Green Gaia
Veteran Member
Bible languages of Hebrew and Greek have no word for homosexual. Old Testament Hebrew is a very primitive language. It is the first step beyond picture writing and is the first alphabetic language. It originally consisted only of consonants with no vowels written in the text. There is no "past, present, or future" in Hebrew. The Hebrew language had only about a 30,000 word vocabulary. Modern English has over 300,000 words. One Hebrew word could be used in dozens of different ways, and the meaning was determined by the context. Each word was made up of 3 letters of the alphabet and usually expressed some form of activity or action. It is impossible to translate most Hebrew words exactly into modern English. Scholars come as close as they can and do a lot of guessing.
New Testament Greek was far more complex than Hebrew. Greek had a 250,000 word vocabulary and a great variety of words developed to express shades of meaning and degrees of feeling. Greek, for example, had four different words for "love". Greek had many verb forms that do not exist in English. The Greek used in the New Testament is different from classical or modern Greek. For many years, some scholars thought that New Testament Greek was a special language created by the Holy Spirit. Then, in the late nineteenth century, a collection of manuscripts was discovered from the time of the New Testament. These documents were bills of sale, personal letters, business and news reports that were written in exactly the same kind of Greek that the Bible used. For the first time, Bible scholars knew and could study the kind of "everyday" Greek, called "koine" Greek, that was used in the New Testament. The King James Version was translated in 1611, long before the oldest manuscripts were discovered.
The reason that there are so many different Bible translations ( about 30 major ones) today is because the exact meaning of many words is still in question, and even what should be included as original material is hotly debated by Bible specialists. Other recent discoveries, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, add new information that throws light on the meaning of Bible words.
The word "homosexual" is made up of Greek homo, meaning "the same," and Latin sexualis, from which the English word "sex" is derived. The word "homosexual" has been in use to refer to people who have sex with others of the same gender for only about 100 years. According to the most recent edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (tenth edition), "homosexual" as an adjective was first used in 1892 and as a noun in 1902, and "homophobia" was first used in 1969 and "homophobe" first used in 1975. The translation of any Bible word as "homosexual" is a mistake.
The Greek word in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and I Timothy 1:10 that is translated "homosexual" is arsenokoites, which is formed from two words meaning "male" and "bed." The word is not found anywhere else in the New Testament and has not been found anywhere in contemporary Greek of Paul's time. We are not sure what it means. It only appears in these two lists. The word is of obscure origin and uncertain meaning. It probably refers to male prostitutes with female customers, which was a common practice in the Roman world.
When early Greek-speaking Christian preachers condemned homosexuals, they did not use this word. John Chrysostom (A.D. 345-407) preached in Greek against homosexuality, but he never used this word for homosexuals. When he wrote homilies and preached on 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, he did not mention homosexuals.
The Bible has no word in Hebrew or Greek that is the same as our word "sex". The word "flesh" means "human" and never means "sex". The Hebrew way of thinking about human nature continued to dominate the thought of the New Testament. Details of sexual practices were never given in the Old or the New Testaments. The only term that conveys the idea of "having sex" is the Hebrew term "to lie with."
Much of the New Testament thought was carried over directly from Hebrew terms and ideas in the Old Testament, which had been translated from Hebrew to Greek about 250 years before Christ in the Septuagint (LXX) version of Scripture. Careful study of a tremendous body of historical material is necessary to sort out the exact meaning of Bible passages. Even more study is required to grasp and understand what the passages actually said in the culture in which they were written.
http://www.truluck.com/html/hebrew___greek.html
Sexual Orientation and the Bible
Our understanding of sexual orientation as we know it today did not exist 50 years ago, much less in biblical times. Only in 1973 did the American medical, psychiatric and legal professions begin to recognize that homosexuality is an orientation and not a choice, illness or crime.
Sexuality is seldom discussed in the Bible. The Bible view of the role of women as property, the absolute importance placed on having children to continue the family, the customs and demands related to marriage and inheritance and an obvious demonstration of male dominance and control can be seen vividly described in Genesis chapter 38.
In the Bible, all women were property that belonged to their father or husband. Women were members of the covenant people of God only because of their relationship to their father, brother or husband. Women could not carry circumcision, the "sign of the covenant," in their bodies. The Old Testament does not include a belief in "heaven" or a future time of reward and continued life. The only way a man could live on after his death was through his children ("seed"). No man was allowed to remain unmarried. Old Testament Hebrew does not have a word for bachelor.
Marriage in the Bible was not based on romantic love but on a legal contract usually entered by parents on behalf of their children. The average age for marriage in the time of Jesus was 14 for girls and 16 for boys. Average life expectancy was only 25 years. The Greek word for romantic love, EROS, is never used in the New Testament, though it was the most common word for love in the Greek speaking world.
