It is frequently repeated in certain quarters that avrsenokoi/tai (“sodomites” [NKJV]; “homosexual offenders” [NIV]) refers only to certain pagan practices, and therefore does not include all forms of homosexual activity. This assertion is based upon the claim that avrsenokoi/tai has a narrower semantic field than is generally accepted.
The difficulty in resolving on a translation of this word is not because its etymology is unclear. It is derived from the compound of two words a;rrhn (“male”) and koi,th (“bed”, euphemistically “sexual intercourse”), and thus could be literally render “males who lie with males”. The difficulty concerns the fact that avrsenokoi/tai is not widely attested, and is not known at all before the first century AD. Since some later writers appear to use the word, or its cognates, in the context of male prostitution or pedastry, it has been proposed that one or other of these might be its meaning in 1 Cor 6:9. Without considering these usages in detail, it is apparent that unless all these references can be shown to refer solely to male prostitution or pedastry then the argument for restricting the semantic field fails.[1] The fact that avrsenokoi/tai is used to refer male prostitution, and pedastry, and other homosexual activity (as indeed it is) demonstrates that these term as wide semantic field and can be (and is) used generically to refer to all forms of homosexual activity.
Perhaps more significant for the understanding of 1 Cor 6:9 are the linguistic parallels in Leviticus [LXX], where the command against homosexual activity is given:
kai. meta. a;rsenoj ouv koimhqh,sh| koi,thn gunaiko,j bde,lugma ga,r evstin (Lev 18:22)
kai. o]j a’n koimhqh/| meta. a;rsenoj koi,thn gunaiko,j (Lev 20:13)
The parallels between these verses and avrsenokoi/tai are unmistakably as in both cases the root words a;rrhn and koi,th occur. The suggestion that has met with scholarly support is that avrsenokoi/tai came into usage by Jewish writers, influenced by the Septuagint, looking for a word to condemn the homosexual activity of the Greek world.[2] There are a variety of Greek words available for various forms of homosexual activity. The only reason to coin a new term like avrsenokoi/tai would be to refer more generally about homosexual activity, reflecting the prohibitions made in Leviticus.
Returning then to 1 Cor 6:9, the meaning of avrsenokoi/tai seems determined by several considerations: 1) Paul, steeped in the Old Testament, is likely to have categorized sins based upon the framework of the Mosaic Law, even if he did not accept that all its prohibits were applicable to the Christian believer; 2) there are better alternatives that Paul could have used had intended to refer to either male prostitution or pedastry; 3) Latin, Syriac and Coptic translations of the Pauline writings all attest to a general translation of this term.[3]
In sum, we can have confidence that 1 Cor 6:9 refers generically to all homosexual activity. The remaining issue is whether the English word “homosexual” (NASB; HCSB) is a suitable translation. Since in common usage “homosexual” often refers to sexual orientation rather than sexual activity, a more literal translation such as “men who practice homosexuality” (ESV) or “men who lie with men” (NWT) is preferable.
[1] These uses are considered in detail in D. F. Wright, “Homosexuals or Prostitutes? The meaning of avrsenokoi/tai (1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:10)”Vigiliae Christianae 38:2 (1984): 133-141.
[2] Wright, “Homosexuals or Prostitutes?”, 145.
[3] Wright, “Homosexual or Prostitute?”, 144-5.
1st Peter: Some New Testament Allusions