Is Biblical Eisegesis Ever Permissable?

Apparently the Old Testament scholar Gerhard von Rad's reading of Deuteronomy bordered on eisegesis rather than sound exegesis:

In his hands, Deuteronomy became not a law book demanding obedience, but rather a collection of sermons pervaded with a spiritual, even a "'protestantische' Atmosph�re."4 Written laws became homiletic sermons meant to encourage and inspire. Israel's obligation under YHWH's covenant treaty for obedience to his statutes and ordinances became Israel's unconditional election to salvation. On that basis, any sections of Deuteronomy that seem to make salvation dependent on works, i.e., obedience to the law, were deftly and systematically explained away. Either their significance was deemphasized, or they were relegated to later exilic or post-exilic expansions of the text, like the blessings and the curses of Deut 28.5 The support for these claims is often absent, so that von Rad's analysis of Deuteronomy, particularly the legal corpus of Deut 12-26, comes closer to eisegesis than to exegesis.

To be fair von Rad was trying to buck up against the Nazi idealogy that was so prevalent in his day---in his reading of Deuteronomy, von Rad was trying to reclaim the Old Testament from Nazi corruption and return it to it's rightful Jewishness:

From 1933 until 1945, the Hebrew Bible and the connection between Christianity and Judaism came under attack in Nazi Germany. Gerhard von Rad defended the importance of the Old Testament in a courageous struggle that profoundly influenced his interpretation of the book of Deuteronomy.

Gerhard recognized the importance of his work for:

(he) kept returning to Deuteronomy throughout his career, beginning with his doctoral dissertation in 1929, Das Gottesvolk im Deuteronomium, and continuing through Das formgeschichtliche Problem des Hexateuchs (1938), Deuteronomium Studien (1947), and his commentary on Deuteronomy for the prestigious series Altes Testament Deutsch (1964).2 Perhaps more striking than his preoccupation with this pivotal text, however, is the way von Rad characterized its textual content, its priorities, and its theology. His rhetoric frequently took the form of a series of antithetical formulations: Deuteronomy is not X but is Y.3 At times it seemed that von Rad was concerned just as much to establish what Deuteronomy is not as to show what it is. As is well known, von Rad argued that Deuteronomy is not law but rather a series of sermons by traveling Levites preaching a renewed message of redemption. He maintained that Deuteronomy's law code is not a dead text but live instruction, not demands for obedience to incomprehensible requirements, but spiritual exhortations to remember God's grace.

So do you think what he did was right or not?

EXEGESIS: BREAD לחם (Lehem or Lechem) OF LIFE IN JEWISH THOUGHT *(Continued)

Continuing from where I left off on my previous post: TheoPoetic Musings: EXEGESIS: BREAD לחם (Lehem or Lechem) OF LIFE IN JEWISH THOUGHT:

---While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26).--Jesus’ body is the Bread.

---”I Am The Bread Of Life”--- ‘I Am’ Statement, Jesus speaks with Absolute divine authority. I Am echoes God’s True name. The Tetragrammaton-YHVH or YHWH, also referred to as the Ineffable Name. Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey:, which is usually pronounced as Yahweh or Jehovah though the exact pronunciation has been lost. See http://www.eliyah.com/tetragrm.html and http://pages.cthome.net/hirsch/tetra.htm for more info. The Jews never pronounced the Tetragrammaton but substituted the word Adonai instead (usually rendered in the Bible as 'Lord'), because of fear of desecration of the name. Ha-Shem, which means the Name or Elohim, which means a god or many gods are also substituted for it. This is the special memorial-name that God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. "And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM; and He said, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you... this is My eternal name, and this is how I am to be recalled for all generations" (Exodus 3:14-15). Actually, the phrase in Hebrew is "eh-yeh asher eh-yeh." The word "eh-yeh" being the first person future form of "hovah" (to be). A better English translation would really be, "I will be who (or what or that) I will be." Even though the name YHVH appears earlier in Genesis 2, God didn't reveal Himself as YHVH until Exodus 3 in conjunction with the creation of Israel.

