Lost In Meaning: Meaning in Leviticus 18:22

A careful philological, literary analysis of the original Hebrew in Leviticus 18:22 seems to show a condemnation of rape and incest.

It turns out that the original Hebrew language in Leviticus 18:22 is more ambiguous than the traditional English translation.

The addition of propositions by English translators alters the verse’s meaning and presupposes a comparison between a “normal” action and a “deviant” action.

The other occurrence of the Hebrew word miškevē in scripture is in Genesis 49:4. That verse explicitly refers the deviant nature of the incestuous activity of Reuben with his father’s concubine, Bilhah.

This understanding of Genesis 49:4 helps Leviticus 18:22 makes sense in the context of its chapter. A large portion of Leviticus 18 proscribes the divine condemnation of incest.  

While Leviticus 18 focuses on the forbidden sexual relationships, Leviticus 20 focuses on the punishment for participating in such relationships. The laws are reordered in Leviticus 20 to emphasize consequences of deviant relationships. The miškevē iššâ is an act that is punished identically to other acts that are clearly incestuous.

The full article is available here

The 1946 Mistranslation That Introduced The Word "Homosexual" To The Bible - The Forge Online

The Greek word arsenokoitai shows up in several different verse in the Bible, but it wasn't until 1946 that it was mistranslated to mean "homosexual."

For most of European history, most translations properly understood Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9 to be discussing "boy molesters" based on the original Greek word arsenokoitai (for example, the 1674 Swedish translation and the 1830 Norwegian translation). 

The verses were meant to address and ancient world practice in which young boys (8-12 years old) were coupled by older men. Ancient Greek documents show us how even parents utilized that abusive practice to help their sons advance in society. 


The Greek word arsenokoitai shows up in several different verse in the Bible, but it wasn't until 1946 that it was mistranslated to mean "homosexual." The Revised Standard Version made an honest mistake in mistranslating. 

Had it instead taken the time to do the proper research into the historical contextualization, we would have a more accurate translation.  We could have avoided the horrible damage that was done from pulpits all across the U.S. church. Sadly, modern biblical commentaries have adjusted to accommodate the mistranslation.

Interestingly, the German Bible didn't include the word "homosexual" until 1983 thanks to a U.S. company, Biblica, paid for a new translation and influenced it. 

The full article is available here