GREEK DECEPTION:
The Greek translation of the Old Testament has an obvious bias against gay men, which is not present in the Aramaic Bible.
Because of this bias, the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuaginta) is not a reliable interpretation of
other anti-gay verses where the translator(s) may have been ignorant or just outright lied in their translation. The following
paragraphs will give some examples.
Proverbs 18:8 reads: "Fear casts down the slothful; and the souls of the effeminate shall hunger."(Septuaginta)
The translator(s) obviously lied in their translation of this verse. The Masoretic Hebrew text literally says this:
“The words of a talebearer are like morsels, they go down into the inner chambers of the belly.” The
New Living Translation interprets this verse not literally, but it does cover the meaning of the verse. It says: “What
dainty morsels rumors are – but they sink deep into one’s heart.”
1 Chronicles 27:32 reads “And Jonathan,
the uncle of David, was a counselor, an intelligent man…” (Septuaginta) The Greek text has the
word o patradelfos here, which literally means: “the father’s brother”
or “the uncle from the father’s side.” Jonathan was clearly not Saul’s brother because he was Saul’s
son. According to both the Greek and Aramaic translations of the Hebrew word dod, this
word only means “uncle and beloved.” Since Jonathan was not the uncle of David, the Hebrew must read like the
Aramaic translation which says: “And Jonathan, the beloved of David, was a counselor, a man who is intelligent…”
The Aramaic word m'khab-le
was translated as ma-la-koi in the Greek NT. Ma-la-koi
(plural) is translated as effeminate in the (KJV) and as homosexuals in the (Gideons Bible). Ma-la-kos
(singular) is a common Greek word. In the New Testament, malakos is translated
as “soft” (Mt. 11:8 [2x] & Lk. 7:25 [1x]), like “soft” clothing. In patristic writings, it varies
in meaning as “liquid,” “cowardly,” “refined,” “weak willed,” “delicate,”
“gentle,” and “debauched.” In a specifically moral context, it means: “licentious,” “loose,”
“wanting in self-control,” and “unrestrained.” Malakos also means
“masturbation” and apparently an “effeminate man.”
None of the above meanings for malakoi
match the Aramaic word, meaning “destroyers.” The Greek translator lied in his translation. He found a context
that talked about certain people who wouldn’t enter God’s Kingdom; so he decided to not translate the correct
meaning for the Aramaic word. He wanted to make sure his bias and hatred for gay people were put into the Bible to deceive
others and give them justification to discriminate against them. This same thing happened when the Hebrew word Qede-shim was translated as “effeminate” (Latin) or sodomites (KJV). Qedeshim
means “pagan ministers and/or male prostitutes.” Qedeshim was a good candidate
for the Church to translate biasly as “effeminates or sodomites” because then they could use those scriptures
to discriminate against gay people.
LATIN DECEPTION:
St. Jerome translated the Hebrew word qa-desh as scortator
“whoremonger, fornicator” one time at Deuteronomy 23:17, which reads: “There shall
be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor whoremonger among the sons of Israel.” He also translated
the word qa-desh as effeminati “effeminate (sing.)”
two times at 1st Kings 14:24; 22:46. Qa-desh’s plural form of qede-shim was translated as effeminatos “the effeminate
(pl.)” two times at 1st Kings 15:12 and Job 36:14. (Job 36:14) from the Latin text reads: “Their
soul shall die in a storm, and their life among the effeminate.”
The Hebrew word qa-desh means both “a pagan minister and male prostitute”
Based on St. Jerome’s translation, he at least clearly knew that the word qa-desh
in its strictest sense did not mean a “homosexual or effeminate.” One would wonder why he did not translate the
other verses where qa-desh appears as scortator. It
appears he had a personal bias.
KJV DECEPTION:
“There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.”
(Deut. 23:17 KJV). The KJV translators chose to translate the word qa-desh as “sodomite” here. This is clearly a biased translation because they knew that the feminine
form of qa-desh is qede-shah, which also appears in
this verse. They translated qede-shah as “harlot, whore” in the Old Testament.
Harlot is a synonym for a female prostitute. So if qede-shah means “a female prostitute,”
then qa-desh would mean the opposite – “a male prostitute.” The KJV
translators lied and made up the word “sodomite” from the word “Sodom” to ensure an anti-homosexual
interpretation of the Sodom and Gomorrah story.
“They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.” (Job 36:14 KJV). The KJV translators
lied in their translation of the Hebrew word qede-shim here. Qede-shim
is the plural of the Hebrew word qa-desh (a cult prostitute) which is the same word in
Deuteronomy 23:17 discussed above. It does not mean “the unclean.” That verse in Hebrew should read: “Their
soul dies in their youth, and their life is like those among the cult prostitutes.” The NIV
translated this verse as: “They die in their youth, among male prostitutes of the shrines.”
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived…, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind,” (1 Cor. 6:9 KJV). The KJV translators translated the word arsenokoitai as “abusers of themselves with mankind.” Since arsenokoitai
is a translation of the Aramaic, then that word must be from the words arsenos (man) and
koiten (bed, or euphem. lying with). That would give arsenokoitai the meaning of “those who lie with a man.” And if the translator interpreted the
first word as plural (arsenoi), then the translation should be: “those who lie with
men.” As a translator myself, I know I have to be painstakingly honest, especially since I’m translating God’s
word. No man sleeping with another man would consider the act “abuse.” So the translators lied and were biased
in their translation even if they believed this word referred to men lying with men. They didn’t translate the word
arsenokoitai in its most obvious meaning according to their interpretation.
Is the Bible Against Homosexuality?
by Mattai "the Preacher" © 2003-2009. All rights reserved.