---Baal Shem Tov= Master of the Sacred Name

---Shema--- “Hear, O, Israel, the Lord, your God, is One (echad) Lord.” (One Unity) This is the fundamental belief in Judaism and the opening statement of many Jewish rituals. The Hebrew word echad for one is also used in the Genesis passage about Adam and Eve becoming one flesh, which is an act of union.

--- Jesus would have said in a form of: “Ey-yeh lehem hachay” in Hebrew, “Iythay (to be) lehem chay” in Aramaic and “Einai (to be) artos zoe” in Greek. “I Am the Bread of Life.” Notice the close connections between bread and (to) life.
l'chaim -"To Life!" /lechem -(Heb.) bread

---The Wine of the Last Supper is like the kiddush and the kiddush HaShem lit.=sanctification of the Name: selfless act, esp. martyrdom. Wine is used as a means of sanctification. Wine has always been symbolic of blood sacrifice and atonement.=Cup of Redemption of the Passover.

---Wine is symbolic of blood and blood is the very essence of life. Wine has also been used as a symbol of love and divine love, especially by mystics. It is also symbolic of life, communion, covenants, death and even sex (see Song of Solomon for that) or intimate relations. Wine as a symbol is seen in a lot of Persian mystic or Sufi poetry.
Examples:

Don’t let go of the cup’s lips
Till you receive your worldly tips.
Bittersweet is the world’s cup
From lover’s lips and the cup sips.

---A Ruba'i or Quatrain of Hafez or Hafiz, a Sufi poet. Or this Ghazal of Hafez:

O beautiful wine-bearer, bring forth the cup and put it to my lips
Path of love seemed easy at first, what came was many hardships.
With its perfume, the morning breeze unlocks those beautiful locks
The curl of those dark ringlets, many hearts to shreds strips.
In the house of my Beloved, how can I enjoy the feast
Since the church bells call the call that for pilgrimage equips.
With wine color your robe, one of the old Magi’s best tips
Trust in this traveler’s tips, who knows of many paths and trips.
The dark midnight, fearful waves, and the tempestuous whirlpool
How can he know of our state, while ports house his unladen ships.
I followed my own path of love, and now I am in bad repute
How can a secret remain veiled, if from every tongue it drips?
If His presence you seek, Hafiz, then why yourself eclipse?
Stick to the One you know, let go of imaginary trips.

---Another extreme example of this is from Rumi, the founder of the mystical Sufi Order of Islam: “Let me taste the wine of eternal communion/Cry out in drunkenness, intoxicated, broken, alone…” from the Divan-e Shams 114
(http://www.rumionfire.com/shams/rumi114.htm). --- http://www.rumionfire.com/.

---Or from Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat:

“Here with a little Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse - and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!”

(http://www.arabiannights.org/rubaiyat/index2.html)
See also: http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Khayyam.html
And: http://www.okonlife.com/---(In this quatrain of Khayyam’s, we see a connection with the Eucharist of the Last Supper or Holy Communion).

----More modern references to the mystical symbolism of bread and wine come from popular culture. Here are some examples from different song lyrics:

“Trouble/Oh trouble can't you see/You're eating my heart away/And there's nothing much left of me/I've drunk your wine/You have made your world mine/So won't you be fair.” ---Trouble--Cat Stevens.

“Bring tea for the Tillerman/Steak for the sun/Wine for the women who made the rain come/Seagulls sing your hearts away/'Cause while the sinners sin, the children play/Oh Lord how they play and play/For that happy day, for that happy day”---Tea For The Tillerman--Cat Stevens. See http://catstevens.com/index.html for others.