To read bits and pieces of biblical material into present day culture is to misrepresent the Bible and to distort its message of God's love in Christ for all people in today's world.
http://www.truluck.com/html/sexual_orientation_not_in_bibl.html
New Testament Greek was far more complex than Hebrew. Greek had a 250,000 word vocabulary and a great variety of words developed to express shades of meaning and degrees of feeling. Greek, for example, had four different words for "love". Greek had many verb forms that do not exist in English. The Greek used in the New Testament is different from classical or modern Greek. For many years, some scholars thought that New Testament Greek was a special language created by the Holy Spirit. Then, in the late nineteenth century, a collection of manuscripts was discovered from the time of the New Testament. These documents were bills of sale, personal letters, business and news reports that were written in exactly the same kind of Greek that the Bible used. For the first time, Bible scholars knew and could study the kind of "everyday" Greek, called "koine" Greek, that was used in the New Testament. The King James Version was translated in 1611, long before the oldest manuscripts were discovered.
The reason that there are so many different Bible translations ( about 30 major ones) today is because the exact meaning of many words is still in question, and even what should be included as original material is hotly debated by Bible specialists. Other recent discoveries, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, add new information that throws light on the meaning of Bible words.
The word "homosexual" is made up of Greek homo, meaning "the same," and Latin sexualis, from which the English word "sex" is derived. The word "homosexual" has been in use to refer to people who have sex with others of the same gender for only about 100 years. According to the most recent edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (tenth edition), "homosexual" as an adjective was first used in 1892 and as a noun in 1902, and "homophobia" was first used in 1969 and "homophobe" first used in 1975. The translation of any Bible word as "homosexual" is a mistake.
The Greek word in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and I Timothy 1:10 that is translated "homosexual" is arsenokoites, which is formed from two words meaning "male" and "bed." The word is not found anywhere else in the New Testament and has not been found anywhere in contemporary Greek of Paul's time. We are not sure what it means. It only appears in these two lists. The word is of obscure origin and uncertain meaning. It probably refers to male prostitutes with female customers, which was a common practice in the Roman world.
When early Greek-speaking Christian preachers condemned homosexuals, they did not use this word. John Chrysostom (A.D. 345-407) preached in Greek against homosexuality, but he never used this word for homosexuals. When he wrote homilies and preached on 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, he did not mention homosexuals.
The Bible has no word in Hebrew or Greek that is the same as our word "sex". The word "flesh" means "human" and never means "sex". The Hebrew way of thinking about human nature continued to dominate the thought of the New Testament. Details of sexual practices were never given in the Old or the New Testaments. The only term that conveys the idea of "having sex" is the Hebrew term "to lie with."
Much of the New Testament thought was carried over directly from Hebrew terms and ideas in the Old Testament, which had been translated from Hebrew to Greek about 250 years before Christ in the Septuagint (LXX) version of Scripture. Careful study of a tremendous body of historical material is necessary to sort out the exact meaning of Bible passages. Even more study is required to grasp and understand what the passages actually said in the culture in which they were written.
http://www.truluck.com/html/hebrew___greek.html
Sexual Orientation and the Bible
Our understanding of sexual orientation as we know it today did not exist 50 years ago, much less in biblical times. Only in 1973 did the American medical, psychiatric and legal professions begin to recognize that homosexuality is an orientation and not a choice, illness or crime.
Sexuality is seldom discussed in the Bible. The Bible view of the role of women as property, the absolute importance placed on having children to continue the family, the customs and demands related to marriage and inheritance and an obvious demonstration of male dominance and control can be seen vividly described in Genesis chapter 38.
In the Bible, all women were property that belonged to their father or husband. Women were members of the covenant people of God only because of their relationship to their father, brother or husband. Women could not carry circumcision, the "sign of the covenant," in their bodies. The Old Testament does not include a belief in "heaven" or a future time of reward and continued life. The only way a man could live on after his death was through his children ("seed"). No man was allowed to remain unmarried. Old Testament Hebrew does not have a word for bachelor.
Marriage in the Bible was not based on romantic love but on a legal contract usually entered by parents on behalf of their children. The average age for marriage in the time of Jesus was 14 for girls and 16 for boys. Average life expectancy was only 25 years. The Greek word for romantic love, EROS, is never used in the New Testament, though it was the most common word for love in the Greek speaking world.
To read bits and pieces of biblical material into present day culture is to misrepresent the Bible and to distort its message of God's love in Christ for all people in today's world.
http://www.truluck.com/html/sexual_orientation_not_in_bibl.html