The Truth Behind Sodom And Gomorrah - 6 March 2015.

One of the arguments and statements that comes up the most when it comes to homosexuality is "Remember Sodom and Gomorrah?". Unfortunately, that argument doesn't hold much weight as Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing to do with homosexuality. I've written on it in the past, but I wanted to go into more detail about what really happened at Sodom and Gomorrah.  For this explanation, we're going to use Genesis 19 and Jude 7 to evaluate the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Genesis 19 Account
One night, Lot welcomed two strangers into his house.  The inhabitants of the city came to Lot and said, "Bring them out, so that we may know them."  Later translations (such as the NIV) have mistakenly turned this into "Bring them out, so that we may have sex with them," but it's important to note this is a blatant error in translation. The original Hebrew word used for "know them" was "yãdhà". This word has two meanings - one is to examine, and one is to engage in sexual activity. That word is used 943 times in the Old Testament, and only ten times is it used to reference sexual intercourse, and every one of those activities is heterosexual.  Not one time in the Bible has the word "sodom" or "sodomy" been used to describe homosexuality activity.

It is interesting, and important, to note that for 1800 years after the story of Sodom took place, Jewish prophets in the Bible and many Jewish authors who were outside of the Bible universally understood the sin of Sodom to be the sin of being inhospitable, not homosexual activity or relations. That commonly held misbelief is relatively new, and something that is used to bash homosexuality. Sodom is mentioned 48 times in the Bible outside of the original story in Genesis and in no accounts of the story is homosexuality mentioned as the cause of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, Jesus Christ himself judges Sodom for being inhospitable, not for being homosexual. (Matthew 10:12-15 and Luke 10:8-12) The Son of God did not mention Sodom and Gomorrah for being homosexual, but rather for being inhospitable, and that should send across a pretty clear message.  In Ezekiel 16:48-50, the sins of Sodom are listed very clearly as, "pride, plenty, laziness, uncaring for needy, haughty and worshipping idols", but not one of them is listed as homosexuality.  So the Bible is pretty clear that the sin of Sodom was not homosexuality, but rather being inhospitable.

The Jude 1:7 Account
Next, let's turn our attention to Jude 7 for a better explanation of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the events in question. The text states, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”  I want to turn your attention to the word "strange", as many have said that implies homosexuality.  But in fact, the Greek word for strange used in the original text was "heteros", not "homios", meaning the "strange" flesh the men of the city went after was heterosexual, and not related to homosexuality.  Also, the text of Jude 1:7 not only says that it was not a homosexual act, it also states that the "strange" flesh the men were attempting to have sex with was "angelic" flesh.  Not men attempting to have sex with men, but men attempting to have sex with angels.

Explaining The Word "Sodomy"
So why, many may ask, is the word “sodomy” used to equate to anal penetration and male homosexuality. This one is a little easier to explain. This word has been connected to that due to the common misunderstanding that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed over homosexuality, when in reality, that isn’t the case. The modern word “sodomy” comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin “peccatum Sodomiticum”, or “sin of Sodom” - and the sin of Sodom was being inhospitable.  Now you know, if your state has sodomy laws on the books - you better start being hospitable to strangers!

I hope this helps explain this topic further.  I know it's a common held misconception that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed over homosexuality, when in fact, that couldn't be farther from the truth! 

Further references:
http://www.libchrist.com/other/homosexual/sodom.html

http://www.wouldjesusdiscriminate.org/biblical_evidence/sodom_and_gomorrah.html

http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2015/01/08/in-the-bible-sodomy-does-not-mean-what-you-think-it-means/35709
https://bible.org/article/homosexual-theology