“Don't worry smile and dance/You just can work life out/Don't let down moods entrance you/Take the wine and shout/My life's a mess I wait for you to pass/I stand here at the bar, I hold an empty glass”---Empty Glass--Pete Townshend. (http://www.wdkeller.com/index17.htm)

“Here is your wine,/And your drunken fall;/And here is your love./Your love for it all.”---Here It Is--Leonard Cohen.

----Bill Mallonee And The Vigilantes Of Love: http://www.parting-shot.com/

---Chris de Burgh: http://chris-deburgh.de/

---- Genesis: http://genesis.musichall.cz/php/eng/

----U2: "Until the End of the World"
"We ate the food, we drank the wine...I took the money, I spiked your drink...In the garden I was playing the tart, I kissed your lips and broke your heart" -- see Judas and Jesus in Matthew 14-15, 20-29, 47-49 ---http://www.atu2.com/lyrics/biblerefs.html
http://u2sermons.blogspot.com/
http://lyrics.interference.com/u2/

---Bob Dylan:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/7855/01skeletonkeys.html

http://www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/dylan.html

http://www.radiohazak.com/Dylan.html

http://www.gottaservesomebody.com/

http://www.geocities.com/temptations_page/DylGuide.html

http://notdarkyet.tripod.com/index.html

http://www.alilyamongthorns.8m.com/0alilyamongthorns.html

http://web.utk.edu/~wparr/SlowTrain.html

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2667/articles.html

http://www.bobdylan.com/links/linksContent.html

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze796a4/index.html

http://hem.passagen.se/obrecht/backpages/chords/index.htm

"Business men, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth/None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."---All Along The Watchtower---"The Lord will enter into judgement with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses." (Isaiah 3:14). All belongs to the Lord, but His creation has spoiled the earth, His bounty, His vineyard, and the poor.

Jokerman--At the beginning of the song, we see the Jokerman "Standing on the waters casting [his] bread" (1). We know that Jesus Christ said He was "the bread of life" (Henry 1; John 6.48). He also commented that "[m]an shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4.4). The Jokerman casting his bread, therefore, may be symbolic of Christ’s sharing his Word, since he "is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die" (John 61.50). Most explicitly, this verse of the song refers to Ecclesiastes 11:1: "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days" (Henry 2). The implied hope, then, is that Christ’s teaching--which He has "cast" upon the people--will breed loyal disciples. But the hope is an insecure one. See http://www.radiohazak.com/Jokerman.html for a Jewish Interpretation of this song. Another interpretation of the first verse: Now let’s look at the actual verses in Jokerman and see how they describe Jesus.
Standing on the waters casting your bread
In demonstrating dominion over His creation Jesus walked upon the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). When Jesus was being tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread to quench His hunger, He replied that man does not live by bread alone but by the Word of God. In the gospel of John, we learn that Jesus was the Incarnation of the Word of God and that He is the Bread of Life to all that come to Him. Or: http://web.utk.edu/~wparr/henryjokerman.html


Someone Got A Hold Of My Heart- They say "Eat, drink and be merry, take the bull by the horns."
From Luke 12:19. "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, [and] be merry." This is what a rich man who plans on living a life on hedonism says to himself in one of Jesus' parables. The chronicle goes on (12:20) to record God's reply to the man: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" The moral of the story is, Jesus explains, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment." (12:22-23)

Lyrics Search for Bread: YEA! HEAVY AND A BOTTLE OF BREAD
Yea! Heavy and a bottle of bread

DIAMOND JOE
5. Now his bread it was corn dodger

FROM A BUICK 6
She's a junkyard angel and she always gives me bread

SANTA-FE
She's rollin' up a lotta bread

YE SHALL BE CHANGED
And you been eating the bread of sorrow

SOMETHING'S BURNING, BABY
You can't live by bread alone, you won't be satisfied

GATES OF EDEN
Who pick up on his bread crumb sins

CLEAN-CUT KID
He drank Coca-Cola, he was eating Wonder Bread,

JOKERMAN
Standing on the waters casting your bread

FOOT OF PRIDE
Feed you coconut bread, spice buns in your bed

GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread, Total number of matches: 11

---See also---Contemporary Christian Artists, Hymns And Such
Larry Norman, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc.

