Many Christians have heard that the Bible says “homosexuals” will not enter the kingdom of God. But the term “homosexual” wasn’t used in any translation of the Bible until 1946—and the head of the translation committee that first added it eventually admitted they had been wrong to do so.
(Watch the video here to learn more: reformationproject.org/case/1-corinthians-and-1-timothy.)
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul warns that those who persist in sin will not inherit God’s kingdom. He lists thieves, adulterers, the greedy, and slanderers, and he uses two Greek words that began to be translated in the mid-20th century to refer specifically to gay men.
The first word—malakoi—literally means “soft,” and it was widely used to describe a lack of self-control, weakness, cowardice, and laziness. Although most uses of the term in ancient literature were not related to sexual behavior, men who were seen as taking the “passive” role in same-sex relations were sometimes called malakoi. But the term was also applied to men who were seen as lacking self-control in their overzealous pursuit of women, and most translations until recent decades were fairly generic: “weaklings,” “wantons,” and “debauchers.”
The second word—arsenokoitai—is a more likely reference to same-sex behavior, as it comes from two Greek words meaning “male” and “bed.” But the contexts of the word’s usage in ancient literature indicate that it likely related to sexual or economic exploitation. So while that may have involved forms of same-sex behavior, it would have been exploitative forms—nothing like most same-sex relationships today.
The word “homosexual” didn’t exist in any language until 1869, nor did the concept of sexual orientation itself. That’s why the head of the Revised Standard Version’s 1946 Bible translation committee later admitted their use of "homosexual" was an error. Unfortunately, their mistranslation had already been adopted by other Bible translators, and many parents continue to cite it to reject their children. But it isn't what those two Greek words actually mean, and it's imperative for translators today to correct the record.
Learn more: reformationproject.org/case/1-corinthians-and-1-timothy.
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