The truth about Paul's words. Read it carefully. It's going to shock you!

Paul's use of the words malakoi and arsenokoitai

From: hans@teleport.com (Hans-Michael Vermeersch)
Subject: Re: Where does which Bible condem Homosexuality?
Date: 26 Oct 1995 23:29:11 GMT
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Message-ID: <46p5k7$kif@maureen.teleport.com>

It is the mistaken contention of some that Paul spoke of homosexuals in two other letters. The error comes from cultural bias which has crept into the translation of his letters; specifically regarding two words (malakoi and arsenokoitai). To the church in Corinth and subsequently in a letter to Timothy he wrote:

I Cor. 6:9-10 (NIV)
"... Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor MALE PROSTITUTES (malakoi) nor HOMOSEXUAL OFFENDERS (arsenokoitai) nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

I Tim. 1:9-10 (NIV)

"We also know that the law is made not for good men but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and PERVERTS (arsenokoitais), for slave traders and liars and perjurers."

What the NIV refers to in 1 Cor. 9 supposedly as "homosexual offenders" and later in 1 Tim. 1:10 as "perverts" is related in Paul's original letters with the single Greek word arsenokoitai(s) The translators for King James render the word as "abusers of themselves with mankind." Other modern translations construe the term as "child molesters" or even "sodomites" (ironic since we know that the Sodomites were not condemned for homosexuality). Compare the following common translations of the term arsenokoitai.

1 Corinthian 1 Timothy

KJV abusers of themselves with mankind them that defile
themselves with mankind
RSV sexual perverts sodomites
NIV homosexual offenders perverts
NASB homosexuals homosexuals
NAB sodomites sexual perverts
NEB those guilty of homosexual perversion perverts
Moffat sodomites sodomites
Luther Knabenschaender (child abusers) child abusers

The various translations of the idiom arsenokoitai as used by Paul give evidence as to its ambiguity. Arndt and Gingrich begin their citation of the term with the reference "a male homosexual." It might be helpful to have a lexicon to explain what they understood a homosexual to be. If the rest of their entry on arsenokoites is any evidence of this, then one may infer a certain amount of cultural bias on the part of these lexographers. ------------------------------- The citation goes on to list "pederast" (man who molests boys) and "sodomite" (meaning vague). Child molesters are a subset of both homosexuals as well as heterosexuals. A pederast is not however synonymous with a male homosexual. ----------------------------

The term arsenokoitai is only used twice in the original texts of the Bible; in the two passages by Paul just cited. Usages of the word by contemporaries of Paul (secular or otherwise) seem to be almost nonexistant. (Father D. Helminiak, Ph.D., a Catholic theologian writes in his book "What the Bible really Says About Homosexuality": "1 Corinthians is our earliest record of the word." Yale Professor Dr. J. Boswell writes in his award winning "Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality": "Paul appears to have been the first author to use the word, and it appeared very infrequently after him.") Should Paul have intended to condemn child molesters with this word (as Arndt and Gingrich suggest and some translations reflect), a generalization of the passage to condemn all homosexuals would be disingenuous.

Where a modern translation reports Paul's contention in I Corinthians that "male prostitutes" shall not inherit the kingdom of God, the KJV speaks of "the effeminate." This poor rendering of the Greek word malakoi has been used to condemn gays for the past three centuries. The mistranslation owes in part to the already prevalent prejudice against gays present during preparation of this version of the Bible. It also illustrates a common misconception which is held by many people even today, namely the stereotype that all gay men are "effeminate" or feminine in their actions or appearance. Yet Paul was a Greek speaking Jew and a Roman citizen. In the culture in which he wrote the word malakoi, those who engaged in homosexual acts were not considered to be of questionable manhood. The Thebans even formed a legion of warriors composed entirely of gay couples. The group possessed an incredible esprit de corps and could boast of many victories.




Malakoi suffers from the same lexical complexity. The word malakos means literally "soft." There is no indication that it was used in the time of Paul as a derogatory remark leveled exclusively against gays. On the contrary, Hellenistic literature is replete with examples of heterosexuals being characterized as malakos. The label seemed to indicate some sort of general moral weakness or excess.

The early church fathers invoked the word malakos against masturbation.

Moreover they never used the word to imply being "effeminate" but rather list other terms for this purpose including the lubrios and androgunos whence the term "androgyny."





Did Paul intend to condemn homosexuals? It would appear that his writings leave us with no compelling evidence to decide in the affirmative. Regardless, Paul was a poor authority when it came to matters of sex.

>He remained single all his life and wished that all men were as he.

He saw marriage as a last resort for those who couldn't control their sexual desires. Said Paul, "it is better to marry than to burn" (I Cor. 7:8-9). He thought marriage was good for younger widows to keep them from growing idle and becoming "gossips and busybodies" (I Tim. 5:13).


Although Paul was a devout follower of Christ who communed intimately with the Lord, it is fair to say that he didn't fully appreciate the love which God created to be shared between two people.