Lost In Translation - Leviticus

What the Hebrew Text Actually Says About Male-Male Relations

Two Verses

There are two verses in Leviticus which have been used by some to prove that gay marriage is wrong.

• "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Leviticus 18:22

• "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death." Leviticus 20:13

These two verses, are the only ones in the entire Old Testament that address same-sex relations.

One Misunderstood Legacy

In our study to see what the Bible said about gay marriage last year, I sat down with my Bible and a notebook and opened up to Leviticus.

At first glance, it seemed pretty obvious: the Bible seemed to clearly say that a man should not have sex with a man.

As I studied, three things stood out that changed my mind. More than anything, though, I saw the beauty of Leviticus: a call to understand the holiness of God, a call to care for the vulnerable, to reject injustice and idolatry, and a call to recognize our deep need for a Savior.

Join me on a journey back to discover something that got lost in translation.

The Levitical Law

These two verses (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13) were part of a set of rules called ‘The Levitical Law’, which was composed of 613 laws that were handed orally to the Levite Priests in 1300 BCE and then written down around 333 BCE (3,200 to 3,300 years ago).

Here are a few examples from the Levitical Law of what the Israelites were not allowed to do:

• It was an abomination to eat pig, rabbit and shrimp (Leviticus 11:4-7)

• Not allowed to crossbreed animals (Leviticus 19:19)

• Not allowed to sow mixed crops (Leviticus 19:19)

• It was a sin to wear clothes made with more than one kind of fiber (Leviticus 19:19)

• It was a sin for men to trim the corners of their beards (Leviticus 19:27)

• It was an abomination for women to wear any men’s clothing (so no wearing pants) (Deuteronomy 22:5)

• It was an abomination to touch the skin of a pig (so no playing American football) (Leviticus 11:7-8)

• Both people cut off from worshiping in the temple if a woman had sex with her husband while on her period (Leviticus 20:18)

Purpose of the Levitical Law

The Levitical law served a purpose within ancient Israelite society.

• The Law protected them physically, teaching them how to stay healthy in Bronze Age desert living, with laws on skin diseases, mold, and bodily fluids had real-world implications for hygiene and communal well-being.

• The Law protected them as a community, teaching them how to care for each other with laws about debts, land, inheritance, fair treatment of the poor and foreigner aimed to create equity and prevent oppression, ethical conduct (e.g., prohibitions against stealing, lying, or exploiting others), and forming a moral foundation for community life.

• The Law protected them spiritually, teaching them about God’s holiness, revealing their sin, God’s desire for their sanctification, and pointing them to our need for a Savior.

Following the Levitical Law

The Levitical law was given to a specific people at a specific time in history, to set them apart culturally and religiously (Leviticus 20:26), not as a universal code for all people in all eras. However, some religious groups still live under those 613 laws today such as certain groups of Orthodox Jews. Because they live in a new world, they have had to figure out how to apply the law to modern day living. The rules of the Orthodox Jews rules today include the following (find links within the text):

• Do not push elevator buttons on the Sabbath (they have a special elevator for the Jewish people, which on the sabbath stops on every floor, so that they don't have to push the button).

• Do not make coffee or cook on the Sabbath (hotel restaurants offer premade food for guests).

• Do not turn on lights on the Sabbath (they aren't even allowed to ask someone who is not jewish to turn on the light for them).

• Do not put out a fire on sabbath, unless someone is going to get hurt (so if no one is inside your house, and no one will be hurt, you need to let your house burn down).

• Do not walk more than 6 feet once you wake up in the morning, until you wash your hands with water that you prepared by your bed the night before.

• Wait 6 hours after eating chicken before you can eat any dairy product.

• Pray facing Jerusalem three times a day, preferably in the presence of ten jewish men.

• Do not listen to music unless it was produced by jews or has a jewish lesson in it.

• Men may not listen to a woman singing.

• One may not touch or even shake hands with someone of a different gender.

