Topic reference
What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Does the word appear in the Bible?
The word "homosexuality" does not appear in the Bible.
The English word 'homosexuality' first appears in print in 1869 (German 'Homosexualität'); the corresponding modern category did not exist as a concept in the ancient world. The earliest English Bible to use the word 'homosexuals' as a translation choice is the Revised Standard Version (1946); earlier English translations (KJV, Geneva, Douay-Rheims) use 'sodomites,' 'effeminate,' or other terms. Translations after 1946 vary widely in how they render the relevant Hebrew expression and Greek words. The underlying texts use specific descriptions of acts, not a category corresponding to the modern term.
Every relevant passage
Leviticus 18:22
You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Leviticus 18:22 appears within the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17–26), a section of Levitical law addressed to the Israelites. Chapter 18 is a list of prohibited sexual relationships, opening with a frame (18:3) instructing the Israelites not to follow the practices of Egypt or Canaan. The chapter addresses incest, adultery, child sacrifice (18:21), bestiality, and the verse on male same-sex acts. Leviticus 20:13 restates the prohibition with a stated capital penalty.
Leviticus 20:13
If a man lies with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 20 restates several Leviticus 18 prohibitions and attaches penalties. The chapter as a whole specifies capital punishment for a number of violations including adultery (20:10), incest of certain kinds (20:11–12), and the act named here. Christian and Jewish traditions vary widely on whether these capital penalties are considered to apply outside the original ancient context.
Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Romans 1:18–32 is part of Paul's argument addressing what he describes as the consequences of human suppression of the knowledge of God. The verses about same-sex acts appear within a larger list of behaviors Paul attributes to the same condition (vv. 28–32 list 'envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice' and other items). The Greek phrase translated 'natural' / 'unnatural' is παρὰ φύσιν (para physin), 'against nature.'
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in a chapter addressing lawsuits and immorality. Verse 9 contains a list of categories of people. Two Greek words in this verse are heavily contested in scholarly translation: μαλακοί (malakoi, literally 'soft ones') and ἀρσενοκοῖται (arsenokoitai, a compound of 'male' + 'bedder'). See the original-language note below.
1 Timothy 1:9-10
We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching.
1 Timothy 1 contains another vice list. The Greek word translated 'homosexuals' here is ἀρσενοκοῖται (arsenokoitai), the same word as in 1 Corinthians 6:9. As above, the precise meaning is contested in scholarly literature.
Genesis 19:1-13
Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening […] But before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. They called out to Lot, saying, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!' […] Then they said, 'Get out of the way!' They declared, 'This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.' And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.
Genesis 19 records the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The narrative immediately preceding (Genesis 18:20–21) names 'the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah' as the reason for the LORD's judgment but does not specify the nature of the offense. In Genesis 19, the men of the city demand to 'have relations with' the visitors. Ezekiel 16:49 later describes Sodom's guilt as 'arrogance, plenty of food, and comfortable security, but they did not help the poor and needy.' Christian, Jewish, and academic traditions interpret the Sodom narrative differently: some emphasize same-sex behavior, others emphasize gang-rape and inhospitality, others emphasize the more general categories Ezekiel names.
Jude 1:7
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, and serve as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
The book of Jude references Sodom in the context of warnings against false teachers. The Greek phrase σαρκὸς ἑτέρας (sarkos heteras, 'strange/other flesh') is the subject of considerable scholarly discussion regarding what specifically is being referenced — see the verse in context (Jude 1:5–7), which pairs Sodom with the angels of Genesis 6 who 'left their proper dwelling.'
