Does the Bible Prohibit Homosexuality? - The BAS Library
Login
Home > Magazines > Bible Review > December 1993

Does the Bible Prohibit Homosexuality?

The biblical prohibition is addressed only to Israel. It is incorrect to apply it on a universal scale.

By Jacob Milgrom

This past Yom Kippur, September 25, 1993, my synagogue invited me to explain the afternoon scriptural reading: the list of forbidden sexual liaisons in Leviticus 18. I chose to focus on what is today one of the most frequently quoted passages in the entire Bible, “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). What I said may be both good news and bad news to my Christian friends, depending on their position on gay and lesbian rights: This biblical prohibition is addressed only to Jews. Non-Jews are affected only […]

You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.

Join the BAS Library!

Already a library member? Log in here.

Footnotes

1.

It is true that some rabbis would include homosexuality under the Noachide Laws, binding on all humanity (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 58a; Maimonides, Kings 9:5), but this is a later interpretation, not the plain meaning of the biblical text.

2.

“Seeing the Ethical Within the Ritual,” BR 08:04.