Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Thu 20 Jan 2000 (13:54:41), gs02wmr AT panther.gsu.edu wrote:
> Can anyone shed some light on this? What would be the best translation
> of the verse, and does it expressely forbid a man->man sexual
> relationship?

 Dear Wondell,

 Leviticus 20 lists various capital and other offences, and this is one
 of them; compare 18:22). I find transliteration tedious; but here goes:

 W:'iY$ 'a:$eR Yi$:KaB    'eT-ZaKaR     Mi$:K:BeY                  'i$$aH
 And a man who shall lie  with a male,  as ones lying down [with]  a woman:

 ToW`eBaH       `a&uW               $:NeYHeM    
 an abomination they have committed both of them:

 MoWT       YuWMaTuW            D:MeYHeM         BaM
 dying they shall be killed:  their blood [is] upon them.

 Mi$:K:BeY is the Hithpael participle of $aKaB, to lie down for sex.

 "Dying they shall be killed" is the infinitive-absolute followed by
 the Hophal of the same verb, meaning, "they shall surely be put to death"
 or "dying they shall be killed".

 "Their blood is upon them" means "they are guilty of a capital offence".

 I can't see any way of toning this down.

 Shalom
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
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