Professor Patrick Cheng reflects on the “Real Sin of Sodom” over at the Huffington Post:
What was the real sin of Sodom?
By the Rev. Patrick S. Cheng, Ph.D in the Huffington Post
I believe that these anti-gay Christians actually have it backwards. The true sin of the Sodomites as described in the Bible has nothing to do with same-sex acts per se. Rather, the ancient Sodomites were punished by God for far greater sins: for attempted gang rape, for mob violence, and for turning their backs on strangers and the needy who were in their midst. In other words, the real sin of Sodom was radical inhospitality. And, ironically, it is often anti-gay Christians who are most guilty of this sin today.
The biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah begins when two angels, disguised as travelers, arrive at the gates of Sodom. They meet Lot, a relative newcomer to the city, who insists that they spend the night in his house. The other men of Sodom learn about the two strangers in their midst. In contrast to Lot’s gracious hospitality, which includes preparing a feast for his guests, the men surround Lot’s house and demand that he turn over his guests so that they may “yada” them (Genesis 19:5). Anti-gay Christians have interpreted this Hebrew word narrowly to mean “to have sex with” and thus have interpreted the sin of Sodom as nothing more than engaging in same-sex acts, as opposed to “rape” or “molestation.”
Interestingly, most people don’t realize that Biblical translators do not agree on how to translate yada into English. Of the 983 times that yada appears in the Hebrew Bible, it literally means “to know” at least 973 (that is, 98.9 percent) of those times. Indeed, the King James Version (KJV), the English Standard Version (ESV), and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) all use the more literal word “know” in Genesis 19:5. By contrast, the New International Version (NIV) uses the phrase “have sex,” the New American Standard Bible (NASB) uses “have relations with,” and the New American Bible (NAB) uses “have intimacies with.”