Gay Marriage

7. MARRIAGE:

In the Bible, God nowhere set up statues for a priest to marry couples. In fact, any couple that was in a long lasting relationship was considered married. Generally, when it says a man married a woman, the Hebrew word used says the man took the woman. The Hebrew word la-qakh, which means “he took,” is underneath the words “he married” in the following verse: “And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub.” (1 Chronicles 2:21 Lamsa). Also, other things the English reader doesn’t see is that in the Hebrew text, the words man & husband are from the same word (ish); and the words woman & wife are from the same word (ish-sha) in our English Bible. An example is in this verse: “And Sarai, Abram’s wife (ish-sha-woman), took Hagar her Egyptian maid, and gave her to her husband (ish - man) Abram to be his wife (woman). This happened after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan." (Genesis 16:3 Lamsa). No marriages in ancient societies closely match our modern equivalent.

The Bible does record a verse that shows that not all unions were between a man and a woman: “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or your lawful wife, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers;” (Deuteronomy 13:6 Lamsa). The underlined words your friend, who is as your own soul in the Aramaic literally means: “your lover according to your soul [emotion(s)].” The word rakh-ma, translated here as “friend,” also means a loved one (in a relationship), as shown here: “His mouth is like sweet honeycombs; his garments are lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” (Song of Solomon 5:16 Lamsa). For some, it is hard to distinguish when the word rakh-ma is referring to a friend or when it is referring to a loved one in a relationship. I believe the context gives the clue.

8. HOMOSEXUALS:

“Now there was one of his disciples who was leaning das-mik on his bosom, the one whom Jesus loved...So that disciple leaned himself n'fal on the breast of Jesus, and said to him, My Lord, who is he?" (John 13:23,25 Lamsa). The Disciple lying on Jesus’ bosom was John. It is believed that John is gay, because of the intimate connection between him and Jesus. There is no sexual connection between Jesus and John, and Jesus was not gay, but the intimate words of John lying on Jesus’ breast, give John the characteristics of a gay male.

The Aramaic word smak means “to lay upon, rest and sleep.” So this verse (Jn. 13:23) can be saying that John "layed (or rested) on his bosom." For Jn. 13:25, The Aramaic text says that John "fell on the breast of Jesus,.." There is no reason to translate the word n'fal as leaned, or to add the word himself in our English translation.