Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13 Expounded & Interpretation Debunked
On the Leviticus “Clobber Passages”: You Don’t Have to be Afraid.
Of all the so-called “clobber passages,” Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 cause the greatest consternation for gay people who are struggling to reconcile their faith with their sexuality. This is because these verses appear to be so cut and dried. There seems to be no way to reinterpret them without being accused of “twisting the Scriptures to suit your sin,” as judgmental readers of the Bible are wont to do. But you don’t have to be afraid! Knowledge is power.
Before we delve into these intimidating passages, it is imperative that we brush up on the rules of accurate Bible interpretation. After that, we won’t have to attempt to reinterpret these verses! We’ll just let the Bible do it for us! We’ve made this clear elsewhere: Allow the Bible to interpret the Bible. Interpret it accurately by paying strict attention to this fact:
The historical timeline of the Holy Bible represents God’s interaction with particular people, at particular times, in particular places, for particular purposes.
Judgmental Bible readers believe this to be true, whether they are honest enough to admit it or not. I don’t know one Bible-quoting, gay-condemning fundamentalist who doesn’t live by this fact. Every single one of them have disobeyed the verses they quote. That’s why they like to quote the familiar 90s bumper-sticker, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” How convenient!
We Must Accurately Interpret the Holy Bible On This One Single Premise:
The only immutable Truth in Scripture is that Jesus Christ is LORD. He is the destination. Everything else contained therein is the roadmap – a roadmap in which all roads lead to Him. Jesus IS the eternal Word of God (John 1:1). He is the common thread that is woven throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. He is the final “AMEN” (Revelation 3:14)
That said, one of my favorite pastors used to say, “The message is unchangeable, but the methods have to change.” While the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is eternally immutable, the methods that God has used to bring people to Himself are constantly changing in Scripture.
For instance, in Exodus chapter 20, God instructed Moses to build only a crude, earthen altar of stones. He forbade him and his laborers to even touch the altar with a human-made tool.
God is Not Bound by His Previous Methods!
Exodus 20:24-25 (NKJV)
24 “An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name, I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.”
But by the time we get to the 27th chapter of the same book, God instructs Moses to build the altar of acacia wood and overlay it with bronze (Exodus 27:1-2).
Low and behold, when we get to the 39th chapter of the same book, God makes reference to the “gold altar” (Exodus 39:38; also 40:26).
Did you notice? The first altar must not be touched by any tool. It was to be made of stones and if anyone dare touch it with a tool, it would be “profaned!”
“For if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it” (Exodus 20:25b).
But in just a few chapters, the LORD instructed that the altar should be made of acacia wood, and overlaid with bronze. In addition, this altar would have to be manufactured to exact dimensions! (Exodus 27:1) Thus, it would be impossible to obey God unless man-made tools were used!
What was Profane, No Longer Is!
As another germane example, the 11th chapter of Leviticus lays out the dietary laws that were expected to be strictly kept.
- All animals with “cloven hoofs” (pigs, camels, etc.) were forbidden as being “unclean” (Leviticus 11:4).
- All animals that did not “chew the cud” (regurgitate partially digested food and chew it a second time for better digestion) were forbidden as being “unclean” (Leviticus 11:7).
- All types of seafood were forbidden except those which had “fins and scales.” Any sea creature that did not have fins and scales was “an abomination” (Hebrew: שֶׁקֶץ šeqeṣ; Leviticus 11:10-12).
The chapter goes on to list other “abominations” that you can read for yourself.
Now, take careful note!
While in the Old Testament, pork and shrimp were “unclean” “abominations,” in the New Testament, God Himself told St. Peter they are now “clean!” (Acts 10:15; 11:9)
Ah-oh!
The point is this (and it’s one that gay-bashing Bible quoters are not going to like to hear!): Without one bit of compromise in faithfulness to the Word of God, we are not bound by any of the edicts, aka “holiness codes,” found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy for salvation.
But we do not have to make this argument. We’ll Let the Apostles Make the Argument for Us!
We’ve already heard how the LORD changed the Apostle Peter’s way of thinking with regard to the dietary mandates in Leviticus, so, now let’s hear more of how God changed the Apostle Paul’s view on the entire Old Testament Law:
Galatians 3:1-2 (NKJV)
1 “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”
Galatians 3:10 (NKJV)
10 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in ALL things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” (Cf. Deuteronomy 27:26)
The Apostle Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, enforced the holiness codes and ceremonial laws in the Old Testament with such zeal that he would have people imprisoned and put to death for not complying.
