Good As You

A very interesting video indeed. It's a shame that so many people who insist on reading the bible literally, do so from (flawed) translated versions. They really ought to learn Hebrew (or Armenian I believe is what the dead sea scrolls are in) and read some more original versions.

As a native Dutch speaker there are plenty of television programs and books that I have seen both in the original English and translated Dutch versions (both dubbed and subtitled), and especially when watching a subtitled program/movie I usually spot at least a couple of errors in each movie.

If I, a college student with only a high school education when it comes to linguistics, can correct professional translators in a 90 minute movie, imagine how many erorrs might have been made when translating an ancient text from a dead language that had already been copied numerous times.

This is odd. It's pretty commonly known that homosexuality has nothing to do with the condemnation of Sodam and Gommorah. Weird. Perhaps the maker of this video should perhaps consult the bible about this matter. Maybe.

I had to stop watching when the announcer said "Keep in mind that this is not a literal story or actual historical event". I was laughing too hard. So much for 'inerrancy'! So it's literally true that the god they chose to worship created reality in six 24-hour days, but it's just a parable that that god destroyed Sodom -- because there's, you know, no actual EVIDENCE that Sodom existed but there's just tons of evidence of a Young Earth. Hahahahahah!

christians conveniently ignore the evidence of their own scriptures, then twist to support their preconceived bigotry. the first thing we learn in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is that God had already condemned the cities and Abraham pleads with God to save them if even only 10 righteous people could be found there. God decries their sin, but NEVER says that homosexuality was the source of God's anger.
In addition, it's a statistical impossibility that everyone in town was gay. It does make sense, however, that the men would want to prove their power by subduing the strangers and demoralizing them by raping them. That was a common thing for conquering armies to do to the conquered at that time.

Linguistic notes:

1) I'm not sure where he gets his translations for "sdm" and "amr," but Holladay's "Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament" does not contain those translations, nor does it suggest that deviant spellings or derivative words could be translated as he suggests. I could be wrong, but my preliminary research doesn't back his claim.

2) The interesting thing about the word "qdsh," which our narrator translates as "temple prostitute," is that it is likely related to the word for "holy" (which shares the same consonants but is pronounced and "pointed" differently). This reinforces his argument that the individuals would have been involved in a religious ceremony.

3) His mention of "Bealiah" in 2 Chron 12:5 (2 Chron 12:6 in the Hebrew) is part of a list of names. It does appear to be a combination of "Baal" and "YHWH," the name of the Jewish God, but it does not necessarily mean that the name is equating YHWH with a pagan god. "Baal" has a broad range of meanings, including "lord" or "owner." The "iah" at the end of the word (transliterated from the Hebrew) could be taken from the Tetragrammaton. If so, the name would likely translate to "YHWH is lord" and not "Baal is YHWH."

All that said, I don't get how a name plucked from a verse in the Chronicles has anything to do with anything. Perhaps I'm missing something.

In general, though, this guy makes some great points. Mainstream Christians are quick to declare homosexuality as the great sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the Bible story doesn't back that up. And except for, possibly, Jude 1:7, the New Testament doesn't condemn the cities for homosexuality. If one wants to use the Bible to make a case against homosexuality, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a lousy choice.