THE LEVITICAL PASSAGES (Part 2)

THE LEVITICAL PASSAGES (Part 2)

Kenute P. Curry

2. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death מוּת [muwth /mooth/].  Their blood  דָּם [dam /dawm/] shall be upon them (Leviticus 20:13).

Here again the statement is made clear and plain. Homosexuality is an abomination, something that is detestable to the LORD. Expounding on homosexuality further in this verse, the writer states that it carried with it the death penalty under the Mosaic Law. Their guilty blood would be upon their own heads.

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death: Transliteration: Strong’s H4191 מוּת [muwth /mooth/] v. A Primitive root; TWOT 1169; GK 4637; 835 occurrences; AV translates as “die” 424 times, “dead” 130 times, “slay” 100 times, “death” 83 times, “surely” 50 times, “kill” 31 times, “dead man” three times, “dead body” twice, “in no wise” twice, and translated miscellaneously 10 times. 1to die, kill, have one executed. 1A (Qal) 1a1 to die. 1a2 to die (as penalty), be put to death. 1a3 to die, perish (of a nation). 1a4to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct). 1B (Polel) to kill, put to death, dispatch. 1C (Hiphil) to kill, put to death. 1D (Hophal) 1d1 to be killed, be put to death. 1d1a to die prematurely.

The word “death” translates as Strong’s H4191 muwth /mooth. In the context here, it means certain death, denoting in 1 to die, kill, have one executed. 1A (Qal) 1a1 to die. 1a2 to die (as penalty), be put to death. Homosexuality carried with it the death penalty if two men were caught engaging in sexual intercourse, or any kind of sexual acts. It is physical death that is in view here. They were to be “cut off” from their people, the Israelites. Ritually; it was detestable partly because it was practiced in Canaanite religion, which God had commanded Israel not to follow.

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blood: Transliteration: Strong’s H1818 דָּם [dam /dawm/] n m. From 1826 (compare 119); TWOT 436; GK 1947; 361 occurrences; AV translates as “blood” 342 times, “bloody” 15 times, “person + 5315” once, “bloodguiltiness” once, “bloodthirsty + 582” once, and “vr blood” once. 1 blood. 1a of wine (fig.).

The word translated “blood” is Strong’s H1818 dam /dawm. Here it refers to the “bloodguiltiness” that the two men would bring upon their own heads by violating the laws and moral codes of Yahweh, fulfilling the lust of homosexuality, which was practiced in Canaanite religion. In committing this act, they had no one else to blame, only themselves. JEHOVAH had made it very clear that homosexuality was wrong, and that it goes contrary to the laws of nature and creation. Their blood would be upon their own heads.