How does the Old Testament treat homosexuality?
The discussion of homosexuality in the Old Testament touches many passages, canonical and noncanonical. Beginning with the account of Creation and ending with reference to pagan law codes, I have sought to demonstrate that the Old Testament does indeed condemn homosexuality. It is contrary to the pattern established at Creation for humankind as male and female. It is the sin for which Sodom gains its reputation as ungodly, wicked, and deserving of divine judgment (Genesis 18–19). Terms used in the Hebrew (yādaʿ) and the Greek (synginomai) meaning “to know” (Genesis 19:5) must have a sexual connotation and are among several euphemisms for sexual intercourse used in the Old Testament. Homosexuality is the sin or crime that the Benjaminites committed at Gibeah (Judges 19–20), which so enraged the rest of Israel that they almost eradicated the Benjaminites. None of the passages will sustain the view that the sin involved at Sodom or Gibeah was merely inhospitality or vio...
