The book of Leviticus, third book of the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Torah. An entire volume on ritual purity. Instructions to the Jews and their priests, designed to distinguish them from the surrounding nations. To strengthen their cultural identity, and prevent foreign practices and acts of worship from corrupting their traditions.
It lays down the law on "proper" behaviour, from sacrifices and offerings3 to ceremonial purification4, from how to perform rituals5 to what not to do as acts of worship6, and sets out punishments for those who disobey7. It states that Israel should not act like the Egyptians and Canaanites, and gives a list of deeds and behaviours that should, therefore, be considered unacceptable8.
Amongst all this, we find the brief verse used by some to condemn homosexuality:
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."9
Repeated a couple of chapters later with the punishment:
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."10
So, within an entire book on "How To Be a Righteous, Purified Jew and Perform All the Correct Rituals" and "What To Do To People Who Try To Do Differently (Kill Them)", we have two verses that apply to all peoples of the modern world, unequivocally stating that homosexuality is wrong. How indubitable.
Frequently, the popular bandwagon to jump on whenever Leviticus is brought up in debate, is the fact that other Laws from the book are blatantly ignored nowadays, specifically re: eating shellfish11 and wearing mixed-fibre clothing12. This is sometimes countered by talk of different "levels" of Law being present, of important Moral Codes alongside mere Health Recommendations and Ritual Codes of Practice.
It is of some significance, then, that the word translated as "abomination" is the Hebrew word "Tow`ebah", used throughout the Old Testament to signify ritual uncleanliness14. Not quite what the modern English-speaker thinks of when presented with Abomination: "nasty and disgusting; vile, loathsome.". And why use "Tow`ebah" if the author meant "Zimmah"; moral wickedness, evil15?
Another oft-made observation is that the verses cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, include female homosexuality; the wording/grammar irrefutably specify men who "lie" (whatever that means...) with men. In the same chapters, when bestiality is dealt with, both men and women are specifically forbidden from intercourse with animals13. So God is cool with lesbians but not gay men?
Interesting, also, how the 2004 NLT bible for example, says instead "Do not practice homosexuality; it is a detestable sin", to handily cover up, through translation, any doubt that might otherwise ensue.
However, neither of these common points pique my interest quite so much as the fact that, in Leviticus Chapter 18 (and again in Chapter 20), it uses the phrase "Do not have sexual relations with..." eighteen times16 (alternatively, "The nakedness...thou shalt not uncover..."/"You shall not have intercourse with..."); and yet, for our single, all-important verse, the author abandons the less ambiguous phraseology for "lie as with a woman".
Or, in alternative translations, "beds-[of-a]-woman". For the Hebrew construct, "Mishkevey", formed of two nouns, appears nowhere else in the Old Testament translated as anything other than "bed" or "bed-chamber"; describing all this as obscure and enigmatic borders on understatement. A similar argument holds true for the Greek translation, the Septuagint17.
In addition, the command appears just after burning children as a sacrifice to Molech is forbidden, and just before ritual bestiality is banned, "as were the practices of the nations around Israel"18. Not a huge leap of logic to discern that "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" 9 might just, ever so possibly, have something to do with worshipping other gods.
What a stupendous argument against two people of the same sex having an emotional and physical relationship.
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