"If the practices in Leviticus 18 and 20 are condemned only because of their association with idolatry, then it logically follows they would be permissible if they were committed apart from idolatry. That would mean incest, adultery, bestiality and child sacrifice (all of which are listed in these chapters) are only condemned when associated with idolatry; otherwise, they are allowable."
The Refute:
The prohibitions in Leviticus that involved the death penalty (incest, adultery, bestiality, child sacrifice, etc) are re-stated, in Deuteronomy (a man prohibited from having sex with his daughter-in-law in Lev. 20:12? Found in Deut. 27:23, a man or woman having sex with animals found in Lev. 20:15 and 16? Found in Deut. 27:21) or elsewhere outside of Leviticus. Guess which one is nowhere to be found outside of Leviticus unlike all the others? That's right; "Man shall not lie with a male," what you only find in Leviticus.
So now we know the Leviticus verse is talking about a man laying with a male in the context of idolatry, the religious prostitution services involved in the "Moloch" idolatry of the Canaanites, the setting Leviticus was written in. Let me say it again, the Leviticus prohibitions are re-stated in Deuteronomy or elsewhere in the Bible outside of the idolatry of Leviticus as a general prohibition but only one is absent; "Man shall not lie..." because it was never a general prohibition of homosexuality with the proof that you can't find it, or any variation of it, anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible.
Remember, the context of the Leviticus passage starts with the mention of "Moloch" and child sacrifice to him (Leviticus 20:2) and then mentions the prostituting of Canaanite males in the priestly service to Moloch (Leviticus 20:5) that book marks the "Man with male... " verse in idolatry.
Deuteronomy DOES give a replacement for the "Man shall not lie with male" Leviticus verses where it SPECIFIES BY NAME who Leviticus IS talking about, the Canaanite priests called the "Qa-desh or Kadesh" (קָדֵשׁ) found in Deuteronomy 23:17 (mistakenly translated as "Sodomite" in most later Bible translations). The same Hebrew word קָדֵשׁ is also mentioned several times in 1 and 2 Kings (also mistakenly translated as "Sodomite"). It's only when we get to Job 36:14 where we get the correct translation; "And their life perishes among the cult prostitutes (קָדֵשׁ)."
Now knowing all of this, look at Leviticus again? "If a man (Hebrew for man here is "ish") lies with a male (Hebrew for male here is "zakhar")... " A "Zakhar" is almost always a male in a religious role (the other is a male child without a religious distinction). Many other times the word Zakhar is used in the Bible denotes a male in some type of religious function including even male animals about to be sacrificed in a religious ceremony.
I posted a later argument for the Kadesh in Leviticus.
A question was asked in the comments section here on the incest verses and I go further on the incest topic in my "Late Nite Tapas" thread.
Remember, the context of the Leviticus passage starts with the mention of "Moloch" and child sacrifice to him (Leviticus 20:2) and then mentions the prostituting of Canaanite males in the priestly service to Moloch (Leviticus 20:5) that book marks the "Man with male... " verse in idolatry.
Deuteronomy DOES give a replacement for the "Man shall not lie with male" Leviticus verses where it SPECIFIES BY NAME who Leviticus IS talking about, the Canaanite priests called the "Qa-desh or Kadesh" (קָדֵשׁ) found in Deuteronomy 23:17 (mistakenly translated as "Sodomite" in most later Bible translations). The same Hebrew word קָדֵשׁ is also mentioned several times in 1 and 2 Kings (also mistakenly translated as "Sodomite"). It's only when we get to Job 36:14 where we get the correct translation; "And their life perishes among the cult prostitutes (קָדֵשׁ)."
Now knowing all of this, look at Leviticus again? "If a man (Hebrew for man here is "ish") lies with a male (Hebrew for male here is "zakhar")... " A "Zakhar" is almost always a male in a religious role (the other is a male child without a religious distinction). Many other times the word Zakhar is used in the Bible denotes a male in some type of religious function including even male animals about to be sacrificed in a religious ceremony.
I posted a later argument for the Kadesh in Leviticus.
A question was asked in the comments section here on the incest verses and I go further on the incest topic in my "Late Nite Tapas" thread.
