Sodom

I'm going to be doing a series of random posts showing my personal notes when I was researching the Bible and homosexuality. Instead of writing a novel of why I believe what I do on the subject, I'll just put my research in these little, bare-bone, posts in no particular order.


First homosex connection with Sodom, 2 Enoch.* Second is from Philo who makes no mention of homosexuality (beginning verses from Philo; "As men, being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful connections; for not only did they go mad after other WOMEN, and defile the marriage bed of others..."). Later Josephus and once again homosexuality is never mentioned (beginning verses from Josephus; “About this time the Sodomites (he's simply saying the citizens of the city) grew proud, on account of their riches and great wealth; they became unjust towards men, and impious towards God, in so much that they did not call to mind the advantages they received from him: they hated strangers...”). German Monk Peter Damian in his 11th Century book; "The Book of Gomorrah" changed what was a vice list (Debaucheries of Men) by Augustine into sub-categories and made homosexuality the main cause of Sodom's destruction believed by most to this day.

Apocryphal "Testament of Levi" and "Testament of Benjamin" make heterosexual sex the sin of Sodom like Philo.

Inhospitality to the stranger was the cause of Sodom's destruction to the ancient Jews:

"...They said (men of Sodom): Since there cometh forth bread out of Earth... why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth. Come, let us abolish the practice of traveling in our land..."

- Babylonian Talmud


"Their intention was to stop people from coming among them... Yet their fate was sealed because of this sin (they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy)."

- Ramban's Commentary on "And We Shall Know Them."


Inhospitality by the tribe of Benjamin so enraged the Hebrew tribes, that they went to war.



Biblical references to Sodom of relevance:

Deut 29:23. 

4 cities were destroyed, not just the two. There would be numerous records of 4 prominent ancient cities notorious for their homosexuality, which would be one of the biggest anomalies in the ancient world, like we have of prominent men and women figures of the past who were notorious for their homosexuality.

Jeremiah 23:14 (Israel like Sodom and Gomorrah)
"Also among the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah."

Ezek 16:49-50 (... and did abomination before me"). In the Hebrew the word "Abomination" (tow`ebah) is a singular with an indefinite article ("abomination" in reference to sins already listed, not "an abomination") word used prior in the context of idolatry (verses 36, 43, 47). The use of word 'tow`ebah' varies (adultery; Ezek 22:11, greed; Luke 15:16, etc), but in this SPECIFIC instance, idolatry is meant within the context given.

Now we follow up with Jude who mentions the sin of Sodom going after "Strange Flesh." (homosexuality would be named "Same Flesh" and not strange flesh because it would still be human flesh desired)

Jude 1:7 (... went after strange flesh"). "Strange Flesh" (Sarkos Heteras) is believed to be talking about homosexuality by conservatives, but look at the previous chapter; "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode...” Jude is reminding his readers of the attempted rape of the Heavenly visitors by the inhabitants of Sodom in chapter 6, he hearkens back to the book of 1 Enoch who he quotes later (Jude 1:14) that says God brought destruction when angelic beings ("Watchers") has heterosexual intercourse with HUMAN WOMEN. 2 Pet 2:4-6 (2 peter quotes Jude who quotes 1 Enoch), Apocryphal "Book of Jubilees," "Testament of Nephtali" and "Testament of Asher" all do the same with connecting Sodom with the sin of heterosexual angel/human sex with no mention of homosexuality. The only other time the term "Strange Flesh" is used in the Bible in Hebrews 7:13 in reference to a holy being named Melchizedek who is "without beginning of days or end of life" (Heb 7:3). Both Origen and Didymus believed Melchizedek was an angelic being. Jude chapter 8 ends with Jude talking about only celestial beings again.
Even Gagnon makes it a case of human and Angel sex; "...' went after other flesh' probably refers to their attempt to copulate with Lot's angelic visitors." (The Bible and Homosexual Practice, p. 87)





*2 Enoch is not a credible source.

From "Essays by Rictor Norton on the Historical Roots of Homophobia from Ancient Israel to the End of the Middle Ages:"

"The Book of the Secrets of Enoch (2 Enoch), written in Egypt before the middle of the first century by a Hellenistic Jew, says that the Sodomites committed "abominable lecheries, namely one with another" and "the sin against nature, which is child-corruption after the Sodomitic fashion, magic-making, enchantments and devilish witchcraft." This is nonsensical embellishment when compared with the actual Biblical text, and obviously a result of coming into contact with the "underworld" of first-century Alexandria, where pederasty and homosexual prostitution existed alongside competing mystical sects, astrology, fortune-telling, and cults involving castration and transvestism."

2 Enoch was not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls or referenced in any other ancient writings. 

The neologism in it puts it as a middle-century work according to historians. 

art by: http://www.andreasbirath.com/