- pornos: male prostitutes
- malakee: morally weak
- arsenokeeteh: those who employ temple prostitutes
There are very few verses in the Bible that can be twisted to support the anti-biblical teaching that God rejects His children based on their sexual orientation. Here at Grace Inclusive I examine each of these verses and demonstrate how they are abused and what they actually teach. The two verses considered here are among these abused scriptures.
In the Authorized King James Version:
I Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind..."
I Timothy 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine..."
At issue here are two words: malakee (found only in I Corinthians) and arsenokeeteh which is used in both verses.
Some inferior modern paraphrases of the Bible (like the New International Version or NIV) intentionally mistranslate such verses in order to appease the prejudices of their customers (and thereby sell more copies of their compromised versions). But these words have nothing to do with homosexuality in the original language.
The Bible contains the Holy and Pure Word of God. Deliberately altering its teachings to justify human prejudice is unconscionable, but sadly not uncommon.
II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
When sincere people unknowingly use intentionally dishonest paraphrases like the NIV their very attempts to learn the Truth can lead them into the ways of evil and drive others away from the one who said: "[all] that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).
Of such paraphrases and their authors Paul warns:
II Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Rather than accept the opinions of others -- the "profane and vain babblings" of prejudice and biblical manipulation -- people of sincere faith need to take the time to determine which translation of the Scriptures they will use. "Modern English" does not necessarily mean "accurate translation or paraphrase."
Every Believer is required to discover what the biblical source materials actually teach for themselves... and what they don't teach... and base their doctrines on the Word of God rather than on the teachings of fallible humans. While learning the original languages would be a great idea of course, there are plenty of study aids like Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Dictionary, Key Word Bible and so on available today. Finding out what the significant biblical words mean is an easy task if one is serious: Seek and ye shall find...
II Timothy 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness
The word "study" in this verse (spoudazo) actually means "apply yourselves" more than "study" in the sense of doing research, however studying the Word is an essential element of applying oneself (II Timothy 3:16, quoted above).
If we wish to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" (II Timothy 2:15) as the Bible commands, we must invest the time to carefully and prayerfully consider the root meanings of significant terms, the cultures in which the passages were written and, most importantly, the biblical contexts in which they appear. For instance prohibitions of temple prostitution are found throughout the Bible but if one understands how it was practiced and how widespread the practice was many of the biblical prohibitions will make much more sense (including these two verses as I will show below).
How readily some Christians deride the "cults" for ignoring scriptural context only to do the same themselves when they appear to have support for their unbiblical beliefs!
Word meaning and context are essential when it comes to understanding the Bible and its teachings.
Malakee
The word malakee refers to a "morally weak" person. It specifically implies that this morally weak person seeks to live in luxury while refusing to do what is needful to maintain such luxuries. In other words, it bespeaks the idea of laziness and sloth. Such a person is a "leech" or drain on society.
The translation of malakee in the King James Version as "effeminate" was an accurate one in 1611, however as with other archaic words, the word effeminate no longer conveys precisely the same meaning it did in 1611, i.e. one who is morally weak and unproductive.
In no sense does malakee refer to homosexuality in the Greek (nor to the modern "limp wristed" image of an 'effeminate' person it does today). While regular people may not realize how such word meanings have changed, professional translators must and do. Their task is to translate ancient texts into modern language without altering the original meanings of the texts. Modern paraphrases that intentionally fail to do this are guilty of altering the Scriptures and deliberately polluting the Word of God. To use an old fashioned concept: these translators are guilty of heresy.
Such examples of this kind of poor scholarship and social appeasement are frequently found in the New Age NIV paraphrase. The NIV has removed scores of sacred verses from its Bible versions and altered the meanings of dozens of key texts it chose to retain. For reasons I can not fathom otherwise loyal and intelligent Christians use this heretical book instead of the far superior and historical accepted King James Version. While there is nothing wrong with fresh translations of the Bible, all legitimate translations must be consistent with the Textus Receptus, the Received Texts upon which the Church of God was established and which the Authorized King James Version translated. Most new versions are taken from wholly different source materials. They are not therefore "new translations" they are translations and paraphrases of completely different texts than the KJV. I am currently updating a essentially solid modern English version of the Bible, The Noahide Nazarene Bible for use with my writings.
I Corinthians 6:9 is a good case in point of how several modern versions of the Bible are deliberately changing its doctrines. The New International Version has this verse as follows:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders..."
Compare this with the KJV:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind...
