“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
My Notes
What Does Leviticus 18:22 Mean?
This verse appears in Leviticus 18, a chapter outlining prohibited sexual relationships within Israel's holiness code. The surrounding verses address incest, adultery, and other sexual boundaries. The chapter frames these prohibitions as what distinguishes Israel from the practices of Egypt and Canaan.
The Hebrew word translated "abomination" (to'evah) is used throughout the Old Testament for practices considered ritually and morally incompatible with Israel's covenant relationship with God. It's a strong word that appears in many contexts — including Proverbs, where lying, pride, and unjust business practices are also called to'evah.
This verse has been one of the most debated in Scripture, with deeply held convictions on multiple sides. The interpretive questions are significant: What did this prohibition mean in its original ancient Near Eastern context? How does the Levitical holiness code relate to New Covenant believers? Faithful scholars disagree on these questions.
What's not debatable is that this verse exists within a broader framework of holiness — God calling his people to live differently. The specific application of that framework is where honest theological conversation happens.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How do you approach Old Testament laws — which ones feel binding today and how do you decide?
- 2.What does it look like to hold theological conviction and genuine compassion for people at the same time?
- 3.How has your understanding of this verse been shaped by your community, and have you examined it for yourself?
- 4.What would it look like to discuss this text with someone who holds a different view — with genuine curiosity rather than an argument to win?
Devotional
This is one of those verses that arrives with weight no matter where you stand. It has been used to wound people, and it has been held as sacred conviction. Often by people who love God deeply.
Whatever your theology on this text, here's what's worth sitting with: the entire chapter of Leviticus 18 is about God caring how his people relate to each other — particularly in their most intimate, vulnerable spaces. These aren't arbitrary rules. They're a God who takes human bodies and human relationships seriously.
If you're someone who has been hurt by how this verse has been wielded, your pain is real and it matters. If you're someone who holds this text as authoritative and binding, your conviction is sincere and it matters. Both of those things can be true.
The harder work — the work this verse actually invites — is holding conviction and compassion at the same time. Treating people as image-bearers even when you disagree. Pursuing holiness without using Scripture as a weapon. That's harder than landing on one side. But it might be closer to what God is asking.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind,.... By carnal knowledge of them, and carnal copulation with them, and…
With mankind - This abominable crime, frequent among the Greeks and Romans as well as the Canaanites, may be punished…
Here is, I. A law to preserve the honour of the marriage-bed, that it should not be unseasonably used (Lev 18:19), nor…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture