The word malakoi is the plural of malakos which, applied to persons, means "soft, yielding." The word arsenokoitai derives from arsen (=male) and koite (transliterated) meaning " the act of going to bed."

Scholars argue about the meaning of Paul's use of the terms malakoi and arsenokoitai . They differ on the now popular assumption that Paul disapproved of homosexuality in and of itself. They tend to see Paul's objectio as a moral issue: the malakoi as yielding, allowing himself to be exploited; the arsenokoitai as the active partner exploiting his passive partner, another human being, for personal pleasure and gain. Paul seemed to care about others and knew about love: in his First Epistle to the Corinthians he discussed love ( the KJV version of the Bible translates the Greek word agape [=love] as charity ) in the beautiful well-known verses of 1 Cor.13:4-13. Verse 13 in the KJV is familiar to most readers:" And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity ( read love)."

Paul speaks again in Rom. 1: 26-27 of women who gave up "natural" relations for "unnatural"; and men who were consumed with passion for one another and committing shameless acts of intercourse:

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature;

"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."

Scholars point out that the term "against nature" has been misconstrued by those who would interpret Paul's meaning as "against the law of nature." They believe that Paul's meaning was that women changed the natural use into that which was "against their nature," i.e. as married, heterosexual women they engaged in same-sex behavior which was not natural for them. Similarly the men, heterosexual by (their) nature, engaged in same-sex behavior with a burning passion, which was not natural for them.

Nevertheless, Paul had apparently a problem with sexuality in general, and with his own sexuality in particular. He envisioned the world coming to an end with the coming of the kingdom of his god (1 Cor. 7: 29-31). So he saw no need for sex, judging by his remarks regarding marriage and the taking of a wife (1 Cor. 7: 2-5, 9, 26). But he recommended that a man not touch a woman, and that the unmarried and widows remain single, but if they cannot, then to marry (1 Cor. 7:1, 8-9); and should they marry, they should remain monogamous ( 1 Cor. 7; 10-11).

Living in Corinth, the licentious sex capital of Paul's world, he saw the proliferation of same-sex (male) behavior which was commonly accepted by the Greeks. He acknowledged that those Corinthians to whom he was writing had been behaving that way before their conversion (1 Cor. 6:9-11): "And such were some of you." As a Jew Paul quite naturally had a restrictive view of sex in relation to his god Yahweh; he was obsessed with maintaining purity and holiness.

Paul speaks of a personal problem in 2 Cor. 12: 7, "a thorn in the flesh," which may have been a medical or health condition, or quite surprisingly he may simply have been himself a latent homosexual. He definitely struggled with the sexual practices that he observed around him and with his celibacy. He needed the company of men, and traveled with male companions.

Whatever Paul meant in his use of the terms malakoi and arsenokoitai , they were part of a list of types who, he claimed, would not inherit the kingdom of God. It is his use of the phrase "against nature" however that affects how Christians and Jews deal with homosexual persons in our society. Until heterosexuals change their perception of that phrase, their negative attitude toward gays and lesbians will, unfortunately, persist. Only they can change their attitude; gays and lesbians are, and will always be, part of our society.

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This is the final chapter of Biblelore. Following is a ecommended further reading list of sources annotated by subjects discussed in this series. It is hoped that Biblelore has been informative. Thank you for your interest.

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In case you missed reading about it in the Foreword, there is a new section of Biblelore, BibleloreLite. For a more light-hearted take on the Bible which, in the opinion of this author, is taken far too seriously by its more gullible readers, turn to BibleloreLite which follows the Biblelore Recommended Reading List.