Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: What Does "Arsenokoitai" Mean? Interesting word study on homosexuality

  1. #1
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    16,274
    Thanked: 14131
    Blog Entries
    1

    What Does "Arsenokoitai" Mean? Interesting word study on homosexuality

    This is short but sweet. An interesting word study from a 'new' word Paul coined in his writings that he apparently created from the OT. Also an answer to when people say things like, "well I know the OT mentions homosexuality, but what about all the other weird stuff like wearing certain kinds of fabric, etc" in an effort to prove that that part about homosexuality is not relevant today. You can teach this sometime VW. :)
    __________________

    Does the Greek word "arsenokoitai" really refer to homosexuality?

    That word is an unusual word. It's a new word; we don't know of any other instances of the word until Paul coins the word in 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1. It's a compound word: "arsen" means man and "koite" or "koitas" or "koitai"—depending on a verb or a noun—means bed. It's men who bed with other men.

    It's quite clear that Paul has coined this word from Leviticus 18 and 20. Even if you don't know any Greek, you could find online or pull up the Greek transliteration of these two verses. Look at the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, and then just look at the Greek for the necessary passage in Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20 and you'll see there (and in fact the words are right next to each other in Leviticus 20) this word for man ("arsen") and the word for bed ("koitai" or "koite").

    Paul is quite deliberately pulling from the Torah to make this new word. So he has in his mind all that was written in the Old Testament. And that's part of the reason why we can't just say, "Well Leviticus has a lot of strange things and so we shouldn't pay attention to Leviticus." Because Paul is explicitly drawing this teaching into the New Testament to coin this word which, given the context in Leviticus and how it's used elsewhere after the New Testament, means men having sex with other men. And there is no real other interpretation that makes the best sense of the evidence both in the early Christian literature and especially in the Old Testament.

    What Does "Arsenokoitai" Mean? | Crossway Articles

  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to fuego For This Useful Post:

    Ezekiel 33 (06-19-2020), Femme* (06-18-2020), FireBrand (06-18-2020), sojourner (06-19-2020)

  3. #2
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    16,274
    Thanked: 14131
    Blog Entries
    1
    After reading that at Crossway, I did a search on the word and here is another more detailed study of the word in response to people that claim the word has nothing to do with homosexuality in trying to prove it is ok according to the Bible.

    Responding To Five Arguments About Arsenokoites...

    Responding To Five Arguments About Arsenokoites… | Watch Your Life and Doctrine Closely…

  4. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to fuego For This Useful Post:

    Cardinal TT (06-19-2020), Ezekiel 33 (06-19-2020), Femme* (06-18-2020)

  5. #3
    Senior Member Cardinal TT's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    7,640
    Thanked: 5995
    Blog Entries
    2
    Good topic

    I looked into it may years ago as there were people discrediting the word and saying it had nothing to do with homosexual male acts.
    It's quite obvious Paul used the word for males having sex - the breakdown as mentioned above is clear about the 2 Greek words

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Cardinal TT For This Useful Post:

    Ezekiel 33 (06-19-2020), fuego (06-18-2020)

  7. #4
    Senior Member Cardinal TT's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    7,640
    Thanked: 5995
    Blog Entries
    2
    Some irony

    Down here as FFO would agree we follow the British English and many use the word arse to describe your backside but in a crude way.
    It is actually more derogatory than how Americans use the words butt or ass and many use it as a swear word.

    My wife has said she doesn't like the word arse due to its crude sound and the way it is used and much prefers the American word ass which seems more normal.

    It seems weird that the word to describe male sex acts begins with 'arse'....

  8. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Cardinal TT For This Useful Post:

    Ezekiel 33 (06-19-2020), fuego (06-19-2020), FunFromOz (06-20-2020)

  9. #5
    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    14,487
    Thanked: 5793
    Quote Originally Posted by fuego View Post
    This is short but sweet. An interesting word study from a 'new' word Paul coined in his writings that he apparently created from the OT. Also an answer to when people say things like, "well I know the OT mentions homosexuality, but what about all the other weird stuff like wearing certain kinds of fabric, etc" in an effort to prove that that part about homosexuality is not relevant today. You can teach this sometime VW. :)
    The main difference between the two mentioned commandments in the law is that the list in Leviticus 18 about severe sins is summed up in the following statement :

    Lev 18:24 'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
    25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Has your Toyota Prius warranty expired? Get a fast online quote from CarWarrantyUS today. Enjoy the open road and leave the repairs to us.