The word "sodomy"

Today is Martin Luther King Day,  a day for contemplating issues of social justice.

Dr. King seems to have been of two minds regarding homosexuality. On the one hand, his friend and right-hand man made no secret of being gay, and at a time when being gay was generally not tolerated, Dr. King refused to rebuke him. On the other hand, he advised a young man who wrote to him with fears of being gay that with prayer and diligence the young man could overcome this tendency.

Christians often point to places in the Bible which condemn the sin of Sodom, and call sodomites an abomination. But is this even talking about homosexuality? Almost certainly not. (The sin of Sodom is selfishness, greed, and inhospitality; see my other post). 

 But isn't the story of Sodom and Gemorrah where the word "sodomy" comes from?

Not exactly. Turns out the word "sodomy" was coined in the late 1800's. Before that, it was always the "sin of Sodom" or something about "sodomites".  In about 395AD, letters from St. Jerome to a priest named Amandus refer to the men of Sodom engaging in sexual misconduct, but the details are not explained.  Thomas Aquinas, in the 1200s, defined the "sin of Sodom" as any sort of nonprocreative sex. Masturbation, oral sex, sex during menses, sex using contraceptives, and anal sex were all included. 

Much of the confusion comes from a poor translation. The story of Sodom and Gemorrah are in Genesis, part of the Torah; the story is written in Hebrew. The name of the city (word H5467 in Strong's concordance) is transliterated Cĕdom, and comes from a root meaning "burning".  In English, this became Sodom. Chances are, it was not the original name of the city, when people lived there, but a name applied after it was destroyed by fire. 

The word translated as "sodomite" comes from another root altogether. Word H6945 in Strong's Concordance is transliterated gadesh, and only occurs six times in the Bible. This is a noun, and technically, it means "one who is consecrated". In context, it refers to the temple prostitutes (female and male) consecrated to Astarte or Venus. Five times out of the six times it occurs, it is translated "sodomite", and once it is translated "unclean" (KJV). A temple prostitute consecrated to a different god is indeed an abomination to a follower of the God of Israel. But the abomination has nothing to do with homosexuality.

There is a related word,  the verb gadash (Strong's H6942), which means "to set apart, to consecrate". This appears 172 times in the Bible, and is a positive attribute. It is translated as "sanctify" 108 times, also as "hallow", "dedicate", "holy", "prepare", "consecrate", and nine other terms. No confusion with Sodom here!