EXEGESIS: BREAD לחם (Lehem or Lechem) OF LIFE IN JEWISH THOUGHT

Excursus from: TheoPoetic Musings: פֶּסַח And The Ransom Theory Of The Atonement. Here is a hand out which is a loose exegesis on the Bread Of Life that I had prepared a few years ago for a Sunday School class I was involved in: EXEGESIS: BREAD לחם (Lehem or Lechem) OF LIFE IN JEWISH THOUGHT

---lamed (30, 12, 3), het (8, 8, 8), mem (40, 13, 4) Hebrew Gematria---Numerical Value of Lehem

Absolute Value: 78

Ordinal Value: 33 Total Value: 126

Reduced Value: 15

--- Gematria is mainly part of the Kabbalah, the Jewish Mystical Tradition. Hebrew and Greek are the only languages, (that are used in a Biblical mystical system) that assign their letters a numerical value. (As well as Latin, Aramaic and Arabic, but Hebrew and Greek are the predominant languages of the Bible). Being that the majority of the accepted texts for: The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. These numerical values are where the 666 passage of Revelation came from. In Hebrew, 666 could also be written as the letters vav-vav-vav, since vav has a value of 6, in all it’s values. In Greek, the letters are different and they would be chi-xi-psi or psi-psi-psi. 666 is believed to be Judeo-Christian code-speak for the Emperor Nero, during the times of the persecutions of the early Christians by the Romans.

----Links:

http://www.jhom.com/topics/bread/index.html

http://www.tedmontgomery.com/bblovrvw/C_4b.html

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rsposse/resurrection.htm

http://www.inner.org/gematria/gemchart.htm

http://www.horusset.com/greek/

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/LAO-GA.gif

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/LAO.html

http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/

http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/judaism_guide/jewish_glossary/

http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/edoc/ia/eese/artic21/less3/14_2001.html

---Spiritual significance of bread and wine
---In the course of the Sabbath meal, the Hasidic master Rabbi Moshe of Kobryn [*] once took a piece of bread in his hand and said to his hasidim (followers):

"It is written: 'Man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord does man live' (Deut. 8:3). The life of man is not sustained by the stuff of bread but by the sparks of divine life that are within it. He is here. All exists because of his life-giving life, and when He withdraws from anything, it crumbles away to nothing."

--- The season of Shavuot is the time of the wheat harvest, in which the bread of display (lehem ha-panim) takes the place of ancient Israelite sacrificial offerings, since the temple was destroyed and sacrifices could no longer take place.---Pentecost is the Christian Shavuot.

--- Mirrors Manna

--- Martin Buber brings us several Hasidic tales whose message is transmitted through the symbol of bread. An Afghanistani Jewish folktale, "The King's Loaves," teaches a lesson about sharing and appreciation. We discover spiritual implications in a most mundane situation, a man ordering bread in a restaurant, in Nobel Laureate S.Y. Agnon's short story, "A Whole Loaf."

---Bread has always been important to life

---Bread has medicinal values

---Bethlehem or Beth Lachem is Hebrew for “House of Bread”

----Link Between Hebrew word for bread and war

--- Midrash Exodus 16:4-31 and Num. 11:7-9 Miracle of Manna from Exodus Rabba 25:3:

Young men tasted in it the taste of bread, old people the taste of honey, and infants the taste of oil [since bread was difficult for old people and infants to chew][1]

--- According to the Talmudic Passage Baba Mezia 107b--Thirteen things are said concerning bread eaten in the morning.[1] Bread will:

protect you from the heat; protect you from the cold; protect you from injurious spirits; protect you from demons; make you wise if you are simple, and help you win a lawsuit; help you learn and teach Torah; cause your utterances to be listened to; cause your learning to remain with you; ensure that you breath does not exhale a bad odor; ensure that you are attached to your wife and do not lust after other women; destroy all tapeworms in your system; drive forth envy; and cause love to enter.