• You must have separate dishes for dairy and meaty foods. If a utensil is used with the wrong food, it must be koshered by dipping it into boiling water. Some utensils cannot be koshered and must be thrown out or given to a non jew.

• Boys and girls must not interact with each other from approximately 9 years old (even younger in some communities) till marriage. Even then it's strictly for dating a specific person and specifically for marriage

To learn more about these and more on how Orthodox Jews have continued to live under the Levitical covenant, check out Chabad’s guide and Wikipedia.

Which Laws Should We Follow Today?

While some people choose to abide by all 613 laws today, others pick and choose which Levitical laws still apply, affirming certain prohibitions while dismissing others. Some believe that the laws are separated into different categories: moral, ceremonial and civil. This categorization is not found in the biblical text itself though. It is a theological framework some created to explain why some commands are followed and others are not. The original Jewish audience would not have separated the laws this way. Nevertheless, different groups pick and choose different rules.

Picking Out The Sexual Laws

Some say, the only rules to continue today are the sexual rules. Let’s look at the sexual laws. Do we follow these today?

• Sex during menstruation is a sin Leviticus 18:19, 20:18

• If a priest’s daughter is sexually immoral, she must be burned to death - Leviticus 21:9

• Sex with a woman after childbirth makes both unclean and unfit to enter God’s presence or participate in worship for 33 - 66 days Leviticus 12

• A woman who cannot prove her virginity on her wedding night is to be stoned to death Deuteronomy 22:20–21

• Polygamy is allowed Exodus 21:10

• A rapist must marry his victim and pay the father Deuteronomy 22:28–29

• Any couple caught in adultery should be executed Leviticus 20:10

• A widow must marry her brother-in-law Deuteronomy 25:5

• A church leader may only marry a virgin Leviticus 21:13–14

The Levitical Law Was Abolished

The new covenant teaches us that we are no longer under the old covenant law but under grace.

The law served a purpose (to reveal sin and point us to our need for a Savior).

Through Jesus, the law was fulfilled, finished, accomplished, done:

• Hebrews 10:9 : He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

• Romans 6:14: You are not under the law but under grace.

• Galatians 2:16: Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.

• Romans 10:4: For Christ is the end of the law.

• Hebrews 8:13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

• Galatians 3:23-25 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

• Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

• Romans 7:6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Jesus & A New Law

In Leviticus 21:17–23 we are told that whoever has any abnormalities, they are forbidden to enter places of worship (Leviticus 21:17–23):

• are physically imperfect

• are disabled

• have eczema

• are blind or lame

• have testicle abnormalities

• have a hunchback or a dwarf

• have eye defects, sores on your feet

While the Pharisees held to this rules, Jesus brought hope:

Don't "tie up heavy burdens..and lay them on the shoulders of others." Jesus
Matthew 23:4

When Jesus conquered death on the cross, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the less-holy is torn; all were suddenly welcome now into God’s presence. All were welcome to have a relationship with God.

It wasn't only certain people that could enter the temple, now everyone could walk in, no matter the defect. Just as they were.

Understanding Jesus and his teachings on THE LAW is crucial for this topic, so we expanded that study here.

God gave Peter a new message: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 11:9).

A Look At The Verses

Regardless of whether we should follow the law today, or which verses to apply into our context and which to ignore, let’s look at the meaning of the specific verses in question today.

It turns out that the verses do not say what I thought they said.

I thought the verses said: “A man shall not lie with a man”. But what do they actually say?

• Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male (zachar) as with a woman."
  The word "man" (ish) is not used here. Instead, it uses male (zachar).

• Leviticus 20:13: "If man (ish) lies with a male (zachar) as with a woman...."
  The word "man" (ish) is only used one time here. The other word is "zachar"

Neither of these two verses mention an adult male with adult male sex (male-male ish-ish). Instead, the verses use adult male with young male (ish-zachar).

Ish אִישׁ

The official translation of this word is adult male. It is a relational, cultural and social description. Used when describing gender roles, a husband, men of valor, used in legal contexts of men owning a wife.

