Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Homosexuality and Israel's code of holiness

Biblical reflections published on the site Would Jesus Discriminate? (United States), freely translated by Silvia Lanzi

The chapters containing these verses are clearly identified as opposing practices intended for idolatrous worship and cults. It is commonly accepted that they are not applicable to modern Christian life.

Discussion: Here are the two verses from Leviticus as they appear in the King James Version: “You shall not have relations with a man as you have with a woman: it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22)
“If anyone has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have committed an abominable thing; they will have to be put to death; their blood will be on them.” (Leviticus 20:13)
Before delving into these two verses, it would be helpful to read How Language is Interpreted, which is part of the discussion of 1 Romans.

If we want to understand the true meaning of these verses, we must look at their context, both textual and historical. If we do not first understand what these Old Testament rules suggested, we will not be able to determine whether they should be applied in the case of two people living in a loving and mutually faithful relationship.

The text itself gives us a clue as to the meaning that was intended to be given to it. On three specific occasions we are told that the rules set out in chapters 18 and 20 serve to prevent the Israelites from doing what the Egyptians and Canaanites did. The term “Canaanites” refers to the group of peoples who lived in the land to which the Israelites emigrated after leaving Egypt; It follows, therefore, that if we can determine what type of homosexual behavior was common among the Canaanites and Egyptians, we would better understand what these verses were intended to prohibit.

Biblical historians tell us that the Canaanite religions surrounding the Israelites in the time of Leviticus often included fertility rites that were nothing more than sexual rites. These rites were believed to bring the blessing of the god or goddess on agricultural production and livestock. During the rites, entire families, including husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, aunts, and uncles sometimes had sex. Temple sex with prostitutes was also included. In short, in these rituals, every sexual practice imaginable was performed, including homosexual sex.

Let's consider a specific example. Historians tell us that many Canaanites and Egyptians worshiped a goddess of love and fertility called Astarte or Ishtar. In his temples there were special priests called assinu, who were thought to have special powers. Physical contact with assinu was believed to ward off evil and promote good luck. These priests were, in effect, living good luck charms, and worshipers often ritually touched them as part of their worship practices. Sexual intercourse was considered particularly effective in winning the goddess's favor, because the male worshiper was offering his greatest possession, semen (thought to be the essence of life), to the goddess through her priests. It was believed that depositing the semen in the priest's body was a guarantee of immortality. Similar sexual cult practices flourished in relation to many other ancient pagan deities.

This was what was happening in the Land of Canan and Egypt at the time the laws of Leviticus were formulated – homosexual prostitution in the temple. As already noted, Leviticus 18 and 20 specifically say they were written to address pagan religious practices. Leviticus 18 begins with the admonition, “You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you dwelt, and you shall not do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am leading you” (18:3). Chapter 20 is even more specific, beginning with an injunction against pagan practices connected to a god called Molech. And both chapters include long lists of sexual practices common to the cultic rites mentioned above. However, none of them asks the question whether two people of the same sex can experience a loving relationship with God's blessing.

In fact, historians tell us that our model of a loving, long-term same-sex relationship did not exist in any meaningful way in Canaanite culture. This was a tribal culture in which it would have been impossible to form this type of relationship. Offspring were essential for survival in this primitive agricultural economy. Furthermore, there was a rigid division between women's work and men's work. If two men had lived together as a couple, for example, one of them would have been in a position to do the woman's work, and the presence of a man working among the women of the village would not have been tolerated.

It is simply not reasonable to believe that the author of Leviticus intended to prohibit a form of homosexual intercourse that did not exist at the time. When read in their historical and textual context, the prohibitions of Leviticus 18 and 20 are clearly directed at homosexual temple prostitution, and should apply to this.

Some people might object, saying, “But if you ignore the context and just read the words of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 in black and white, they appear to prohibit sex between two men, not just sex in pagan rituals.” But here's the thing: the meaning of words depends on the context. Remember that the words of 1 Corinthians 11 seem to require that all women, under all circumstances, cover their heads and keep their hair long. But, because we have studied the context, we know that this is not what they mean. A text taken out of its context is a pretext. Let's apply the rule of common sense here too.

The passages in Leviticus were clearly written in the context of pagan religious rites. Since we are not asking a question about the appropriateness of cultic sexual practices for modern Christians, we can safely put these difficult passages aside.

Original text: Israel's Holiness Code. (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13)