Unfortunately, the commandments of Torah are too often presented in a format completely devoid of the very pertinent context of the society to which they were addressed. This has led to many imaginary problems and theological issues. For example, there are a number of commandments related to slavery, polygamy, and property rights which some folks have misinterpreted as Divine endorsements of behaviors which most folks consider to be immoral. In their proper context, these commandments simply reflect the reality of a society founded on male dominance, prestige, rights, privileges, and harsh treatment for those who did not enjoy this status within it. In other words, the existence of these commandments should NOT be regarded as a Divine endorsement of things like slavery, polygamy, primogeniture, misogyny, etc.!
Indeed, Torah is addressed first and foremost to males, and its primary interest is in outlining their rights and responsibilities relative to God's covenant with the children of Israel. After all, most of the commandments are addressed to the males within that society, and those same men were commanded to bear in their flesh the sign of that covenant (male circumcision). In the book of Genesis, we read: "And God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.'" (Genesis 17:9-14, ESV)
Moreover, as we have already suggested, many of the commandments of Torah were directly addressed to the MEN of Israel. Although it is not apparent in English translations, the Ten Commandments use masculine singular pronouns in Hebrew. Likewise, even in English, it is clear that the last commandment is addressed to the men. We read: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17, ESV)
This masculine preoccupation is even more apparent in the very next chapter of Exodus. We read there: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money." (Exodus 21:7-11, ESV) Continuing, in the same chapter, we read: "When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money." (Exodus 21:20-12, ESV) Likewise, in the book of Deuteronomy, we read: "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you." (Deuteronomy 16:16-17, ESV) At any rate, I think that we've demonstrated the point. And, although this phenomenon has been missed by a good many casual readers of the Bible down through the years, it is easily discernible in Torah if you're looking for it!
Now, unfortunately, this focus on Israelite men in Torah was also accompanied by a clearly inferior and subordinate role for most Israelite women. Notice this passage from Leviticus: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days." (Leviticus 12:1-5, ESV) Still not convinced? A little later, in the same book, we read: "When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean." (Leviticus 15:19-24, ESV)
Think that all of this is outrageous and reflects poorly on YHWH? We must NOT forget that this Law was meant to address the children of Israel where they were - to make sense to their reality, NOT ours! Sure, by the U.S. and European standards of 2026, this stuff sounds outrageous; but it would have made absolute sense to these ancient people. Moreover, as we have already suggested, the fact that these commandments were introduced to regulate their behavior does NOT constitute an endorsement by God of their society or its behaviors! This is something that should be comprehensible even to us in our modern age. Our own government regulates the use and distribution of marijuana and alcohol, but that doesn't constitute an endorsement of their use by the government!
Now, although we might not be able to discern any positive benefit to society for many of these commandments, we must remember that the folks to whom they were addressed would have had a very different perspective on them. Indeed, from their perspective, it was extremely important to protect the status and honor of the men in their society. We see this as being especially apparent in the commandments dealing with human sexual relations. For example, in the book of Leviticus, we read: "None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive." (Leviticus 18:6-18, ESV) Notice how all of these prohibitions were designed to protect the honor and dignity of the family's patriarch (by not uncovering his nakedness).
In fleshing out our understanding of these commandments, we must also never forget that women were viewed as being the property of their father, brother, or husband. In other words, the men in their lives were always in control of their destiny. We have already observed how a woman's spousal rights, childbearing, and menstrual cycles were viewed by Torah. Nevertheless, the perceived inferiority of women to men went even deeper within Israelite culture. Jacob's/Israel's daughter, Dinah, was viewed as having been humiliated and defiled by Shechem (Genesis 34). She was ruined for other men, and her brothers proceeded to kill all of the men connected to Shechem to avenge her ruination! You see, Israelite society believed that a man "HUMBLED" a woman when he had sexual intercourse with her (see Deuteronomy 21:14 and 22:9). How so? Because the man was looked upon as the active agent in the sexual act! He was the penetrator. The woman merely received what he gave her!
This understanding is especially important when we consider the two commandments prohibiting male on male sexual activity. In the same chapter as the above passage, we read: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22, ESV) Later, in the same book, we read: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." (Leviticus 20:13, ESV) How does this infringe upon the dignity of a man or emasculate him? In other words, why is this prohibition given in Torah? It should be obvious to us by now! The man must NOT be emasculated. He must always be the penetrator. He must NEVER be the one who is penetrated! He must NEVER be placed in the passive role in a sexual relationship. He must NOT be humbled, humiliated, or ruined!
Still unconvinced? This reasoning is intrinsic to many of the stories of the Hebrew Bible. Think about the stories of Abraham and Sarah with Abimelech and Isaac and Rebekah with Abimelech. Think about the story of how Ham dishonored his father Noah by uncovering his nakedness (Genesis 9:20-27). What about the story of Lot and the two angels who visited him in Sodom? What about the narrative surrounding the Levite and his concubine? Indeed, in this context, I think that it would be especially instructive to take a look at these so-called hospitality narratives.
You know the story of Sodom. Two angels came to the city, and Lot invited them to spend the night in his home. Next, we read: "But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.' Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, 'I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.' But they said, 'Stand back!' And they said, 'This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.' Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door." (Genesis 19:4-11, ESV)
There are a number of important elements to underscore here. Notice that the entire male population of the city came together to humiliate Lot's guests. It doesn't say that all of the males in the city were homosexuals. It does, however, clearly state that they were intent on gang raping Lot's visitors - "Bring them out to us, that we may know them." Their objective was to humble/humiliate/ruin Lot's guests! Notice too, that Lot offers his daughters as substitutes. In other words, he obviously believed that it was his prerogative to offer up his two daughters to the mob! After all, if anyone was going to be penetrated or humbled, it had to be a female!
Later, in the time prior to the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, we read of a Levite and his concubine (a kind of second-class wife) who were traveling home and stopped to spend the night near the village of Gibeah. Fortunately, they came upon one old man who was willing to provide them lodging for the night in his home. Continuing in the story, we read: "As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, 'Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.' And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.' But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light." (Judges 19:22-26, ESV)
Sound familiar? Once again, the obvious objective of the men of Gibeah was the humiliation of the Levite. There is absolutely no indication that the men of Gibeah were homosexuals. Once again, we see that the men believed the women to be more suitable candidates for humiliation that the said male. This time, however, the man actually sent his concubine out to the mob, and we are informed that they raped her all night long. In fact, we are told that the Levite found his concubine had died as a consequence of all of the abuse. Moreover, we are informed that the man cut up her body and sent a piece to each one of the tribes of Israel, and that a civil war ensued as a consequence of what had happened (and the tribe of Benjamin was almost exterminated in the process).
The bottom line? Women were clearly inferior to men, and a man must never be treated like a woman! In Deuteronomy, we read: "A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 22:5, ESV) In another passage, we read: "When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity." (Deuteronomy 25:11-12, ESV) In other words, "If that b-tch has the audacity to grab his junk, cut her hand off!" Men could divorce women, but there was no provision for a dissatisfied woman to get rid of an unwanted husband! (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) Indeed, a man could be excluded for ANYTHING that remotely equated him with the female gender. In one passage, we read: "No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 23:1, ESV) In yet another passage, we read: "None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog [male prostitute] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 23:17-18, ESV)
Thus, we have demonstrated that the prohibitions against male-on-male sex in Torah were intended to protect Israelite males from being emasculated. It was strictly a matter of how a man and a woman were perceived in Israelite society, and a man must never be placed on the same level with a female - period. After all, maintaining the honor and integrity of the men was paramount. A woman could be humbled, but a man must never be humbled or defiled in any way!
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