--- From Buber’s Collection of Hasidic Folktales: The taste of bread (Simha Bunam of Pzhysha)---Rabbi Bunam once said at the third Sabbath meal:

"It is written: 'Taste and see that the Lord is good.' What you taste in bread is not its true taste. Only the zaddikim [righteous] who have purified all their limbs taste the true taste of the bread, as God created it. They taste and see that the Lord is good."

---Passover (Pesach) Meal: Seder Blessing: “Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Malech Ha O Lam Ha Motsi Lechem Min Ha Aretz
Blessed are you O Lord God, King of the Universe Who has brought forth bread from the earth “ || Last Supper---bread=flesh, flesh=dust

---Bitter herbs=slavery of Jews by Egypt | Unleavened Bread=quick flight out of Egypt led by Moses. Moses || Jesus

---Hag haMatzah=Feast of Unleavened Bread- part of Passover

---Mystical significance of Seven

---Passover is a Shabboton=High Sabbath

---Sacrificial Lamb=Jesus

--- the afikomen

---Jesus/Passover Parallels:

A ceremony, dating back to the days of Jesus, is rehearsed during the Passover Seder. It is called the afikomen (sometimes spelled afikoman or afikomin), a Hebrew word meaning “festival procession.” (This should bring to mind the coming forth of the Passover lamb—and Jesus, the absolute Passover Lamb—into Jerusalem on Aviv 10—see “parallels between Jesus and the Passover lamb”: P-I).
Near the beginning of the Passover Seder, after the first of four cups of wine has been drunk, the father of the household takes three pieces of unleavened bread, each called matza (or matzah), and places them in a white linen envelope (the “unity bag”) with three adjacent compartments. A matza (which contains no leaven) resembles a large flat soda cracker with consecutive, indented “stripes” (from being grilled), and it is “pierced” throughout with many holes.
Shortly thereafter, the middle matza, now itself referred to as the “afikomen,” is used in a short ceremony called the yachatz (meaning “to break”). The afikomen is removed from its individual middle compartment in the envelope and broken in two. One part is put back into the envelope, while the other part is wrapped in another piece of white linen and hidden or “buried” (often behind a cushion, in a drawer, or under the table). The children will search for this piece of the afikomen until one of them finds it.
Later, the child who has retrieved the broken afikomen holds it for “ransom,” and the father must “redeem” it, traditionally with silver. Once this has been done, the father blesses the bread and the third cup of wine of the meal, the “Cup of Redemption.” A piece of this bread (referred to as the “bread of life”) is eaten by everyone with the third cup of wine. After the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the afikomen became the substitute for the Pesach or Passover lamb. As the lamb had been the last thing eaten in the meal, so the afikomen became the last thing to be eaten, as though this bread finally would satisfy everyone’s hunger and provide permanent sustenance.