Zachar זָכָר

The official translation of this word is male (biological sex). It is an objective and anatomical description. It is often used for son or young boy. Used in the context of being the property of ownership. The word is used for the description of human beings being created male and female. The same word used in Leviticus 12:2 when it says "gives birth to a young male/zachar" and in Isaiah 66:7 when it says "giving birth to a son/zachar").

As with a woman

The text mentions to not have sex with a "zachar" (young male) as with a woman. The ish word (adult man) refers to ownership, like owning property, or in this time period- a woman. Some scholars believe some meanings could be:

• incest between an adult family member and the minor

• slave master and slave boy (temple malakoi/zachar slavery and prostitution)

• “zachar” being the male that is penetrated, while the "ish" is the male that is penetrating

Whatever these verses say, neither of them say anything about adult male with adult male (ish-ish). Instead, it uses ish-zachar.

Ancient Jewish Writings

Other Jewish texts saw these verses as being an adult man with a young male:

• Didache and the Babylonian Talmud, Philo of Alexandria, Maimonides & Ramban, all wrote about Leviticus older man having relations with a younger boy.

• Hellenistic Jew Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE- 50 CE) wrote a commentary on Leviticus 20:13 about “the love of boys” and that "both giver and receiver are worthy of death in accordance with the Law."

• Jewish Christian converts linked these verses to the practice of “paidophthorḗseis” (boy molesting) in the Didache 150 CE.

• The Babylonian Talmud associates these verses with pederastic incest (tractate Sanhedrin Folio 54, 70-500 CE).

• Moses Maimonides links Leviticus 18:22 to pederasty (1138-1204 CE Guide for the Perplexed) and Moses ben Nachman associates these two verses with pederasty only (1194-1270 CE “Commentary on the Torah”).

• Rabbinic and later interpretive traditions sometimes associated certain zākār behaviors with gender nonconformity (or effeminate men/boys).

Even the 1545 “Luther Bible” in German they saw that it was an adult male and young male: “Thou shalt not lie with boys as with a woman; for it is an abomination” in Lev 18:22.

A Look At The Verses from a Cultural Angle

All ancient text interpreters agree that cultural context is crucial in interpreting and understanding any text.

What was happening around the Israelites at the time, and does that help us understand the meaning of these verses?

There is ample documented evidence that the ancient Canaanites, Babylonians, Sumerians, Akkadian, Assyrians, and Mesopotamians all worshipped a goddess named Ishtar (or Inanna), goddess of war, love, and fertility. Her statue was the shape of a vulva.

Her temple cults were led by the Gala priests (kalû), who were biologically adult males who performed female roles. They would dress in women's clothing, sing laments in the women’s tongue, and for a fee would allow themselves to be penetrated by other males in front of the Ishtar vulva statue.

These same sex offerings were usually performed by men, as an offering to their gods for the purpose of good harvest or good fortune for the family. Young males were often purchased for these idolatry practices as many of the offering rituals were male-male sex activities and prostitution. Adult males, whether they were homosexual or not (whether they wanted to or not), would leave their wives at home and perform sexually with young males in front of the statue for the purposes of gaining favor from Ishtar. They believed divine power could be accessed through male genitals.

Hieros gamos was a ritual performed in Mesopotamian temples (like Inanna’s in Uruk), where men would enact a marriage between gods and humans through the actual sexual union during fertility ceremonies.

World History Encyclopedia (and earlier historians like Herodotus) reflect that fertility rituals in Mesopotamia included sexual acts, with men (including married men) engaged in temple-sex designed to ensure divine blessing and agricultural prosperity

Applying History

Understanding these idolatry practices of their day, it is possible that the Israelites would have known what this verse was referring to, especially since the verses are only for men. Other rules in Leviticus specified they were for both females and males. This one only mentions males.

The verses also speak of adult male and young male, not two people of the same age.

Could it be that the verses are referring to specific events happening in the surrounding towns the Israelites would have know about?

Deuteronomy Clarifies the Meaning

The list of laws from Leviticus is repeated in Deuteronomy.

