Response from Justin
You write:
If you remove "as with a women" from Leviticus 18:22 and make it “Thou shalt not lie with a man; it is an abomination" it is totally out of place in this chapter since Leviticus 18 deals with sexual sins. This revisionist rendering could be construed to prohibit all sex.
The word translated “lie” already implies that this is sexual. The “as with a woman” was added to emphasize what exactly he is talking about, which must be read in context to be understood. Take this example. Pretend archeologists find a letter that reads, “My sister treats her boyfriend like he’s a big elephant…” Depending on whether or not that letter was written by a Hindu in India or a Christian in the U.S. the meaning could be very different (elephants are considered sacred in Hinduism). First, do you research on how a man lied with a women before you tell me what you think this law meant to whomever was writing it. Second, have you ever translated this verse from Hebrew or the Greek Septuagint? The verse literally translated from the Hebrew reads: “And with a male you shall not lay lyings of a woman.” The Greek from the Septuagint translated literally reads, “And with a man do not lie bed woman.”
Second, in the Septuagint Leviticus 18:22 was translated from its original Hebrew as: “meta arsenos ou koimethese koiten gynaikos…” The bolded words are arsenos (men) and koiten. As you mention, many scholars have linked this verse to 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9 because of the Greek word arsenokoitai used in 1 Timothy 1:10. Your cited source on arsenokoitai translates it “traders in homosexual slaves,” but if you read my study you will see a more precise translation would be the “men who sleep with male prostitutes.” I would say the connection between Leviticus is correct, because the Levitical law is forbidding men sleeping with men as with women, which is exactly how men would have slept with these pet slave boys (i.e. catamites)—dominating and controlling.
You also write, “As to Romans 1:26-27, the only way to understand these verses is in the full context of vs. 18-32.”
Alright, how about we look at the full context. Verses 18-23 as you show are these people turning from God and the Truth, “exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” Hm?
Verse 24: “Therefore, God gave them up in the LUSTS OF THEIR HEARTS to impurity.”
Verse 25: “…they EXCHANGED THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD FOR A LIE and WORSHIPED AND SERVED THE CREATURE RATHER THAN THE CREATOR.”
Verse 26: “God gave them up to DISHONORABLE PASSIONS…”
Verse 26 and 27 continue: “Their women EXCHANGED natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise GAVE UP natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another…”
There’s a lot going on here, and if you are familiar with the cultic pagan practices of the time, this will look awfully familiar. To use this to condemn loving, committed homosexual relationships is...to be honest...stretching it far beyond what it's talking about.
Peace,
Justin Cannon