Jesus, the Passover Afikomen

The three pieces of unleavened bread in the linen envelope or “unity bag” may be thought of as symbolizing the three unified aspects of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (see C-6). The middle matza, the afikomen, thus may be considered to be representative of the second Person of the Godhead—the Son or Jesus. A matza is baked without leaven, the latter which represents “sin.” Likewise, Jesus never committed a sin (1 Pet. 2:22).
Recall that the matza has numerous rows of indentations, resembling stripes, as well as holes piercing it throughout. Before Jesus was crucified, his back was flogged (Isa. 50:6a; Matt. 27:26b) with a whip (with pieces of jagged glass and metal at the ends of the leather strands) which ripped away strips (stripes) of skin and muscle from His back, down to the bone.
Furthermore, Jesus’ head was pierced by a crown of thorns (Matt. 27:29a), His wrists and feet were pierced through by nails on the cross (Psalm 22:16c; Mark 15:25), and His side was pierced by a soldier’s spear after He died (John 19:34). Isaiah, writing of the future Messiah, said, “But he was pierced for our transgressions,...and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5ad). (In most Bible versions, “wounds” is translated “stripes.”) Zechariah, referring to the time of Jesus’ second (physical) coming, when the inhabitants of Jerusalem will realize that He is their Messiah, said, “They will look upon me, the one they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10b).
The afikomen is removed from its original location in the white linen envelope with the other two matzo (plural of matza). (Jesus left the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven to come to this world.) Then it is broken into two parts. (One aspect of Jesus is God; the other is man. Also, Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be “crushed” or “broken” for our iniquities—Isa. 53:5b. And, at the Last Supper, Jesus broke bread; as He offered it to His disciples, He said, “Take and eat; this is my [broken] body”—Matt. 26:26.) One part of the broken matza is put back into the linen envelope, while the other part is wrapped in a separate piece of white linen and hidden or buried. (The last thing Jesus said before He died was, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”—Luke 23:46—meaning that He voluntarily was giving back His Spirit to the Father to do with it whatever He had in Mind to do. Jesus’ body was wrapped in a clean linen cloth and placed into a tomb—Matt. 27:59,60).
Traditionally, silver is the reward paid for finding the afikomen. (Judas Iscariot was awarded thirty pieces of silver for arranging to find and betray Jesus so that He could be killed—Matt. 26:15.) The afikomen is held for ransom. (Jesus “...gave himself as a ransom for all men...”—1 Tim. 2:6). The afikomen also is called the “bread of life.” It is the last thing eaten, symbolically depicting that it will be sufficient to sustain everyone from that point forward. (Jesus repeatedly told a crowd of Jews that He was the “bread of life” and that whoever came to Him would “never go hungry”—John 6:35ab,51,53.)

(Continued in my next post).

Error in the book, The Search For Significance

EXEGESIS: Satan (שָׂטָן Standard Hebrew Satan, Greek σατᾶν sátan) # And Lucifer

#=# - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer

--- (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Lucifer+And+Satan+Are+Not+One+And+The+Same)

--- http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/christ/xt-ibel2.htm

--- On page 21 of the book, The Search For Significance, I noticed the slight error of purporting the “universal myth” that Satan and Lucifer are one and the same as commonly taught in ecclesial tradition---that is to say as passed down through churches, in Sunday School classes from childhood on---so I thought I would be brief, in shedding light, on this linguistic error rather than theological error:

--- I’d like to start by saying whether one believes that Satan and Lucifer are one and the same or not has no effect on one’s salvation, but it is important to study biblical knowledge in depth nonetheless

--- http://www.tegart.com/brian/bible/kjvonly/isa14_12.html <--- This website explains the error as believed by the heretical and biblio-idolatrous “King James Version Only” Cult

---  (heylel, hay-lale'; from Strongs # 1984 (In the sense of brightness); the morning-star:--Lucifer.) <--- The Hebrew from which the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible renders “Lucifer.” Lucifer was a title for the King of Babylon.

-----------
That's just a brief note I wrote for a small group I was involved in.

WHY HOMOSEXUALITY ISN’T THE SIN OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH

