Re: ARSENOKOITHS/ARRENOKOITHS

From: Steven Craig Miller (scmiller@www.plantnet.com)
Date: Mon Mar 06 2000 - 08:41:52 EST


<x-flowed>To: Jason Hare,

<< Where can one find references to ARSENOKOITHS/ARRENOKOITHS outside of
the NT for help in definition? Did the Greeks have another word for
homosexual, or was this the only one? >>

The Greek term ARSENOKOITAI appears at 1 Cor 6:9 and 1 Tim 1:10. It is
possible that this Greek term was coined by Saint Paul, for there is no
evidence for this Greek term before the 1st century CE. The wide range of
guesses at its meaning include: 'homosexuals,' 'perverts,' 'sodomites,'
'child molesters,' 'male prostitutes' etc. But ARSENOKOITAI appears to be
an allusion to Leviticus 20:13. The LXX reads:

<< Whoever lies with a male in bed (ARSENOS KOITHN) as with a woman, both
of them have committed an abomination >> (Lev 20:13a LXX).

The Greek term ARSENOKOITAI would then appear to be a clear allusion to
ARSENOS KOITHN and thus the context would make it clear that it refers to a
male homosexual.

-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller@www.plantnet.com
FWIW: I'm neither a clergy-person, nor an academic (and I have no post-grad
degrees).

---
B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu

</x-flowed>



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:41:00 EDT