Sodom and Gomorrah

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Sodom redirects here. There is also a village on the island Whalsay named Sodom, a German thrash metal band Sodom, and a character named Sodom from the video game Final Fight.

Sodom (סְדוֹם, Standard Hebrew Sədom, Tiberian Hebrew Səḏôm) was the chief town of a group of five towns on the plain of the Jordan River in an area that constituted the southern limit of the lands of the Canaanites (Genesis 10:19). Lot, a nephew of Abram (Abraham) chose to live in the city. According to the Bible, both Sodom and Gomorrah (עֲמוֹרָה, Standard Hebrew ʿAmora, Tiberian Hebrew Ġəmôrāh, ʿĂmôrāh)—called as a group The Cities on the Plain—were destroyed by God for their sins. Opinions differ as to what the sin actually was.

Contents

1 Jewish-Christian Text 2 The Conservative Interpretation 3 The Liberal & Moderate Interpretation 4 The view of Josephus 5 Jewish views 5.1 Talmud on Sodom 5.2 Midrash on Sodom 5.3 Reformist Torah approach with Hebrew translations 6 Islamic views 7 Current usage of the term "sodomy" 7.1 Europe and America 7.2 The Muslim World 8 Modern historical approach 9 Bibliography 10 See also 11 External links

Jewish-Christian Text

Among Jewish and Christian people there are two major interpretations as to what God is telling them the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Both groups of Christian and Jewish people are using the same text (although Jewish people do not view the New Testament as being divine.)

In Genesis 19, the final episode in the story of Sodom is described as the angels visit Lot to warn him to flee:

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men [angels] which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. (KJV) (In this context, "know" is often interpreted as a euphemism for sexual intercourse.)

Ezekiel 16:49-50: Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Matthew 10:14-15: If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Jude 7: Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

The Conservative Interpretation

Among Jewish and Christian people one interpretation of this text (keeping in mind that Jewish people did not see the New Testament as divine) believes that the moral lesson to learn from the text is that God destroyed the two cities because the men were homosexuals. That the "detestable things", the "strange flesh" and the desire of the evil men to "know" other men is evidence that the moral lesson to learn from this text is that God condemns homosexual status and conduct. As this interpretation requires a belief that people choose to be gay, and that gay people will militantly seek to recruit (even to the point of gang rape) people into a homosexual lifestyle, this is an interpretation shared by political conservatives.

The Liberal & Moderate Interpretation

Among Jewish and Christian people another interpretation of the same text is that the moral lesson to be learned is that God destroyed the two cities because their inhabitants were greedy, arrogant and inhospitable. These people tend to be moderate to liberal in their politics and thus is the moderate-liberal interpretation.

Moderate-liberals feel that certain portions of the text have been poorly translated into English. In particular, they feel that the Genesis 19 text translation has been interpreted by scholars that subscribe to conservative politics and allowed their politics to slant their own interpretation. Hence this is how a moderate-liberal feels that the Genesis 19 text should be written in English.

But before they lay down, the people of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the people which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

Notice that moderate-liberals feel that the Hebrew phrase translated to "men" more correctly translates to a general-gender neutral "people". As such the moral lesson to be learned from this text has nothing to do with homosexual behavior or conduct. The phrase "to know" was often a euphemism for sexual intercourse but it was never used in reference to homosexual conduct. For moderate-liberals the phrase "to know" introduces the moral of the story; inhospitality to foreigners expressed through xenophobic harassment, a lynch mob or rape.

Moderate-liberals also point out that Lot offers his virgin daughters to the angry mob (further casting doubt that homosexual men were gathered around Lot's house) and that this and the incident where Lot's daughters have sex with their father soon after they escape the city, means that this is not a tale of sexual morality, but a condemnation of rape or general mistreatment of foreigners, especially ones that had just come out of the hot and deadly Middle Eastern desert.

Moderate-liberals also feel it is not by chance that the passages preceding the events in Sodom have to do with Abraham's hospitality and the gifts of God bestowed on him for his gracious action. First we see hospitality and the way we should act, then inhospitality in that the people of Sodom seek to mistreat the newcomers. The biblical text itself seems to suggest that the sin is based in inhospitality to some (if not a major) extent:

This idea is supported in the Gospels when Jesus compares an inhospitable reception to Sodom: In the Hebrew culture, where people lived in the desert, hospitality was a matter of life or death. Refusing to give aid and comfort to someone in the desert or even going as far as to take advantage of someone in the desert or was new to the town (i.e. theft or rape) was not an unheard of problem.