Knocked Off His Horse, Paul Changed His Thinking
After the LORD Jesus knocked him off his horse on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:1ff), his theology was so radically changed that he spent the rest of his life undoing the damage he had done to human souls when he insisted on forcefully and violently enforcing edicts that were based on his Old Testament way of thinking – and NOT ON GRACE ALONE THROUGH FAITH (Cf. Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Apostle James is even more specific:
James 2:8-13 (NKJV) 8 “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Judgmental Christian, Take Heed: Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment.
James says that when you pick and choose which part of the Old Testament Law does or does not apply to yourself, all the while picking and choosing which part applies to another person, you are showing “partiality,” and “you commit sin” (v. 9)
James also says that if one thinks he is keeping the whole law, but “stumbles in one point, he is “guilty of all” (2:10).
Law is Law, Grace is Grace. And Never the Twain Shall Be the Same.
Both Paul and James have told us that “the Law is the Law is the Law.” If you break one single point of it, you’ve broken the whole thing! Both of these apostles have made it utterly clear that, if we are going to judge people according to Old Testament edicts such as the ones in the book of Leviticus, then we must make sure that we ourselves are complying with every single one of them.
And yet, sign-carrying, bullhorn-toting, Bible verse-shouting, modern-day Pharisees do this continually! They scream Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 to condemn gay people, while ignoring 99.9% of the rest of the edicts in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
- Thankfully, they do not put their children to death for cursing or sassing them (Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
- Thankfully, they do not put church members to death who have committed adultery (Leviticus 20:10) (And there have been many of them!)
- Thankfully, they do not have a daughter stoned for lying about her virginity to her fiancé (Deuteronomy 22:13-21).
- Thankfully, they do not leave their wives for a night to have sex with their widowed sisters-in law, so that their deceased brothers would have a son to his name – called “the brother-in-law’s duty” (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). God required this! He killed Onan for refusing to impregnate his deceased brother’s wife! (Genesis 38:8-10)
It’s All or None for Salvation
There are myriad commands, rules, and edicts contained in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy that are punishable by ostracization at best, and death at worst. Modern-day Pharisees who use these two verses as their authority to condemn gay people comply with none of them. How dare they use these two verses buried among them as a license to condemn an eternal soul to Hell?!
Now, as we have said, we could stop right here and we will have proven that the two scary verses in Leviticus chapters 18 and 20 are untenable as proof that God will not allow people in loving, caring same-sex relationships into His kingdom today. (That may appear to be the case in Romans chapter 1, but we will see that that judgment, taken out of context, is also false.)
Yes, we could stop right here. But in the interest of academic excellence, we will now move from the general to the particular in order to debunk this egregious theology.
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Expounded
We must always begin with academic honesty. In the verses that say “abomination” (“detestable” in some versions) with regard to dietary laws and the verses that say “abomination” with regard to sexual practices, the Hebrew words translated “abomination” are different.
- The Hebrew word most often translated “abomination” with regard to “unclean” food in dietary restrictions is שֶׁקֶץ šeqeṣ.
- The Hebrew word translated “abomination” with regard to unclean flesh used in animal sacrifices is פִּגּוּל p̱iggûl; or פִּגֻּל piggul.
- The Hebrew word translated “abomination” with regard to certain acts, including sexual acts, (and including mixed marriages outside the faith!), is תּוֹעֵבָה tô‘êḇâ; or תֹּעֵבָה tonebah.
So, we will focus on the Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה tô‘êḇâ, translated into English as “abomination” (NIV: “detestable”; NJPS Tenakh: “abhorrence”).
Strongs Bible Dictionary defines tô‘êḇâ as, “a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable; in ritual sense (of unclean food, idols, mixed marriages); in ethical sense (of wickedness etc.)”
Notice that Strongs says tô‘êḇâ CAN refer to unclean food also! This little detail is important!
Genesis 43:32 tells us that simply eating dinner with the Hebrews was tô‘êḇâ, “an abomination” to the Egyptians. So, according to the Biblical use of the word tô‘êḇâ in Leviticus, a man lying with another man was tantamount to eating dinner with an ethic group not your own!
And what else was tô‘êḇâ “abomination” to the Egyptians?
Shepherds Could be tô‘êḇâ, an Abomination! (Genesis 46:34).
So, the idea of Jesus Christ being “the Great Shepherd” would be tô’êḇâ, an abomination, to the Egyptians.
And do you know what else God calls תּוֹעֵבָה tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination” in the Old Testament?
Insence Could Be tô‘êḇâ, an Abomination!
Isaiah 1:13a (NKJV) 13 “Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me.”
Yet, in Exodus 30:1ff, God instructs Aaron the priest to perpetually burn incense. In Exodus 30:7, God calls it “sweet incense.”
