> Leviticus 18:22 (NASB)-
> "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an
>abomination."
>=20
> Leviticus 20:13 (NIV)
> "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both have doine =
what is
> detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own
> heads."
>Okay, is there anything I can use when my co-worker condemns =
homosexuals?
Look at the context of these 2 chapters, ie the first and last few
verses of each. What is being prohibited is not homosexuality, per se,
but anything that was practiced by the followers of Molech. The
Hebrews were effectively trying to eliminate competing religions by
prohibiting any practices associated with them. This is a form of
bigotry that would not be permitted in todays world.=20
God's chosen people eliminated through force, what they apparently
could not overcome in the marketplace of free thinking and choice. For
example (note also how the translators twist the meaning of the word
describing the people being persecuted):
2Kin 23:7 (KJS) And he brake down <5422> (8799) the houses <1004> of
the sodomites <6945>, that [were] by the house <1004> of the LORD
<3068>, where the women <802> wove <707> (8802) hangings <1004> for
the grove <842>.=20
BDB/Thayers # 842
0842 'asherah {ash-ay-raw'} or 'asheyrah {ash-ay-raw'}
from 0833; TWOT - 183h; n pr f
AV - grove 40; 40
Ashera(h) =3D "groves (for idol worship)"
1) a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and
happiness),
the supposed consort of Baal, her images
1a) the goddess, goddesses
1b) her images
1c) sacred trees or poles set up near an altar
BDB/Thayers # 6945
06945 qadesh {kaw-dashe'}
from 06942; TWOT - 1990c; n m
AV - sodomite 5, unclean 1; 6
1) male temple prostitute
BDB/Thayers # 6942
06942 qadash {kaw-dash'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1990; v
AV - sanctify 108, hallow 25, dedicate 10, holy 7, prepare 7,
consecrate 5, appointed 1, bid 1, purified 1, misc 7; 172
1) to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy,
be sanctified, be separate
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to be set apart, be consecrated
1a2) to be hallowed
1a3) consecrated, tabooed
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to show oneself sacred or majestic
1b2) to be honoured, be treated as sacred
1b3) to be holy
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to set apart as sacred, consecrate, dedicate
1c2) to observe as holy, keep sacred
1c3) to honour as sacred, hallow
1c4) to consecrate
1d) (Pual)
1d1) to be consecrated
1d2) consecrated, dedicated
1e) (Hiphil)
1e1) to set apart, devote, consecrate
1e2) to regard or treat as sacred or hallow
1e3) to consecrate
1f) (Hithpael)
1f1) to keep oneself apart or separate
1f2) to cause Himself to be hallowed (of God)
1f3) to be observed as holy
1f4) to consecrate oneself