The New Testament suggest that Christians have a moral duty to be advocates for the poor, and thus the sin of Sodom is greed, and taking advantage of people, especially two men (who were actually angels) who appeared to have just come out of the desert. However, greed and inhospitality was not the only sin:

The Greek term "strange flesh" is "sarkos heteras" and means "sexual perversion." Conservatives feel that this is referring to homosexuality, because they believe that it is a perversion and thus feel that God must so as well. However, moderate-liberals point out that "sarkos heteras" could refer to the act of raping strangers, or having a sexual desire for non-human beings such as angels. Moderate-liberals also have a different interpretation on the other places in the New Testament that refer to the sin of Sodom.

Ezekiel 16:49-50: Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

The moderate-liberals point to these two text to further assert that the sin of Sodom was not just a (possible violent) xenophobic reaction to outsider, (the "haughty and detestable thing") but a neglect of the 'insiders' or the inhabitants of the city that were indigent.

The moderate-liberals also point to their own biblical scholars to back up their interpretation of what the sin of Sodom was:

The view of Josephus

Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, wrote:

"Now, about this time the Sodomites, overweeningly proud of their numbers and the extent of their wealth, showed themselves insolent to men and impious to the Divinity, insomuch that they no more remembered the benefits that they had received from Him, hated foreigners and avoided any contact with others. Indignant at this conduct, God accordingly resolved to chastise them for their arrogance, and not only to uproot their city, but to blast their land so completely that it should yield neither plant nor fruit whatsoever from that time forward." Jewish Antiquities 1:194-195 Harvard (http://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/kugbib/chapter.html)

Jewish views

Classical Jewish texts do not support the concept that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because their inhabitants were homosexual. Rather, they were destroyed because the inhabitants were generally depraved and uncompromisingly greedy. Rabbinic writings affirm that the primary crimes of the Sodomites were terrible and repeated economic crimes, both against each other and outsiders.

A rabbinic tradition, described in the Mishnah, postulates that the sin of Sodom was related to property: Sodomites believed that "what is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" (Abot), which is interpreted as a lack of compassion.

Another rabbinic tradition is that these five wealthy cities treated visitors in a horrible fashion. One example is the story of the "bed" that guests to Sodom were forced to sleep in: if they were too short they were stretched to fit it, and if they were too tall, they were cut up. This is considered by critical scholars to be an adaptation of the Greek myth of Procrustes.

Talmud on Sodom

The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 109a) provides a number of examples of what the crimes of Sodom were. Their sins had to do with cruelty and greed.

The men of Sodom waxed haughty only on account of the good which the Holy One, blessed be He, had lavished upon them...They said: Since there cometh forth bread out of (our) earth, and it hath the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth. Come, let us abolish the practice of traveling in our land.

There were four judges in Sodom named Shakrai (Liar), Shakurai (Awful Liar), Zayyafi (Forger), and Mazle Dina (Perverter of Justice). Now if a man assaulted his neighbour's wife and bruised her, they would say to the husband, Give her to him, that she may become pregnant for thee. If one cut off the ear of his neighbour's ass, they would order, Give it to him until it grows again.

In modern terms, the Talmud suggests that the Sodomites were condemned for restricting immigration and for institutionalizing the law of "might makes right".

Midrash on Sodom

The Midrash compilation "Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer" offers a number of reasons why the Sodomites were considered evil.

Rabbi Ze'era said: The men of Sodom were the wealthy men of prosperity, on account of the good and fruitful land whereon they dwelt... Rabbi Nathaniel said: The men of Sodom had no consideration for the honour of their Owner by not distributing food to the wayfarer and stranger, but they even fenced in all the trees on top above their fruit so that so that they should not be seized; not even by the bird of heaven... Rabbi Joshua... said: They appointed over themselves judges who were lying judges, and they oppressed every wayfarer and stranger who entered Sodom by their perverse judgment, and they sent them forth naked...

Again in modern terms, this story suggests that they were condemned for inclosure of the commons, and for perversion of justice.

Reformist Torah approach with Hebrew translations

"Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house."

