IS THE BIBLE AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY?

Who were the homosexuals in the Bible? Jesus said this: “For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. To him who can comprehend, that is enough.” (Matthew 19:12 Lamsa). The Aramaic word m'haym-ne (plural) is translated as eunuchs here, but the root meanings of this word in this form are: trusted ones, faithful ones and believers. These "trusted ones" were also servants such as chamberlains, eunuchs and officers. In addition, m’haym-ne meant homosexual males because they were trusted around women that were married or were not of their family. They weren’t a threat in committing adultery with another man’s wife or in having pre marital sex with the women of the nation.

The born eunuchs in the above verse from Matthew are referring to homosexual males. The second part of the verse says: "and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men;" These would be the man-made or castrated eunuchs. Also, the eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men were those appointed by the king to be servants in the king’s palace. Some of these were prisoners of war, captives, and exiles (Isaiah 39:7 Lamsa). The third part of this verse should be read as: "and there are believers who made themselves castrated ones (or celibate ones) for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." I have personally seen the word m’haym-na (singular) mean: a homosexual, a castrated male and a believer in the Bible. I haven’t seen m’haym-na carry the meaning of a celibate yet. But perhaps m’haym-na carried the meaning of a celibate from the males who were castrated. The last part of the verse is referring to believers that castrated themselves (or perhaps became celibate) for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

Throughout the ancient nations that included Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and Persia; homosexuals were exalted to such positions as eunuchs that watched the women of the harem. Because of the mistrust of men, heterosexual or bi-sexual men were castrated; but homosexual males didn’t need to be. Eunuchs also had a recognized place in homosexual prostitution, and youths chosen as catamitic favorites were sometimes castrated. Homosexuality was long confused with eunuchry. Like effeminacy and hermaphroditism, eunuchry was sometimes thought of as creating a woman-man. The following verses will show that the Bible defines the trusted ones (or eunuchs) as homosexual males.

“Now God gave Daniel grace and mercy in the presence of the chief of the eunuchs.” (Daniel 1:9 Lamsa). The Hebrew word khe-sed means loving-kindness, mercy and favor, and is translated as grace in this verse. The Hebrew word ra-kha-mim is translated as mercy here, but means love. Daniel was given favor and love (plural) in the presence of the chief of the eunuchs. Most likely the intimate word ra-kha-mim, meaning love, was given to Daniel because he was handsome (See Dan. 1:4).

A second evidence where the Bible shows that eunuchs are gay males is in (Daniel 14:2 NAB), which says: "Daniel was the king's favorite and was held in higher esteem than any of the friends of the king." In the Aramaic Old Testament, the word friends is replaced with the Aramaic word rakh-maw-hi, which means lovers. Rakh-maw-hi is from the singular Aramaic word rakh-ma, which means love. Chapters 13-14 are in the Catholic canon of scripture. The Aramaic Old Testament contains fourteen chapters of Daniel. The Aramaic text of Daniel also has “the song of the three children” (Or, “Prayer of Hananiah and his companions” – Aramaic name for that portion) after verse twenty-three of Chapter Three. Dr. Lamsa, being a Protestant, just left out the additional parts of Daniel and Esther, plus the Deuterocanical books. Dr. Lamsa did insert an extra sentence in verse 23 that is not in the Masoretic text, but in the Aramaic and Greek text of Daniel.

The translators of the New American Bible translated the Greek word sym-bi-o-tes as favorite, but that is incorrect. Sym-bi-o-tes, according to Liddell & Scott means: one who lives with, companion. That matches with the Aramaic text, which says that Daniel...was living with the king. Separately, the Greek Old Testament deleted many words that are included in those extra two chapters. The Septuagint also deleted many chapters (and / or sentences) in other books, such as Chronicles and Samuel.

The additional words or text found in the Old Testament book of Daniel in both the Aramaic and Greek texts are probably not inspired. I included this verse from the Aramaic text to show that an Aramaic speaker would have understood eunuchs to be active homosexual men; as they were often the king’s lovers. Bagoas was the eunuch lover of Darius the Persian and eventually became the lover of Alexander the Great.

There is good reason to believe the so-called Deuterocanical books are inspired (at least most of them) but no good reason to believe the additions to Esther and Daniel are inspired. These additions are not in the original text of either Esther or Daniel. For Esther, the Aramaic translation has a commentary on the additional parts and states that they are not in the original Hebrew text but are in the common (or universal) codex and are also written down in the language of the Greeks. There is no Aramaic commentary for the additions to Daniel, but they are probably forgeries. Biblical stories appear to be in chronological order. However, a younger Daniel in the additional story about Susana appears at the end of the Book of Daniel (i.e. chapter 13 out of the 14 chapters); breaking the chronological cycle. The additions appear to be just put in with the original text to give more details about the prior chapters. These additions can’t be joined together into a single work (or book). There are no connecting words leading to the next events in the following story.

THE FOLLOWING SHOWS WHERE SARIS APPEARS IN THE BIBLE. SINCE IT ISN’T ALWAYS TRANSLATED AS EUNUCH IN THE ENGLISH BIBLE LIKE IT IS IN THE GREEK BIBLE.