The Noahide Nazarene Bible presents this as:
Or don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor the worshipers of other gods, nor adulterers, nor temple prostitutes, nor the morally weak...
Arsenokeeteh
Translating arsenokeeteh as "male prostitutes" as the NIV does is closer than the King James' translation of "abusers [of themselves] with mankind" (the nature of that abuse is not specified in the KJV although it is in the original) but still the NIV not quite accurate either. Then the NIV adds the words "homosexual offenders" with absolutely no textual justification (as we will discuss below).
By the first and early second centuries -- when Paul was writing -- it was apparently mainly males who sought out these temple prostitutes (kudos to the NIV for recognizing the temple prostitution connection), the temple prostitutes themselves were not always male (although admittedly arsenokeeteh here is a male noun). Those who practiced these temple "abominations" (tow'ebah in the Hebrew) were of both genders. Of these idolatrous acts we read:
Deuteronomy 23:17 There shall be no Qadeshah [female prostitutes] of the daughters of Israel, nor a Qadesh [male prostitute] of the sons of Israel..."
These rites were very popular throughout the Roman World and many of the Pagans who were converting to the Way of Y'shua continued participating in them. These are the people Paul is referring to here as elsewhere (Romans 1 etc). Deuteronomy 23:17 and several related verses concerning the Qadeshah and Qadesh are discussed Here
These religious rites employed both same and opposite gender sexuality and there is no textual justification for the addition of the words "homosexual offenders" to the text of I Corinthians 6:9.
"Homosexual"
The Greek language of the early centuries CE had no word for homosexuality. They could say 'Bob and Steve had sex' as they could say 'Bob and Mary had sex' but the same words were used. Same gender unions were regarded as normal among the Greeks and same gender affairs and concubines were common. The early Greeks considered same gender sexuality simply part of the greater tapestry of aphrodisia or love making.
Assuming the B'rit Hadashah ("New Covenant") or New Testament was written in Greek as generally believed (i.e. rather than in Hebrew), there would have been no words to even express the concept of "homosexual offenders." Translating Koine Greek words like arsenokeeteh into terms unknown to the language is obviously deceptive and alters their intended meaning.
The contemporary word homosexual is a modern Greek and Latin hybrid coined in 1869 by Hungarian physician Karoly Maria Benkert (1824-1882). The etymology of the word comes from the Greek word homos or 'same'. The Greek word homos is not etymologically related to the Latin word homo or 'man' as in Homo sapien). The modern word "homosexual" thus connotes the sexual orientation, acts and affections between members of the same (homos) sex regardless of gender.
The modern word "lesbian" comes from the Greek island of Lesbos and the works of the poet Sappho (who wrote of her emotional relationships with young women). Homosexuals may therefore be of either gender.
Arsenokeeteh comes from arsen meaning to "seek strength as though to lift a burden" and koite, meaning to "share a couch or bed sexually." More specifically when compounded in this context Arsenokeeteh conveys the idea of utilizing the male seed in order to conceive or attain something desirable. Note that children are not conceived in homosexual relations and hence are not being referenced.
Arsenokeeteh therefore refers to those who engage in the Pagan sexual rites with the Qadeshah and Qadesh in order to receive power or strength in some area as defined by the Pagan doctrines. The meaning is clear therefore that the prohibition is directed at those who seek strength, wealth, power etc. through the sex rites of temple prostitutes (both Qadeshah or female prostitutes and the Qadesh or male prostitutes) -- both heterosexually and homosexually.
The word therefore has nothing to do with the consensual relations between adult worshipers of the One True God.
Such practices were common in Rome (where Paul discusses it), in Corinth, Ephesus (where Timothy was), and throughout the Roman Empire and the Middle East (hence the many references to it in the Hebrew Scriptures) and beyond.
The concern being addressed here is sex-based idolatry, which Paul adds in Romans 1 was resulting in a plethora of sexually transmitted diseases (Rom 1:27): "... and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet [or appropriate]."
A more accurate modern translation of these verses would be as follows (though I still love the KJV):
I Corinthians 6:9 Or don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor the worshipers of other gods, nor adulterers, nor temple prostitutes, nor the morally weak, 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God.I Timothy 1:8 But we know that the law is good, if a man uses it lawfully, 1:9 as knowing this: that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for all murderers, 1:10 for fornicators, for those who engage in temple prostitution, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing that is contrary to the sound doctrine; 1:11 according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
As always, I invite your inquiries and comments,
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~ John of AllFaith
~ Ben Ruach HaKodesh
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