4. “You shall not lie with a male
as with a woman; because it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22 Lamsa). The Hebrew literally says: “You shall not lie with a male [on] the beds of a woman (or wife), it
is a despising.” Going from the literal or plain meaning of the Hebrew text, the lying with a male was done to
despise the woman. It appears the sexual act was done in the beds of the woman to rub it in her face.
The plural Hebrew word mish-che-be (beds of) appears only 3 times in the Hebrew
OT. The three places are at: Gen. 49:4, Lev. 18:22 & Lev. 20:13. The “beds” were probably joined together
and understood as a “bed” though. This is evident in that Jacob said that Reuben went up onto the beds (plural)
of your father, onto my couch (singular) and defiled it.” The Aramaic and Greek translation of mish-che-be also was interpreted in the singular as “bed.” Otherwise I would have to conclude that mish-che-be
is grammatically plural, but singular in meaning. Which this could be the case. Since there are other Hebrew words that are
grammatically plural, but singular in meaning.
At Gen. 49:4, Jacob curses Reuben for sleeping with his wife (or specifically concubine –
See also: Gen. 35:22) on his beds. That is why I’m thinking that the phrase “beds of a woman” may be saying
“beds of a wife.” Ish-sha is translated as both woman and wife in our English
Bible.
Another thing to take notice of is that when the word mish-cab (bed) is in the
plural construct form, pronounced mish-che-be, the word “on,” as well as the
word “the,” are left out and need to be inserted in the English translation. An example of this is at Gen.
49:4, which says: “Turbulent as the waters, you [Reuben] will no longer excel, for
you went up [onto] your father’s bed (Lit. [the] beds of your father),
onto my couch and defiled it.” (Gen. 49:4 NIV). The word “onto” is added in our English translation
because it was needed to convey the thought given. The word “on” could have equally been chosen; and that verse
would say: “…, for you went up [on] your father’s beds..”
The Bible records that at least in some
families, the husband, wife and the concubines had their own tents (See Gen. 31:33). A person having their own tent would
have ample room for at least two beds joined or close together; assuming the Hebrew text says "beds." Separately,
and maybe different than Hebrew culture, the “beds of a woman” may be referring to a practice which still occurs
in some parts of Libya. A married couple has three beds: the man's bed, the woman's bed and the marital bed. So, the beds
of a woman would be her bed and the marital bed.
The Hebrew word to-e-vah is translated as abomination in
Bible versions. To-e-vah comes from the root ta-av,
which James Strong defines as meaning: “to abhor.” Webster’s New World Hebrew Dictionary defines ta-av as: “to despise.” Ta-av was translated as sla in the Aramaic Old Testament. Sla means: “to despise, reject
and abhor.” Its main meaning is “to despise and / or reject.” Sla appears
in this verse: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner.”
(Ps. 118:22 Lamsa). Sla in its several conjugated forms (i.e. adding an
“a” or “m” sound before the
“s”) was used many times for the translation of to-e-vah.
Mas-li (Deut. 7:25) and as-li (Deut. 12:31) mean:
“an abhorrence.” And lastly, mas-leyn means: a spurning, rejecting, refusing
and despising (Gen. 46:34, Prov. 20:10).
The Aramaic text closely matches the literal Hebrew translation, saying: “You shall not lie with a male [on]
the bed of a woman, it is an abhorrence (ta-maa).” The Aramaic
text doesn’t use the word “on” when the verb “to lie down” precedes the noun “bed;”
as in this example and in the following example. The following is an example of the Aramaic language not using the word “on”
in conjunction with “bed;” when it is needed to express the meaning into English. 2 Samuel 4:5 literally says
this in the Aramaic: “…and they came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth. And he was lying
[on] the bed at noon.” As you can see, the Aramaic didn’t use the word “on” in the text. But
“on” was needed to convey the meaning into English.
The
Aramaic word ta-maa literally means “unclean.” It can also mean “an
abhorrence, abomination” like how Dr. Lamsa and A Compendious Syriac Dictionary define it. It should be noted
that the Hebrew word to-e-vah, which means “a despising,” also means “unclean.”
This is evident in that to-e-vah was translated as “unclean” in some places
in both the Aramaic and Greek Old Testament. The defining of to-e-vah as “unclean”
would make sense at Deuteronomy 14:3, which would then say: “You shall not eat any unclean thing.”
At the end of chapter 18, at verse 30, God said: “…and you
shall not commit any of these abominable customs..” The Hebrew word khuq-qoth
is translated as customs here, but means statues (or laws per the Aramaic and Greek translation).
Khuq-qoth refers to religious, city and/or national laws. As you can see, the Bible says
that the prohibition of lying with a male on the beds of a woman was a religious (and maybe a national or city) law.
REFERENCES FROM STRONG’S CONCORDANCE:
8581 ta-ab
; a prim. Root; to loathe, i.e. (mor.) detest:- (make to be) abhor (-red), etc.
8441 to-e-bah ; fem. act. part. of 8581; prop.
something disgusting (mor.), i.e. (asnoun) an
abhorrence; espec. idolatry or (concr.) an idol: - abomination [113x], abominablething [2x], abominable [2x]
(THE NEW
STRONGS EXPANDED EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE
WITH THE BEST OF VINE’S)
[NOTE: The 2nd Hebrew letter, Beth, has
a “b” and a “v” sound. Strong pronounces to-e-vah as to-e-bah and ta-av as ta-ab.]
Is the Bible Against Homosexuality? by Mattai "the Preacher"
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