WHY HOMOSEXUALITY ISN’T THE SIN
OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH:
BUT INHOSPITALITY IS

Ezekiel 16:48-50 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
49 " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
Christ and the Prophets support contemporary hermeneutics (interpretation) as evident in these passages---the position of Christ and the prophets on the sin of Sodom is that Sodom’s sin is primarily being one of pride and breaking the laws of hospitality as affirmed by a large majority of bible scholars is clearly laid out in these verses: (Ezekiel 16:48-58; Amos 4; Zephaniah 2:8-11; Matthew 10:11-15, 11:20-24; Luke 10:10-16).
Question: In Matthew 10:11-15, in what ways are Sodom’s sin compared to rejecting the disciples? Answer: Inhospitality not all forms of homosexuality including homosexuality in its legitimate un-sinful form: consensual monogamous same-sex matrimony.
Turning again to Genesis 19, one notices, in the first verse, the strangers that came to Sodom were two angels, who appeared in the form of human males. The verse in question commonly misinterpreted by homophobic Fundamentalist proof-texting and cherry-picked Pharasaical literalism and misconstrued as all forms of homosexuality is verse 5. It is clear from the context of the passage that the phrase “so that we may know them” is a form of sexual activity---but which form? Answer: From the context of the underlying Hebrew of the verse, one finds that the proper exegesis of the sexual nature of Sodom’s sin as being one of violent force and homosexual rape (yada-Strong’s # 3045---euphem.-sex/infer.-punishment) of two angels (Genesis 19:1) appearing in the form of two male strangers---over and against the fundamentalists’ eisegesis of Sodom’s sin being all forms of homosexuality including homosexual marriage. (Genesis 19:1-26; Judges 19:1-30; Jude 7).
Comparing Genesis 19:1-26 with its mirror text Judges 19:1-30, what are the similarities between the two texts? Answer: Gang rape as the inverse of hospitality.
Question: How is gang raping Lot’s daughter, in Genesis 19, any more moral than gang raping the two angels? Also, in Judges 19, how is gang raping the man’s daughter and ravishing the concubine to death any more moral than gang raping the male strangers? Answer: Neither one are moral, because both cases break the laws of hospitality.
What are these laws of hospitality and why are they so important? According to Victor H. Matthews’ MANNERS & CUSTOMS IN THE BIBLE pgs. 41-42: pastoral nomadic peoples (in the Middle East) had an overriding legal custom of hospitality, which was mutual between both parties and wasn’t taken lightly. These laws had individual, national and international implications especially in the form of treaties. Hospitality and communion go hand and hand for it is stated that those that break bread or share a meal together are equals.
Accordingly, the Bible mentions these hospitality laws in various passages such as: Genesis 18 as well as these results from BibleGateway.Com---
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Romans 12:13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.Romans 12:12-14 (in Context) Romans 12 (Whole Chapter)
Romans 16:23Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.Romans 16:22-24 (in Context) Romans 16 (Whole Chapter)
1 Timothy 5:10and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.1 Timothy 5:9-11 (in Context) 1 Timothy 5 (Whole Chapter)
1 Peter 4:9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.1 Peter 4:8-10 (in Context) 1 Peter 4 (Whole Chapter)
3 John 1:8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.3 John 1:7-9 (in Context) 3 John 1 (Whole Chapter)
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Topical index results15 Results
ALIENS » Hospitality to, required by Jesus (Matthew 25:35,38,43)
ALIENS » See HOSPITALITY
EGYPTIANS » Hospitality of, to Abraham (Genesis 12:10-20)
GUEST » See HOSPITALITY
SHUNAMMITE » A woman who gave hospitality to Elisha, and whose son he raised to life (2 Kings 4:8-37)
FAITH » INSTANCES OF » Rahab, in hospitality to the spies (Joshua 2:9,11; Hebrews 11:31)
GUEST » Abraham's hospitality to » See HOSPITALITY
INHOSPITABLENESS » INSTANCES OF » See HOSPITALITY
JOY » INSTANCES OF » Of Paul and Titus, because of the hospitality of the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:13; with8:6; Romans 15:32; 1 Corinthians 16:18)
STRANGERS » Hospitality to » See HOSPITALITY
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Similarly, a Google search wields various results: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GWYE_enUS262US262&q=hospitality+in+the+bible ---
When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
— Leviticus 19:33-34 is the primary Biblical text used for discerning the principles of the Israelite hospitality laws. http://www.practicingourfaith.org/prct_hospitality.html ----------