They are all repeated, except for these verses of adult man - young male sex.

Deuteronomy does use the word for young male though (zachar). It only uses it in a temple prostitution context:

“None of the zachar of Israel shall serve in an illicit shrine. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 23:17–18).

Here, zachar (meaning "male") refers to male shrine prostitutes.

Maybe it’s referring to the individuals involved in ritual sex acts we mentioned above. The surrounding context reinforces this interpretation, as the verse immediately goes on to condemn the earnings from such practices being brought into the temple.

If young boys were the common prostitute slaves in the pagan temples, it is interesting that Deuteronomy spells it out for us: instead of the male lies with boy verse, it tells us about men prostituting in the temple.

What is an Abomination?

A word we often see on anti-gay rally signs, is the word “abomination”. Where does that come from?

It turns out that both of the verses we are addressing here (Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13) mention that the act is an "abomination" (תּוֹעֵבָה), so it’s important to address the meaning of this word.

It’s a word that appears in the New Testament (βδέλυγμα) and is used only 6 instances, all having to do with idolatry, pride, false religion and deceit.

• Temple desecration / idolatry (Matthew 24:15)

• Temple desecration / idolatry (Mark 13:14)

• Pride / hypocrisy (Luke 16:15)

• Referencing Babylon Mother of Prostitutes / idolatry (Revelation 17:4)

• Spiritual corruption / false religion (Revelation 17:4)

• Dishonesty / deceit (Revelation 21:27)

The Old Testament has two words that are translated into the English word "abomination":

• תּוֹעֵבָה toʿevah (93 times)

• שִׁקּוּץ shiqquts (28 times).

The Leviticus verses use the first one: toʿevah. Of all the 93 times this word is used, the only times it references sexual sin is in the following 6 instances (all having to do with idolatry and deceit):

• Male Temple Cult prostitution, idolatry sex (Deuteronomy 23:18)

• Male cult prostitution, idolatry sex (1 Kings 14:24)

• References to Jerusalem’s spiritual infidelity, prostitution of God's people with other gods, the sin of Sodom, idolatry, wickedness of (several times in Ezekiel Chapter 16)

• Idolatry, turning to other gods in unfaithfulness (Malachi 2:11)

• Men wearing women's clothes, scholars believe it relates to cultic pagan temple behavior where men dress in women's clothes to worship the Inanna sex god (Deuteronomy 22:5)

• Adultery / incest (Ezekiel 22:11)

Abomination Bible Meanings

The bar graph displays all the times that “abomination” is mentioned in the Old Testament and what behavior or action it is referring to:

Key Insights from this graph:

• Idolatry (including cultic sexual practices) accounts for the vast majority of “abominations” — over 25 references.

• Sexual immorality outside of idolatry is extremely rare in comparison — only around 2 mentions.

• Injustice, hypocrisy, dishonest business practices, and child sacrifice all receive more attention than same-sex behavior.

• Other references include pride, occult practices, ritual taboos, and miscellaneous offenses.

This graph powerfully illustrates that Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 fall into a pagan, idolatry cultic context.

"Abomination", when applied to sexuality, is speaking of idolatry.

Finding What Was Lost

These two verses do not speak of mutual adult partnerships, nor do they reflect the heart of Jesus, who tore the veil and welcomed all.

When we misuse Scripture to shame and exclude, we aren’t honoring God’s word. We're misunderstanding it.

When we take the time to examine these verses in their original language, cultural context, and covenantal purpose, we begin to see that something sacred has been lost in translation, and in application.

Leviticus was never meant to be a weapon against marriage, love or identity. It was a guide for a specific people in a specific time.

If we want to take Leviticus seriously, we must not miss what it is actually emphasizing: the call to be holy, to care for the vulnerable, to reject injustice and idolatry, and to recognize our deep need for grace.

Leviticus is a vision for a community centered on God’s holiness, compassion, and integrity. Instead of using isolated mistranslated verses to condemn others, we can honor the true heart of the text by pursuing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.