Leviticus 18:22 "And with a male you shall not lay lyings of a woman" do you know for sure what this means?

Question

Obviously, it is important for a student of the Bible to resolve exactly what behavior is forbidden: is it:
*All homosexual behavior, by either men or women, or
*All sexual behavior between two men, or
*Only anal sex between two men, or
*Only anal sex in a Pagan temple ritual, or
*Sexual activity between two men in a woman's bed?

Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the meaning of this verse. Many people tend to select that interpretation that most closely reinforces their initial beliefs about the Bible and homosexual behavior

Super Bobo: it is a verse that has influenced subsequent scripture and in that sense is the most important.

barry-chase:In transliterated Hebrew, the verse is written: "V’et zachar lo tishkav mishk’vey eeshah toeyvah hee."
*The first part of this verse is literally translated as "And with a male you shall not lay lyings of a woman"

Answer 1

Yep- it means that anal sex is forbidden. how do we know? Well, what sex act between males would mimic the sex act between a male and female? It would be the penetrative sex act- which in the case of two men would be anal sex.

We know that it is referring to a specific act since that chapter is talking about illicit sexual relationships- not relationships between people. So you are forbidden to have sex with a sibling/parent etc- but you are expected to have a non-sexual relationship with them!

We also know that it is speaking about anal sex in general and not just homosexual anal sex since one of the rules of biblical exegessis used by use Jews is to look at the context and contents of the preceeding verses. here, they are all talking about heterosexual relaitonships- thus by this comparison we know that this verse would be in regards to a heterosexual relationship as well. Why use the masculine then? 1) It is needed to bring out the forbidden act (anal sex) which would not be brough out by putting it in the feminine 2) In hebrew, there is no gender neutral. Where the gender neutral is needed the masculine is sued.

We know it forbids lesbain penetrative sex (in that case the use of foreign objects) since 1) The usage of objects mimics the heterosexual sex act as does sodomy, 2) a)there is a prohibition against performing acts of the idolotors and b) we are told that the Egyptians were involved in sexual licentiousness and the Ramban brings that lesbianism is one of the acts they did as part of their idolotorous practices- thus these kinds of lesbian acts would be forbidden for a second reason.

Answer 2

When I read some of the answers here I feel like crying or screaming. You offer a literalistic translation of the Hebrew to show how obscure it is, and they tell you to try the NIV because it is "clearer". But THAT IS THE POINT! The translations have "clarified" something that is unclear, and unless you consider the decisions of the translator to be the Word of God, then it is the text in the original language that is authoritative. And the original text is unclear.

How can we make people who read the Bible and seem to think it was written in English understand the difficulties and processes involved in translation, and that often times a 'clear' text in English is more an example of creative writing by the translator than translation in the strict sense? The most examples are in Job, where there are countless places that the NIV (for example) acknowledges in a footnote that "the meaning of this verse in Hebrew is uncertain". How is it then that the main text in English is clear? Not translation, but creative writing.

Answer 3

The NIV translation says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable". To me that is saying that a sexual act between two men that would not be sinful to do between a man and woman is sinful, since any sexual act between a man and woman was already a sin is already a sin then those are still a sin and since although referring to 'if a man...' these laws always (unless specifically mentioning it) referred to women as well (such as 'do not hold back the wages of a hired MAN overnight Leviticus 19:13) then it would indicate that all homosexual acts were considered a sin (that’s how it reads to me from the NIV though and I do not use this in my life to condemn homosexual people nor treat them with any sort of contempt as a result of their sex life but use to answer this question.

Answer 4

The New World Translation says it this way:
"And you must not lie down with a male the same as you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable thing."

Anything unnatural even between a male and female like oral or anal sex is forbidden. It not only causes diseases but it wasn't made for that purpose.

They talk here about beastiality, fornication, adultery, having sex during a menstrual cycle, and incest. This was all part of the law covenant but still in practice today.

If we don't stand up for God on issues like homosexuality we will not be able to defend our faith on anything. We must take a stand and let the angels who are directing the separating work know for sure we will never love the willful disobeyers of God's word.

Answer 5

The first part of this verse is literally translated as "And with a male you shall not lay lyings of a woman" The phrase "lay lyings,is sexual laying down,and yet The word used to refer to a male lying with a male is in Hebrew' Shakab',and it is speaking of sleep and or rape. The word used to refer to a male lying with a male is Shakab and has many definitions. (can be found 213 times in 194 verses in the Bible.) 101 incidences used Shakab to simply mean “lie down to sleep.” 51 of the verses used Shakab as “to lie down in death.” There are 52 incidences in which Shakab is used in a verse which means “to MAKE ONE lie down” as well as sex by deceptive coercion which is descriptive is “sex by force” which by modern definition would be rape. the question is why cant two men,gay or not sleep in a woman's bed? the answer is it goes back to ancient hebrew ceremonial cleanness rituals.

Answer 6

It would appear that Leviticus, if it were to have any validity in the case of homosexuality, would have to have validity across the board. How many people strictly follow the words of Leviticus in all its applications?

If it is possible to choose to follow one rule and reject another, what are the criteria by which we determine which rules are valid and which are not?

Answer 7

for 4000 years, it has been very clear what that meant...

it is interpreted as you shall not LAY with a man as one LAYS with a woman.....

it is a clear commandment against homosexuality and is repeated other places in scripture to back it up

if people would just obey God instead of trying to question Him, so they could get out of something...it would be very refreshing...

Answer 8

Every man did what was right in his own eyes, that is the theme of the book of Judges. It is worth reading. You cannot redefine who God is, just to make him okay with what you are doing. You need to look into God's word.

In the Hebrew:

Lev 18:22 ואת854 זכר2145 לא3808 תשׁכב7901 משׁכבי4904 אשׁה802 תועבה8441 הוא׃1931


תשׁכב or Shakab, in hebrew is to lie with (for sexual connection).

The word is clear about this subject:

Lev 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Lev 18:23 And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

and

Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
Rom 1:27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Rom 1:29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Rom 1:32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Answer 9

It would help if you tried a different version of the bible.That sounds a bit like King James Version.Try the New International Version.

Answer 10

There are other more clear verses on the sin of homosexuality....try the NIV....and you'll see the difference clear as day