"To welcome the stranger is to acknowledge him as a human
being made in God's image; it is to treat her as one of equal worth
with ourselves - indeed, as one who may teach us something out of
the richness of experiences different from our own."
— Ana Maria Pineda
The need for shelter is a fundamental human need. None of us ever knows for sure when we might be uprooted and cast on the mercy of others. But how do we overcome our fear in order to welcome and shelter a stranger? The Christian practice of hospitality is the practice of providing a space to take in a stranger. It also encompasses the skills of welcoming friends and family to our tables, to claim the joy of homecoming.
Strangers, Guests, and Hosts in the Bible
In the Bible, offering hospitality is a moral imperative. God's people remember that they were once strangers and refugees who were taken in by God (Deuteronomy 10:19). How might this memory make someone respond to a stranger or a refugee? What would it mean to "love the alien as yourself" (Leviticus 19:34) in your own community or nation?
The Greek word xenos means "stranger", but also "guest" and "host". From xenos comes the New Testament word for hospitality: philoxenia means a love of the guest/stranger or enjoyment of hosting guests. Recall a time when you experienced the enjoyment of being a host... when you were the guest of a gracious host.
Do you notice how whenever Jesus shares meals with others, "guests" become "hosts" and "hosts" become "guests"? Contemplate the role reversals that occur in the story of the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-11). What happens when Jesus is 'hosted' by Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10)? When Jesus comes as a guest to Martha (Luke 10:38-42), what does he teach her about hosting? How might guests end up as hosts, giving us the gift of their presence? What happens when an act of hospitality not only welcomes strangers, but also recognizes their holiness?
Becoming a Hospitable People
How are strangers welcomed to your neighborhood? To your faith community? Can you identify individuals in your midst who seem to practice hospitality especially well? What do the physical spaces in which you live "say" to strangers and newcomers? How are strangers invited to share their gifts within your home ... your workplace ... your congregation? What architectural features - doors, furniture, accessibility ramps, gathering spaces - speak welcome, or don't?
Hospitality is made up of hard work undertaken under risky conditions. How might the effectiveness of individual gestures of hospitality be bolstered through the strength of community? How can being part of a Christian community help us overcome fear of being a host or a guest? How might corporate worship shape our moral imaginations and nurture a civic climate characterized by hospitality to the strangers in our midst?
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See also: http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/1439/Hospitality.htm as one more example of the importance of hospitality.
In conclusion, sodomy and sodomites are outdated and outmoded expressions for homosexuality and homosexuals as the sin of Sodom has clearly been shown to be homosexual gang rape as the inverse of hospitality as affirmed by a large majority of Biblical scholars including the ones who edited the Harper Collins Study Bible (NRSV) of which a photocopy of their notes on Genesis 19 has been provided below.
Side Note: (It should also be noted that even Billy Graham no longer uses Genesis 19 to condemn all forms of homosexuality).
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The following photocopies of commentaries, which support the interpretation that the sin of Sodom was gang rape as the inverse of inhospitality and not all forms of homosexuality are of:
Pgs. 118-121 of Peter C. Craigie’s commentary of Ezekiel from William Barclay’s The Daily Study Bible Series---a more neo-orthodox type of commentary (from 1983)
Pg. 232 from The Abingdon Bible Commentary---a more modernist type of commentary (from 1929)
Pgs. 18-19 of the New Bible Commentary (21st Century Edition)---a more conservative/fundamentalist/traditionalist type of commentary (from 2000)
Pgs. 82-85 of John C. L. Gibson’s Genesis Volume 2 commentary, also, from William Barclay’s The Daily Study Bible Series (from 1982)
Pgs. 162-165 of Walter Brueggemann’s commentary from the CBF supported Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching---a more moderate to liberal/postmodernist type of commentary (from 1982)
Pgs. 216-219 of Gerhard Von Rad’s commentary on Genesis from The Old Testament Library---a more scholarly type of commentary (from 1972)

See http://www.rdrop.com/~jimka/sodom.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_Baptists for additional resources.