The traditional interpretation of this story largely stems from the unfortunate translation of the word enoshe Hebrew word #582 (http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=582&version=kjv) in Strong's in Genesis 19:4. Most versions say "men", which is incorrect. The Hebrew word enoshe is not gender-specific; it indicates mortals or people. The word esh would have been used to mean "man" or eshal to mean "woman" if gender specific terminology was meant. This mistranslation gives the impression that just the men of the city had surrounded Lot's house and the further impression that they were all homosexuals out to have sex with the angels. The word enoshe is used in Genesis 17:23 with the word zechar meaning "male" demonstrating this point.

There is no Old Testament text in which yadha refers to homosexual coitus, with the single exception of this disputed Sodom and Gomorrah story in Genesis. The less ambiguous word shakhabh, however, is used for homosexual, heterosexual, and bestial intercourse. Shakhabh appears fifty times in the Old Testament; if it had been used instead of yadha in the Sodom story, the meaning of the text would have been unmistakable. As it is, we have no grounds to assume that the men of Sodom wanted to rape the visitors. We simply know that their intentions were unfriendly.

Looking at the scriptures in Hebrew, we find an interesting usage of a couple of different words. When the mob cries out "Where are the men who came in to you tonight?", the Hebrew word translated "men" is again enoshe which, literally translated, means "mortal". This indicates that the mob knew that Lot had visitors, but were unsure of what sex they were. The Hebrew word for "man" (utilized in this same passage in Genesis 19:8) is entirely different. One has to ask: Why would homosexuals want to have sex with two strangers if they were unsure of what sex they were?

Note that these women that Lot offered were virgins. Note also that the Sodomites were pagans. Virgin sacrifices to idols were a common practice in Sodom. Therefore, it can be concluded in another way that Lot was offering his daughters as virgin sacrifices to appease the mob in an effort to protect the visitors. By 50 AD, we find the first time that the sin of Sodom is associated with homosexual "acts" in general. In the Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesin ("Questions and Answers on Genesis") IV.31-37, Philo interpreted the Genesis word yãdhà as "servile, lawless and unseemly pederasty."

Islamic views

The Qur'an does not mention Lot's cities as Sodom or Gomorrah, instead the names can be deduced from similarities between the biblical and Islamic stories.

In contrast to the biblical text, the Qur'an 7:80-84 (http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&arabic=true&chapter=7&verseBegin=80&verseEnd=84) clearly states homosexual behavior by Lot's people, which is said to be 'beyond bounds'. The part translated as 'men' is in the Qur'an written as ar-rijal (الرجل), counterpart of an-nisaa' (النساء) or 'women'.

"For ye practise your lusts on men in preference to women : ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds." [7:81]

Furthermore, it is mentioned that the behaviour was the first among mankind:

And (remember) Lut: behold, he said to his people: "Ye do commit lewdness, such as no people in Creation (ever) committed before you." [29:28]

Allah's punishment did not come before their arrogant challenge and Lot requesting Allah to do so (29:29-30 (http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&arabic=true&chapter=29&verseBegin=29&verseEnd=30)). Similar challenges were done to some prophets, e.g. Nuh, Hud, and Saleh by their corresponding people. After Muhammad it is known that God's direct punishments are postponed until the end of the World.

Current usage of the term "sodomy"

Europe and America

Today, the English word "sodomy" has developed into common definition in reference to anal intercourse, often among men. Hence the word "sodomites" refers to gay men or possibly to the citizens of the Biblical city of Sodom. However, the definition of sodomy has changed over the centuries to mean many things. Thus care should be given when seeing the word in historical documents as the word has meant different things different to Christian and Jewish people depending on the century and nation. Thus sodomite can be anyone that engages in rape, oral sex, masturbation, anal sex or even witchcraft.

In terms of the American criminal code many historians now believe that legal sanctions against sodomy were originally narrowly applied to case of rape, public sexual acts, or child molestation. That colonial and later state sodomy laws were understood to not be used against private, non-commercial, non-fraternal, oral or anal sex between consenting adults in private until well into the nineteenth century.

In Europe it was often left up to the Church, i.e. the Spanish Inqusition to provide the definition and sanctions for sodomy. In the eighteen century the Age of Enlightenment brought forth some philosophers that wanted to narrow the usage of charges of sodomy, or wanted to legalize sodomy when it involved non-fraternal, non-commercial, sexual relations between consenting adults in private. After the first French revolution, the new government would legalize this particular definition of sodomy as it sought to separate Church and State.

