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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 […]

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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.