understanding of homosexuality as a concept. If he was referencing same-sex relations then arsenokoitai would be a very poor expression to use as ‘arsen’, meaning man, is a reference solely to male perversion, totally ignoring lesbianism even though he addressed it in Romans 1 26-27. Furthermore if this was in reference to male-male intercourse then a Greek word already existed for the act; ‘paiderasst’. Arsenokoitai itself has not been seen outside of Paul’s writings before and it would appear peculiar to invent a word to describe an act that already exists.
However arsenokoitoi does imply a condemned male sexual act, but it appears to be much more of a general condemnation of the sexual perversion that pervaded Greek culture. As stated in my previous post, the sexual excess within Greco-Roman culture would have been an affront to Paul's zealous nature and traditional Jewish upbringing which commanded ritual purity. The most common forms of this excess were male prostitution, many of whom would have been adolescent, and pederasty, sexual relations with that of an adolescent male. Thus, similarly what he addressed in his letters to the Romans, it’s likely his letters to Corinth and Ephesus were addressing the same offensive sexual hedonism of the prevalent pagan culture.
Another term also causes conflict; that of ‘malakoi’ meaning soft, fine or , as often translated in biblical interpretations, ‘effeminate’. This has been used to further condemn homosexuality; conservatives seeing it as a condemnation of a lack of virility or unmasculine behaviour within a man, ideas occasionally associated with homosexuality. However this interpretation once again varies across translations; the KJV, NAB, and American Standard Version interpret it as effeminate; whilst the New Living Translation (NLT) and New Century Version (NCV) describe them as male prostitutes; the ESV makes reference to neither; the New King James Version identifies malakoi as homosexuals and arsenokoitai as sodomites; whilst the NJV describes them as self-indulgent. Such discrepancy between the versions indicate that it’s likely not attributed to homosexuality, indeed if the NLT and NCV are to be believed then it’s a condemnation of prevalent male prostitution. However the word malakoi has been mentioned previously in the Bible, but not in the context of sexuality; both Matthew 11:8 and Luke 7:25 uses it to describe “soft clothing”. It’s unlikely that it does correlate with the English word effeminate, and translating it as homosexual probably being a coarse interpretation at best. That male prostitutes were referenced earlier, the word being ‘pornoi’, makes it unrealistic as Paul would be unlikely to repeat himself within the same sentence. In light of these facts it’s suggested that malakoi is more likely, when in reference to a person and their attributes, an allusion to an individual who lacked courage, instability, self-control, was easily-influenced and were apathetic. Indeed Plato himself described that listening to too much music would cause a warrior to become “malakoteroi”; a related word meaning feeble or insensitive. Such an attribute would have been condemned, especially by the zealous Paul, as someone who embodied these characteristics would be resilient to working for a common good, to aim for productive achievement and help spread the word of God. Indeed throughout Timothy the author keeps calling for followers to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12), thus someone designated malakoi would suggest they were unwilling to do so.
It needs to be noted however that some controversy surrounds the book of Timothy, with various scholars arguing that the book wasn’t written by Paul but some decades after his execution by the Romans. It’s thought that, due to the change in writing style and use of vocabulary, that it was more likely to have been authored by an admirer or student. However if so then Paul’s teachings would have directly influenced them, and thus they would’ve likely carried on Paul’s zealous approach.
Looking at the passage’s it appears that their modern connotations with the condemnation homosexuality is unstable, undermined by the misinterpretation of the significant words arsenokoitai and malakoi. Arsenokoitai appears to reference the hedonistic Greco-Roman culture, a theme Paul had already covered; condemning sexual perversion seen in prostitution and pederasty, and probably in others like paedophilia and perverts in general. However malakoi is more likely to address apathetic and uncourageous individuals who wouldn’t actively help in the spreading of the gospel. Furthermore if 1 Timothy was written by an admirer of Paul’s their condemnation of such analogous themes suggests that they held similar opinions, especially with the re-use of the word arsenokoitai, which was likely invented by Paul himself.
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