[B-Greek] ARSENOKOITHS: Did I get this right?

Doug Chaplin lists at actually.me.uk
Tue Mar 15 12:34:04 EST 2005


> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:b-greek-
> bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Carlton Winbery
> Sent: 15 March 2005 15:20
> To: Jonathan Robie
> Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] ARSENOKOITHS: Did I get this right?
> 
> >I composed the following as a response to someone on another list
> >who claimed that ARSENOKOITHS is an obscure word, whose meaning is
> >not certain, but probably refers to some kind of male prostitute. I
> >would like to make sure that what I wrote is accurate before sending
> >it - does this really represent current thinking on the topic, or is
> >the word more difficult to understand than I think?
> >
> I agree with Jonathan that this question can be debated on B-Greek.
> However, it will take discipline by all participants. This is one
> place where to get the whole picture of the implications for what the
> biblical writers really were thinking requires some use of the social
> sciences. For the list discussion we cannot then finish the task but
> must be content to define words by studying usage in all Greek
> literature.
> 
> For those who want to complete the picture of exactly what the
> writers thought on the larger subject, web sites such as the one by
> Rembert Truluck should be read. His main web site is "Recovery from
> Bible abuse." One of the sites connected to that one is "The Bible
> and Homosexuality." He also operates an e-mail list that is connected
> to his web site. For those who want to complete the task that we do
> not wish to complete here, this is also necessary reading. But first
> let us with respect see if we can at least define the words.
> 
There is certainly room to debate the meaning of the term here, but part of
the reason for the intemperate nature of the debate on this particular word
is that there is relatively limited semantic information to be derived from
the linguistic context.
It is certainly quite possible to take the nouns in "oute malakois oute
arsenokoitai" as mutually interpretive, in the way that some suggest.
Equally, both the 1 Cor passage and the 1 Tim passage look like fairly
typical vice lists, and I would certainly argue that the main point of the
vice list in 1 Cor is not to say that each or all of these sins had been
committed by one or more members of the church, but as a stereotype of
"Gentile sinner" emphasising the general Gentile background of church
members, rather than their particular sins. If I am right, then we can't
assume that Paul (and / or A N Other) chose the words carefully for a
particular meaning in this context, rather that a whole range of words
signifying various forms of disapproved behaviour are simply collected
together for the overall rhetorical effect, rather than the precise sin.
In other words, we probably can't say what *exactly* is being talked about,
because the intent is only to talk *generally*.
This is one case where the linguistic contribution to the broader
interpretive question is very limited.

Doug Chaplin
Droitwich UK




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