So, in the eyes of God, incense can be “sweet,” and incense can be tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination.”
And do you know what else was tô‘êḇâ, an abomination in Israel at that time?
Charging Interest on Loans Was tô‘êḇâ, an Abomination!
Ezekiel 18:13 (NKJV) 13 “If he has exacted usury Or taken increase—Shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, He shall surely die; His blood shall be upon him.”
Not only was charging interest tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination,” it was a crime punishable by death!
If a person who quotes Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 to condemn gay people to eternal Hell were to become a bank president, should he condemn the founder or the board of directors of that bank to eternal Hell because they charge interest on loans? According to their logic with regard to people in loving, caring same-sex relationships, the answer is a resounding YES.
Therefore, we must conclude that just because Scripture uses the word tô‘êḇâ to describe a man lying with another man, we cannot conclude that what is tô‘êḇâ is necessarily evil today.
Charging interest can be an abomination to the LORD, and charging interest can be acceptable to the LORD.
Of the Leviticus Passages, You Don’t Have to be Afraid.
Just as incense be tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination” to the LORD, incense can be sweet to the LORD.
A man lying with a man can be an abomination to the LORD, and two men lying next to each other in a loving, caring relationship can be sweet to the LORD.
One is free to draw his own conclusions, but you cannot have it both ways. You CANNOT us tô‘êḇâ “abomination,” as found in Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; and Isaiah 1:13, to condemn gay people. The use of this word in Scripture is relative.
As Columbo would say, “Ah, sir, one more thing.”
In virtually every use of the word tô‘êḇâ “abomination” in the Old Testament, it is related to idol worship. The same is true of the seeming, but erroneous, reference to same-sex attraction in the New Testament, especially Romans chapter one. There, it is definitely related to idol worship.
So, what are we to make of Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13?
Why does it say, “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. It is tô‘êḇâ, an abomination?” For the same reason that, at that time, engaging in a mixed marriage was tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination.”
Ezra 9:1-2 (NKJV) 1 “When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.”
At that time, for an Israelite man to take a foreigner as wife, it was tô‘êḇâ, an abomination. Do you know any self-righteous people who married outside his race, ethnicity, or religious background? I sure do!
There is a Bottom Line to All This.
God told Moses to write these verses in order to separate the Israelites from the pagan cultures that surrounded them. Every one of these edicts at the time of their institution was right and good.
- Food laws had to be instituted in order to keep the people healthy in the desert, and to prevent them from eating food offered to idols – something that was deemed tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination” for a good reason.
- The forbidding of intermarriage had to be instituted at that time in order to keep God’s people from mixing with pagan nations and following after the false gods of their spouses – something that was deemed tô‘êḇâ, an “abomination,” for a good reason.
- The forbidding of men having sexual relations with other men had to be instituted in order to assure that the population of the Israelites would keep increasing in the midst of their being a very small minority surrounded by very hostile enemies who worshiped false gods. In light of this, there was also the need to have sons who would be soldiers to protect the nation against opposing armies. The Israelites were always (and still are) being attacked by surrounding nations. They needed to “be fruitful and multiply” if they were to survive at all.
- Pagan nations engaged in licentious sexual acts on pagan altars as religious rituals — men and women, men and men, women and women. The two verses in question – Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 – have NO connection whatsoever to same-sex relationships. They had to do with the licentious sexual debauchery. For further discussion, see our examination of Sodom & Gomorrah.
It is Dead Wrong to Condemn People in Loving, Caring Same-Sex Relationships Based on Leviticus.
The Levitical System Was Necessary for a Particular Purpose in Time. It Is Now Abolished.
The rigidness of the Levitical system was necessary temporarily in order to preserve the nascent faith called Judaism. Paganism surrounded this new community. The same Old Testament books that are criticized for being “barbaric” are the same books that forbade human sacrifice of their babies to appease nature and the gods. God called His people to “come out from among them” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18). He wanted them to be free from the bondage and captivity of the paganism that surrounded them.
There are many beautiful things in the book of Leviticus to learn from. However, you don’t have to read past the first chapter to realize that God works with His people in progressing dispensations. God instituted the admittedly harsh Levitical system without any intention of keeping it in force. He knew that His Son, Jesus Christ would eventually appear, and that Jesus would usher in the dispensation of Grace!
And God’s excellent grace is for whosoever believes in Him (John 3:16). Are gays included in the “whosoever” category? Absolutely!
Of the Leviticus “Clobber Passages,” You Don’t Have to Be Afraid
Claim the Grace That is Yours!