The Bible connects homosexual sin with the sin of pride
Narrow and specific Biblical references to homosexuality.
These include bdelygma and kyōn. The term bdelygma occurs only in the list in Revelation 21:8, where it is a participle (ebdelygmenois). It is a term found frequently in contexts where same-gender activity occurs.
Indeed, Leviticus 18:23 and 20:13 use the term to forbid sodomy explicitly as an “abomination,” and 20:13 commands that the death penalty be exacted on offenders. It is the only sexual vice that both of these chapters so identify as an “abomination.”
The word translates the Hebrew toʿeba. Anomia and anomēma translate toʿeba in Ezekiel 16:2, 49–50, 58, and Isaiah 1:13 uses bdelygma to compare Judah to Sodom. In the intertestamental literature, the verb form (“detested”) occurs in Ecclesiasticus 16:8, where the author identifies the people of Sodom as “detested for their pride” (cf. 15:13; 17:26; 41:5, where this term may again refer to sodomy). Again, bdelygma is the term the author employs in 49:2: “King Josiah abolished the wicked abominations” (2 Kings 23:1–13).
Finally, Ecclesiasticus 10:13 uses the term in the allusion to Sodom: “For pride begins with sin, and the man who clings to it will rain down abominations.”
Confirmation for the claim that the participle of bdelygma means same-gender activity in Revelation 21:8 comes from the other list of vices in Revelation 22:15 where “dogs” (kyōn) occurs. Comparison of the two lists shows that kyon takes the place of bdelygma.
Confirmation for the claim that the participle of bdelygma means same-gender activity in Revelation 21:8 comes from the other list of vices in Revelation 22:15 where “dogs” (kyōn) occurs. Comparison of the two lists shows that kyon takes the place of bdelygma.
The word dogs derives from Deuteronomy 23:18 where the term occurs beside “female prostitute” and parallels the qādēš and qĕdēšāh of verse 17. The latter terms refer to male and female temple prostitutes. Thus, dogs refers to male prostitutes. The passage probably refers to Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, where the text concerns same-gender activity.
After the New Testament, the writings of the apostolic fathers continue to link certain words and ideas, including pride, with homosexuality. They add further testimony to the implicit or indirect references to homosexuality in Christian writing.
After the New Testament, the writings of the apostolic fathers continue to link certain words and ideas, including pride, with homosexuality. They add further testimony to the implicit or indirect references to homosexuality in Christian writing.
The use in 1 Clement particularly connects pride with homosexuality. Clement exhorts his readers to flee from “abominable passion, detestable adultery, and abominable pride” (bdelyktas epithymias … bdelyktēn hyperēphanian).
“Practices of the Gentiles”
A study of terms used in lists of vices gives evidence of implicit references or allusions to same-gender activity in the New Testament vice lists, but there is one more source of implicit references. These passages do not name Sodom, nor are they lists of vices. Rather they describe practices of the Gentiles or unbelievers. We have seen that both Jews and Christians considered sodomy to be one of these practices.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs refer several times to the “abominations of the Gentiles” (see T. Judah 23:1–4; T. Issachar 6:1–2; and T. Zebulon 9:5–6). These words strongly suggest references to sexual vice when their language is compared to that of the clear references from the Testaments (see pp. 94–104). These passages call to mind Paul’s description of the deeds of the unsaved in Ephesians 5:3–12. A list at this point in Ephesians (vv. 3–5) includes aischrotēs (“filthiness”; NIV, “obscenity”). Paul warns against participating in the “unfruitful deeds of darkness … for it is disgraceful [aischron] even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (vv. 11–12).
Finally, when Paul concludes his longest list of vices (Rom. 1:28–31), he cites the hearty approval given to the wicked as the worst sign of a depraved mind. He does this in a context of condemnation for same-gender activity (vv. 26–27). This reference to the wicked’s hearty approval of the wicked had already occurred in the Testament of Asher. In Asher 6:2, the writer condemns those who “both do the evil thing and they have pleasure in them that do it.” In 7:1, the writer cites the sin of Sodom as having “sinned against the angels.”
De Young, J. B. (2000). Homosexuality: Contemporary Claims Examined in Light of the Bible and Other Ancient Literature and Law (pp. 227–228). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
“Practices of the Gentiles”
A study of terms used in lists of vices gives evidence of implicit references or allusions to same-gender activity in the New Testament vice lists, but there is one more source of implicit references. These passages do not name Sodom, nor are they lists of vices. Rather they describe practices of the Gentiles or unbelievers. We have seen that both Jews and Christians considered sodomy to be one of these practices.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs refer several times to the “abominations of the Gentiles” (see T. Judah 23:1–4; T. Issachar 6:1–2; and T. Zebulon 9:5–6). These words strongly suggest references to sexual vice when their language is compared to that of the clear references from the Testaments (see pp. 94–104). These passages call to mind Paul’s description of the deeds of the unsaved in Ephesians 5:3–12. A list at this point in Ephesians (vv. 3–5) includes aischrotēs (“filthiness”; NIV, “obscenity”). Paul warns against participating in the “unfruitful deeds of darkness … for it is disgraceful [aischron] even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (vv. 11–12).
Finally, when Paul concludes his longest list of vices (Rom. 1:28–31), he cites the hearty approval given to the wicked as the worst sign of a depraved mind. He does this in a context of condemnation for same-gender activity (vv. 26–27). This reference to the wicked’s hearty approval of the wicked had already occurred in the Testament of Asher. In Asher 6:2, the writer condemns those who “both do the evil thing and they have pleasure in them that do it.” In 7:1, the writer cites the sin of Sodom as having “sinned against the angels.”
De Young, J. B. (2000). Homosexuality: Contemporary Claims Examined in Light of the Bible and Other Ancient Literature and Law (pp. 227–228). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
