Leviticus 18

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Leviticus 18 is a chapter of the Biblical book of Leviticus. It narrates part of the instructions given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. The chapter deals with a number of sexual activities considered 'unclean' or 'abominable'. Although the chapter is principally concerned with incest, it also contains laws related to bestiality and "lying with a man as with a woman." This single reference to homosexual activity (verse 22) has, in recent years, made its interpretation a focus of debate among Christians and Jews (see Homosexuality and Christianity and Jewish views of homosexuality).

Leviticus 18 is generally regarded as part of the holiness code of Leviticus 11–26, and its sexual prohibitions are largely paralleled by Leviticus 20 (except that chapter has more emphasis on punishment).

Contents

[edit] Incest

The incest laws are given from a male perspective, and are quite extensive, comprising not only relations with immediate blood relatives, but also relatives by marriage, and blood relatives of those with whom one has a sexual relationship.

[edit] Sexuality

For more details on this topic, see The Bible and homosexuality.

The text of 18:22 says:

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

18:22 has universally been read as prohibiting homosexual acts. The debate has then been over the hermeneutical question of whether and how this text applies to the modern Christian or Jewish situation (see The Bible and homosexuality and Biblical law in Christianity for that debate). As noted in the separate article on Leviticus, the book uses the word "abomination" 16 times, mostly in dietary prohibitions (for example prohibiting shellfish and pork).

However, there are debates as to the meaning of the verse:

Many authors (including Greenberg 1988:191, Wenham 1979:259, Kahn 1984:49) state that v.22 condemns “homosexuality” or “homosexual relations” without explaining what these words mean.

Alternatively, some authors state that v.22 condemns only males penetrating males (anal intercourse). These authors include Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 54a and b; Josephus, Against Apion 2.199; and Philo, Abraham 135. Some modern authors stating this view include Alter 2004:623, 632; Boyarin 1995:339, 343; Brooten 1996:61; Cohen 1990:6; Daube 1986:447; Milgrom 2000:1568; Olyan 1994:185; Thurston 1990:16; and Walsh 2001:208.

The papers by Olyan and Walsh show how they conclude that v.22 refers only to men penetrating men. In brief, the verse only prohibits a male having sex (lying) with another male when the sex is “the lyings of a woman” (miškəḇē ʼiššā). The phrase “the lyings of a woman” is the opposite of “the lying of a male”, which in the Old Testament (e.g. Book of Numbers 31:17–18, 35, and Judges 21:11–12) means male vaginal penetration. The opposite of this is female vaginal receptivity—the meaning of “the lyings of a woman”. The male equivalent of vaginal receptivity is anal receptivity. Therefore v.22 prohibits a male from having anal sex (lying) with another male.

On the other hand, some authors state that v.22 condemns all sex acts between males. These authors include Gagnon 2001:143; and Wold 1998:95.

Some note that v.22 uses the Hebrew phrase, לֹא תִשְׁכַּב "lō ṯiškaḇ", which could be referring to any form of laying down to rest. In the surrounding sexual-condemnation passages v.20 and v.23, the phrase לֹא־תִתֵּן שְׁכָבְתְּךָ "lō-ṯittēn šəḵoḇtəḵā" is used, which is quite specifically about sex. Some argue that the lack of parallelism between these statements is an indicator that passage v.22 is deliberately phrased to not talk explicitly about sex.

Others note v.22 concerns מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה "miškəḇē ʼiššā", literally "the bed(chambers) of (a) woman." They argue that, while this can be an indirect reference to sexuality, it is never used as directly as the English translation seems to indicate. They note that מִשְׁכַּב "miškaḇ" can only used euphemistically to refer to sex, e.g. Book of Numbers 31:18, lit. "women who have known man in the bed of man." They deny that this is a euphemistic use. Also, תִּשְׁכַּב "tiškaḇ" could refer to any form of rest (Genesis 19:4, 28:11-13, 47:30, Exodus 22:27, Lev 14:47, 26:6, Num 23:24, et al).

Conservative theologians have responded that there are many instances of תִּשְׁכַּב "tiškaḇ" referring explicitly to sex (Gen 19:34, 26:10, 30:15–16, 34:2, 35:22, 39:7, Exd 22:16, 22:19, et al.). Moreover, they argue, the entire context of Leviticus 18 seems to deal with sexual things, and that this rendition of "lie with" is likewise sexual [1]. See, for example, Wold 1998:107.