In the 1960s the United States of America and Western European nations came to reform sodomy laws so that sanctions did not apply to non-fraternal, non-commercial, sexual relations between consenting adults in private. In 2003 the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case titled Lawrence v. Texas that civilian sodomy laws are unconstitutional as they apply to non-fraternal, non-commercial, sexual relations between consenting adults in private. As a precondition to being a member of the European Union nations must agree to certain human rights standards, including the right to privacy.

While the trend in the international legal community follows a moderate-liberal perspective, most Christians and a great many Jewish people are taught the conservative interpretation of the sin of Sodom.

The Muslim World

In the Muslim world "sodomy" is understood to mean oral or anal sex. This is because of the difference in how the tale of Sodom is told in Islamic sacred text and the influence of Europe on the criminal and civil code of many Muslim nations.

Today, sodomy or homosexuality is a crime in most Muslim nations, with the exception of Turkey and Cyprus. These two nations had to reform their laws in order to be eligible for European Union membership. The penalities range from fines, imprisonment, corporal punishment to public execution.

Modern historical approach

Most Biblical scholars have agreed with the moderate or liberal view on the moral lesson to be learned from the story of Sodom. Scientists do feel that story, separate from the moral lesson, is an authentic account of a natural cataclysm, possibly an earthquake in the region. It is known that the towns are described as lying along a major fault, the Jordan Rift Valley, the northernmost extension of the Great Rift Valley of the Red Sea and East Africa. It is also possible that the sin of the inhabitants appearing in the original text was edited out and lost.

The historical existence of Sodom and Gomorrah is still in dispute by archaeologists, with some believing they never existed, some believing they are now under the Dead Sea, and others claiming that they have been found (under other names) in the region to the southeast of the Dead Sea. One candidate for Sodom is a site known as Ba'Hadra. Ba'Hadra was located near the Dead Sea and a coating of sulphur has been found on the site. The theory for the sulphur is that an earthquake opened a nearby pocket of natural gas. Natural gas, being lighter than air, drifted up. However, instead of dissipating harmlessly the gas reacted with the fires burning in the city (the smallest flame could have set off the natural gas). As a result, the city was devastated. Also, skeletons from Ba'Hadra do show an abnormally high syphilis rate for a city of that size.

Bibliography

• Gagnon, Robert A.J. (2002), The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, Abingdon Press, pages 71-91.
• Sodomy Laws Website. Text and history of U.S. sodomy laws, international legal status of sodomy laws. [1] (http://www.sodomylaws.org/).
• Religious Tolerance Website. "Bible & Homosexuality. [2] (http://www.religioustolerance.org/homosexu.htm)

See also

• Religion and homosexuality
• Vine of Sodom

External links

• Harvard University (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/babedhdhra.html) The 1975-1981 Excavations At The Town Site Of Bâb Edh-Dhrâ
• University of Melbourne (http://vm.arts.unimelb.edu.au/report/babedhra.htm) Bab edh-Dhra "Bab edh-Dhra is located on the South-East edge of the Dead Sea in Jordan, not far from Numeira (identified with Gomorroh)."
• University of Notre Dame (http://www.nd.edu/~edsp/babedhdrah.html) Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain "One of the most important transitions in human history involved the establishment of the world's first cities approximately 5,000 years ago in the ancient Middle East. In the eastern Mediterranean region (Israel, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan), people built the first walled cities during a period archaeologists call the Early Bronze Age (EBA, c. 3500–2000 BCE). In the EBA on the southeastern Dead Sea Plain (Map 1), people began burying their dead in extensive cemeteries, creating a landscape of the dead. Interestingly, they soon built two walled towns next to the cemeteries that they had used for a few centuries. In these settlements, called Bab edh-Dhra' (pronounced "bob-ed-draw") and Numeira (pronounced "new-mere-a"), people established the way of life that we read about in the Bible. In fact, for the writers of the Bible, the desolate nature of this stretch of shore along the Dead Sea and the visible ruins of Bab edh-Dhra' and Numeira may have helped them to identify this area with the stories of the ill-fated sites of Sodom and Gomorrah."
• Atlantic Baptist University (http://www.abu.nb.ca/ecm/topics/arch5.htm) Sodom and Gomorrah
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibg.htm) This site has an extensive coverage of both the liberal and conservative Christian views of the story of Sodom and Gomorra.ca:Sodoma i Gomorraja:ソドムとゴモラ

pl:Sodoma i Gomora fi:Sodoma ja Gomorra zh:索多瑪與蛾摩拉

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