The Bible

Aspects to Understanding
Translation - this is required to make the orginal greek, hebrew and aramaic texts more accesible. Even contemporary translations often fail to capture the writer's meaning, so this is one cause for careful study. Is there the possibility - or even likelihood - that these words may have been mistranslated?

Yada - this word describes what the crowd in sodom wanted with Lot's visitors. In almost 900 cases in the bible, the word "yada" is translated to mean "to gain knowledge of" with no sexual meaning implied. In less than 10 cases, the same word is translated to mean CARNAL knowledge. Strange.

Ish and Zakhar - these are the ORIGINAL words used in the prohibition against man lying with mankind. "Ish" means man or male, but Zakhar is most often translated to mean a man or male animal specially dedicated to a deity for some sacred function. The correct translation explains the prohibition.

Arsenokoitai - good luck translators, Paul seems to have made up "Arsenokoitai". (Timothy repeats it). "Arsenos" = male, "koitai" = beds, sounds like men in bed? Sometimes this gets translated as "them that defile themselves with mankind", or "male sexual perverts", or "the sexually imorral", or "those with unnatural desires", or "male prostitutes", or "child molesters". http://www.geocities.com/pharsea/PaulineLists.html

Interpretation - even if the translators get all the words right, getting the proper meaning may not be as simple as taking the literal meaning of the words on the page. Just consider common phrases of the day and you'll get the point .. we don't mean it literally when we say "get off my back", or "I was scared to death", or "I'm starving". Reading, studying & praying can help get at the writer's intent.

Leviticus - this book is about sin, atonement, ritual and hygiene. It instructs Isrealites not to practice what they practice in Egypt (which they had left) and Canaan (which they were entering). Egyptian and Canaanite cultures practiced ritual, pagan sex with temple prostitutes ... Ish with Zakhar ... and Leviticus tells the Isrealites not to do that.

Sodom - is the great sin of Sodom homosexuality ... or is it violence against visitors? Ezekiel 16:48-50 spells it out: the sins of Sodom are idolatry, inhospitality, pride and lack of care for widows orphans and the poor. Homosexuality was not mentioned, directly or by inference.