Liberal theologians have responded to this by noting that v.21 immediately precedes v.22, but is not sexual, hence the context is broken in at least one, and possibly two, passages, before getting reasserted by the parallelism of v.20 and v.23. (But note that Cohen (1990:13) states that “seed” (zera) in v.21 means “semen”, not “offspring” or “children”, and offering semen to Molech is a sexual act.)

Some also dispute the type of condemnation present in v.22. The verse identifies that the form of condemnation is תֹּועֵבָה "tōʻēḇā". The earlier crimes referenced in Leviticus 18 (the nakedness crimes), are specifically identified as זִמָּה zimmā. תֹּועֵבָה "Tōʻēḇā" is the word most often used concerning the sin of idolatry (Gen 43:32, 46:34, Exd 8:26, Deut 7:25, 13:12–14, et al). זִמָּה Zimmā seems a more appropriate word to talk about sexual crimes (Lev 18:17, 19:29, 20:14, Judges 20:5–6, Jer 13:27, Eze 16:26–27, et al.).

[edit] The nature and scope of the prohibitions

Historically, there has been some debate as to whether these laws should be regarded as ethical laws (and therefore universal) or cultic/ritual laws (and thus particular). Jewish interpretations have generally resisted such a dichotomy.

Some Christian theology has made such a distinction - holding that 'Old Testament' cleanliness Laws were cultic laws abolished by Jesus. (Passages such as Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:19 can be cited in support of this abolition, however, passages such as the introduction to the Expounding of the Law, in the Gospel of Matthew, seem to point in the opposite direction.) See also Biblical law in Christianity.

Interpretations holding that Leviticus 18 is talking about moral law, argue that the word "to'evah" (or "ta'ba") used as "abomination," is not used for cleanliness laws. They also typically point at the Lev 20:13 pronouncement of death upon all people who betray Lev 18:22. They suggest that these are indicators that Lev 18:22 concerns moral sin, not simply ritual uncleanliness. (It is noteworthy in this context that laws of ritual purity and cleanliness such as unclean animals, are described as "abomination")

Others argue that this view is too narrow and out of context. They point the reader to passages v.24-v.30, where "to'evah" occurs 4 times, and the word defile, in derived forms from the Hebrew root word "tame," occurs 6 times. Derivatives of this same word are used throughout Leviticus 11, and it is argued that, these refer to food cleanliness the same as some interpret Jesus to have revoked.

[edit] References

  • Alter, Robert, The five books of Moses: a translation with commentary, 2004
  • Boyarin, Daniel, “Are there any Jews in ‘The History of Sexuality’?”, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol 5 no 3 (1995)
  • Brooten, Bernadette, Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism, 1996
  • Cohen, Martin, "The Biblical Prohibition of Homosexual Intercourse," Journal of Homosexuality, Vol 19(4) (1990)
  • Daube, David, "The Old Testament Prohibitions of Homosexuality." Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur Rechtsgeschichte Romantische Abteilung 103 (1986)
  • Gagnon, Robert, The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, 2001
  • Greenberg, David, The Construction of Homosexuality,1988
  • Kahn, Yoel, "Judaism and Homosexuality: The Traditionalist/ Progressive Debate," Homosexuality and Religion, ed Richard Hasbany 1984
  • Milgrom, Jacob, Leviticus 17-22, 2000
  • Olyan, Saul, "And with a Male You Shall Not Lie the Lying Down of a Woman”: On the Meaning and Significance of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13", Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol 5, no 2, (1994)
  • Thurston, Thomas, "Leviticus 18:22 and the Prohibition of Homosexual Acts," in Homophobia and the Judeo-Christian Tradition, ed. by Michael L. Stemmeler & J. Michael Clark, 1990
  • Walsh, Jerome, “Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: Who Is Doing What To Whom?” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol 120, No 2, (2001) Also available here.
  • Wenham, Gordon, The Book of Leviticus, 1979
  • Wold, Donald, Out of Order: Homosexuality in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, 1998
  • Hebrew phrasing for Lev 18.
  • The Great Books, for NRSV text.
  • Blue Letter Bible's Bible Lookup Tools were used to derive passage citations.
  • Robert Jamieson's Commentary on Lev 18. (19th Century) (conservative).
  • Pharsea's treatment of Leviticus 18:22. (balanced)
  • ReligiousTolerance.org's treatment of Leviticus 18:22. (liberal)

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