In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word sa-ris is translated many ways in the KJV Old Testament. It is translated as eunuch, officer and chamberlain. It is also left untranslated with an additional word as Rab Sa-ris, which means chief eunuch. The Hebrew word sa-ris is translated as m'haym-na in the Aramaic Old Testament, with the exception of two places, which are in bold print below. Dr. George Lamsa translated the word m'haym-na as officer and eunuch in his English Translation of the Aramaic Bible (Old and New Testament). The following shows where the words sa-ris and m’haym-na appear in the Bible.

OLD TESTAMENT:

Gen. 37:36; 39:1; 40:2; 40:7; 1Sam. 8:15; 1Kings 22:9; 2 Kings 8:6; 9:32; 18:17; 20:18; 23:11; 24:12; 24:15; 25:19; 1Chr. 28:1; 2 Chr. 18:8; Judith 12:11; Esther 1:10; 1:12; 1:15; 2:3; 2:14; 2:15; 2:21; 4:4; 4:5; 6:2; 6:14; 7:9; Esther Additions A:12,14,17; Wisdom 3:14; Sirach 20:3; 30:20; Isa. 39:7; 56:3; 56:4; Jer. 29:2; 34:19; 38:7; 39:3; 39:13; 41:16; 52:25; Dan. 1:3; 1:7; 1:8; 1:9; 1:10; 1:11; 1:18.

(Note: The NAB dishonestly translates the word “eunuch” as “afflicted man” from the Greek text of Sirach 30:20; plus deletes words.)

ARAMAIC WORD M'HAYM-NA TRANSLATED AS: Eunuch

NEW TESTAMENT:

Matthew 19:12 & Acts 8:27,34,36,38-39

Now, is this verse taken out of context?: “For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. To him who can comprehend, that is enough.” (Matthew 19:12 Lamsa). This verse is found when Jesus is speaking about marriage between a man and a woman. Then Jesus goes on and quotes this verse talking about people that it wouldn’t be good for them to marry because of the way they were born, or because of a situation, or because of their choice. - In order to get a correct interpretation of a verse, you have to know the definition of words and the way the verse is used in the context. But also, in regards to the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John), Jesus a lot of times changed the subject in his teaching or when he was asked questions. Some of his words may appear to be out of context to a reader when they are not. So we have to go by the definitions for the word m'haym-na- Eunuch. Now this verse is actually not out-of-context in regards to males that it wouldn’t be good for them to marry a woman (wife). It would not be good for a homosexual male to marry a woman because he lacks the sexual perophone receptors that enable him to be attracted to women. He has more of the X-chromosome. It should be noted that a homosexual is impotent toward a woman. The other two reasons why a male wouldn’t be able to marry a woman are obvious by the meaning of the word m’haym-na and its associations.

Another thing that needs to be pointed out is Jesus’ last statement in verse twelve. He said this about the eunuchs that it wouldn’t be good for them to marry a woman: “…To him who can comprehend, that is enough.” (Lamsa). That last phrase is better translated as: “Whoever it shall suffice, it shall be sufficient (enough).” The root word spaq here means “to be sufficient, enough, adequate” (See Deut. 3:26; Matt. 6:34; Jn. 6:7) The literal meaning makes sense here so I am going to say this is what Matthew meant. The KJV rendered this verse from the Greek text as: "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” The Greek word cho-reo also metaphorically means to "receive with the mind," "accept." Though the Greek text isn’t totally exact to the Aramaic text, I wouldn’t say the translation is deceptive. If it is sufficient for eunuchs to avoid sex with women then they would have to accept their condition.

It is unlikely that Jesus’ reference to a born eunuch is referring to a straight impotent man. I can’t picture a straight man accepting his impotence or seeing his situation as being sufficient if he is lusting after a woman. Also, a lot of gay males marry a woman because they don’t know the truth about what the Hebrew and Aramaic Bible teaches. A lot of the males that are impotent toward their wives are homosexuals.

A COMPENDIOUS SYRIAC DICTIONARY

m'hay-min, m'haym-na, m'hay-man-tha a believer, a Christian, faithful, trustworthy, an eunuch

(Syriac Dictionary, edited by J. Payne Smith 1998, pg 255).

This Syriac Dictionary stops short of defining m’haym-na as an effeminate, but it does define the phrase “man of the woman” (gwar ni-sha-ya) as meaning: an hermaphrodite, a eunuch, effeminate.

(Syriac Dictionary, edited by J. Payne Smith 1998, pg 59).

Foreign Language Lexicons (or Dictionaries) don’t always give all the meanings of a word. If we go by only the definitions given by this Syriac Dictionary, then we would have a hard time understanding what Jesus meant by his use of “born eunuchs.”

See the Appendix to get proof of the definitions for the word m’haym-na (translated as eunuch). I also cover certain beliefs about eunuchs that are accepted, that may not be false, but that the Bible does not support as absolute truth regarding eunuchs. Pictures of eunuchs are shown with information under the "Eunuchs" tab..