What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

A small number of passages speak directly about sex between people of the same sex. All of them are negative: Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, Romans 1:26–27, 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Christians disagree over whether these texts cover every same-sex relationship or only the particular practices the writers knew. The Bible has no word for sexual orientation as people understand it today.

What the text says

Where readers differ

The words it turns on

• ἀρσενοκοίτης ἀρσενοκοίτης (arsenokoitēs)

  A compound of *arsēn* ("male") and *koitē* ("bed", a common euphemism for sexual intercourse), so roughly "a man who goes to bed with males." Paul's letters (1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10) are the earliest known uses. The word probably echoes the Greek Septuagint wording of Leviticus 20:13 (*meta arsenos koitēn*). Most lexicons take it to mean a male who has sex with males. Some scholars argue it means exploitative sex specifically, such as with prostitutes, boys or slaves.

  Drift: English Bibles began using the word "homosexual" in 1946. Coined in the 19th century, it names an orientation and covers both sexes. *Arsenokoitēs* names a male sexual act, and the Greek has no word for orientation.

• μαλακός μαλακός (malakos)

  Literally "soft." Jesus uses it for fine clothing (Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:25). In moral writing it meant effeminate, self-indulgent or lacking self-control, and it was sometimes used of the passive partner in male-male sex. Placed next to *arsenokoitai* in 1 Corinthians 6:9, it is often read in that last sense.

  Drift: Some translations merge *malakoi* and *arsenokoitai* into one phrase, as in "men who submit to or perform homosexual acts." That hides the fact that these are two separate words and that *malakos* has a broader range.

• φύσις φύσις (physis)

  "Nature": the way something is, or the ordinary order of things. In Romans 1:26 the phrase is *para physin*, "contrary to nature." Paul uses the same idea in 1 Corinthians 11:14, where he says nature teaches that long hair is a disgrace for a man. In Romans 11:24 God himself grafts Gentiles in "contrary to nature."

  Drift: Readers argue over whether *physis* here means the created design of male and female, or social custom and a person's own usual disposition. Paul's use of the same term for hair length keeps the question open.

• תּוֹעֵבַה תּוֹעֵבָה (to'ebah)

  Something detestable or abhorrent, often what breaks the boundaries of Israel's worship and identity. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 use it. So do texts about dishonest weights (Deuteronomy 25:16), idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:25), certain foods (Deuteronomy 14:3), and pride and lying (Proverbs 6:16–19). Egyptians use it of eating with Hebrews (Genesis 43:32).

  Drift: In modern English, "abomination" sounds like the worst possible sin. The Hebrew word covers a wider range of things that are offensive or out of bounds.

• מִשְׁכָּב מִשְׁכָּב (mishkav)

  "Lying, bed," which also means sexual intercourse. Leviticus 18:22 literally reads "with a male you shall not lie the lyings of a woman" (*mishkevei ishah*). Rabbinic interpretation took this to mean anal intercourse specifically.

What the Bible doesn't say

Key verses

1. Romans 1:26

   For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

   The longest New Testament passage on the subject, and the only one that may mention women.

2. Leviticus 18:22

   You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.

   The basic Torah prohibition of a man lying with a male "as with a woman."

3. Leviticus 20:13

   If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

   Repeats the prohibition with the death penalty. Its Greek wording probably lies behind *arsenokoitai*.

4. 1 Corinthians 6:9

   Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

   Lists *malakoi* and *arsenokoitai* among wrongdoers, then says "such were some of you, but you were washed."

5. 1 Timothy 1:10

   for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching

   The second use of *arsenokoitai*, in a list loosely following the Ten Commandments.

6. Matthew 19:4

   Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

   Jesus grounds marriage in the creation of male and female, though he is answering a question about divorce.

7. Genesis 2:24

   For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

   The founding "one flesh" text on marriage that later writers quote.

8. Genesis 19:4

   Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.

   The Sodom story: an attempted gang rape of guests.

9. Ezekiel 16:49

   Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

   The prophet names Sodom's sins as pride, excess and neglect of the poor, plus an "abomination."

10. Jude 1:7

    In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

    Links Sodom to sexual immorality and "strange flesh," a phrase readers interpret differently.