Original language
Original language
Several Greek and Hebrew terms in these passages are contested in modern scholarship. The Hebrew expression in Leviticus 18:22 reads literally 'and with a male you shall not lie the lyings of a woman' — וְאֶת־זָכָר לֹא תִשְׁכַּב מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה. The exact construction is debated; it has been read as a general prohibition on male-male sexual acts, and alternatively as a more specific prohibition (e.g., addressing particular ritual or status contexts). Scholars do not all agree. The Greek words in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 are heavily contested: • μαλακοί (malakoi) — literally 'soft ones.' BDAG glosses the term in this context as 'pertaining to being passive in a same-sex relationship,' but other scholars argue the term has a wider semantic range, including general moral softness. The word appears elsewhere in the New Testament with non-sexual meanings (e.g., Matthew 11:8, of soft clothing). • ἀρσενοκοῖται (arsenokoitai) — a compound of ἄρσην (arsēn, 'male') and κοίτη (koitē, 'bed,' often with sexual sense). The word appears to be coined by Paul or used by him from contemporary Hellenistic Jewish usage; it does not appear in surviving Greek literature before 1 Corinthians. BDAG glosses it 'one who engages in same-sex activity,' but the word has been variously rendered in English Bibles ('homosexuals,' 'sodomites,' 'men who practice homosexuality,' 'sexual perverts,' 'abusers of themselves with mankind' in the KJV). Some scholars argue the compound is constructed from Leviticus 18:22 / 20:13 in the Septuagint Greek; others argue for a narrower or different meaning. No single scholarly consensus exists on the precise modern equivalents for either Greek word. Translations therefore differ in how to render them.
What the text does not say
Passages commonly cited in this discussion that, in full context, are about something else.
- Genesis 19 (Sodom)
Christian, Jewish, and academic traditions interpret Genesis 19 differently. Ezekiel 16:49, an internal biblical commentary, identifies Sodom's guilt as 'arrogance, plenty of food, and comfortable security, but they did not help the poor and needy.' The Genesis narrative itself describes a demand for gang-rape of strangers.
- Jesus's recorded teaching
The recorded teaching of Jesus in the four Gospels does not contain explicit instruction on same-sex behavior. His teaching on marriage cites Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 (Matthew 19:4–6, Mark 10:6–9). Some readers extrapolate from this teaching; others note that the Gospels do not contain explicit statements on the topic.
- Modern sexual orientation as a concept
The modern concept of sexual orientation as an identity category is roughly 150 years old. The biblical texts describe specific acts (using verbs about behavior) rather than identity categories. Whether and how the texts apply to modern identity categories is a question of interpretation that the texts themselves do not directly address.
What we are showing you
This page lists every Bible passage commonly cited in discussions of homosexuality. Each is presented in full with a factual context note. We do not draw a conclusion about whether the texts apply, how they apply, or to whom — these are interpretive questions on which traditions and scholars disagree, and the RULEBOOK governing this site does not permit us to resolve them.
Three things to know about the texts
First, the modern English word “homosexuality” enters print in 1869, and the corresponding identity category did not exist as a concept in the ancient world. The biblical texts describe specific acts using behavioral verbs, not an identity. Whether and how the texts apply to the modern category of sexual orientation is a question of interpretation that the texts themselves do not directly address.
Second, two Greek words at the center of the New Testament discussion — malakoi (μαλακοί, “soft ones”) and arsenokoitai (ἀρσενοκοῖται, a compound of “male” + “bedder”) — are heavily contested in modern scholarship. The earliest English Bibles render them with various phrases (“effeminate,” “abusers of themselves with mankind,” “sodomites”); the Revised Standard Version (1946) introduced the word “homosexuals” to English Bibles. Translation choices since then vary widely. We have presented the lexical situation factually in the Original Language note.
Third, the Sodom narrative (Genesis 19) is interpreted differently across traditions. Ezekiel 16:49, an internal biblical commentary on Sodom, names a different set of offenses (“arrogance… they did not help the poor and needy”). The Genesis narrative itself describes a demand for gang-rape of strangers. Whether the passage primarily concerns same-sex behavior, gang-rape, inhospitality, or another set of offenses is a question on which interpretive traditions disagree.
For external scholarly perspectives on the contested Greek vocabulary, the standard New Testament Greek lexicon is BDAG (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature). Readers seeking technical detail will find that lexicon and the journal literature cited in it.