The best-known biblical passage that directly concerns homosexual behavior is the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18-19. It is unfortunate that this passage so often takes center stage in debates about Scripture and homosexuality, since it is a narrative and thus does not in itself provide a norm of conduct. To add to the difficulty, the passage does not explicitly name the wrongdoing for which these cities are punished. Was it homosexual behavior, or was it hostility toward strangers—sometimes described as “inhospitality”?
Interpretive Clues
One clue for interpreting the story is provided by the context in which it appears. Immediately before the Sodom episode is the Lord’s visit to Abraham and Sarah at the oaks of Mamre, promising the birth of their son (Gen. 18:1-15). Immediately after the Sodom episode is the account of Lot’s incestuous relations with his daughters (19:30-38).
The Sodom story is thus framed by two contrasting stories about sexual relations. The first, that of Abraham and Sarah, shows a married couple who trust in God and conform to his plan, leading to great blessing in the birth of their son Isaac and ultimately the people of Israel. The other, that of Lot and his daughters, is about distrust in God (cf. 19:31) and disorder in sexual relationships, leading to future troubles in the birth of Ammon and Moab, ancestors of Israel’s historic enemies. This frame suggests that sexuality also plays a key role in the central section, the Sodom story itself (Gen. 18:16-19:29).
Another very suggestive parallel is that both the Mamre and Sodom stories are about a divine visitation. In one, the Lord is welcomed with extraordinary humility and hospitality; in the other, the Lord (represented by the angels) is treated with extraordinary contempt and hostility. In fact, this parallel provides the deepest clue to the meaning of the story. The fundamental question is how human beings will respond to God.
Finally, a third significant parallel is between the Sodom episode and the account of Noah and the Flood (Gen. 6-8). Both depict catastrophic destruction as a result of grave evil. In both cases, the evil includes both sexual immorality and violence, and in both, God mercifully spares one man and his family.19
The Story of Sodom
The Sodom story itself has three scenes: Abraham’s prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah, the arrival and attempted assault of the angelic visitors in Sodom, and the destruction of the cities.
In the first scene (Gen. 18:17-33), the Lord considers whether to tell Abraham about his coming judgment. In the second scene (Gen. 19:1-11), the two angels arrive in Sodom and are welcomed by Lot, who clearly means to offer them protection. But the men of the city surround the house and demand, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them” (19:5).20
As often occurs in the Old Testament, here the verb “to know” (yada) has a sexual connotation: they want to have sexual relations with the two visitors. This is confirmed a few verses later by Lot’s appalling offer to hand over his “two daughters who have not known man” (19:8), indicating that he recognizes their motive as lust. The narrator leaves unsaid whether Lot is bluffing, but in either case, he seeks to prevent the homosexual rape of his guests.22 The fact that Lot begs the men of Sodom to accept this substitute shows that the offense is not only violent sexual coercion, since this would occur in either case.
Lot’s plea, “do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof” (19:8), shows that the crime is made incalculably worse by the fact that it would be perpetrated against guests, who have a right to expect protection and care from their hosts.
It is important to note that hostility toward strangers is presented not as the townsmen’s motive, but as an exacerbating factor in their crime. The townsmen refuse Lot’s offer of his daughters, confirming that their motive is specifically homosexual lust. But at the root of all is their rejection of God, as evidenced in their contemptuous behavior toward God’s angelic messengers.
In the third scene (Gen. 19:12-29), Sodom and the nearby cities are destroyed by fire and sulfur from the sky, while Lot and his daughters barely escape with their lives. Lot’s wife, ignoring the angels’ advice, “looked back” (19:26)—which may suggest either a desire to gloat over their punishment or a hankering to return to Sodom and its decadent ways. As a result “she became a pillar of salt,” that is, she herself became subject to their fate.
In later biblical writings Sodom becomes a symbol of depravity and consequent divine judgment. But again, what precisely is the depravity of Sodom? The prophet Isaiah uses the epithets “Sodom” and “Gomorrah” for rebellious Israelites, then proceeds to name their sins: bloodshed, injustice, oppression, and corruption (Isa. 1:10-23; cf. 3:8-9). Jeremiah speaks of Jerusalem becoming “like Sodom” because of its adultery (infidelity to the spousal covenant with the Lord), deceit, and siding with evildoers (Jer. 23:14). Ezekiel describes Jerusalem as having outdone in evil her “sister Sodom,” who was guilty of pride, gluttony, prosperous ease, and failing to aid the poor and needy (Ezek. 16:49).23
Not Just Inhospitality
These passages make clear that the sin of Sodom consisted of a whole range of vices, especially sins of social injustice.
On the other hand, it would be a mistake to infer that homosexual behavior was not part of the picture. Immediately following the list of sins just mentioned, Ezekiel states, “They were haughty, and did an abomination before me; therefore I removed them” (16:50, author’s translation), probably alluding to the passages in Leviticus that speak of sexual misconduct as an “abomination.”
In later Jewish references to Sodom the emphasis on homosexual conduct becomes more pronounced.24 Two New Testament passages reflect this emphasis. The Letter of Jude states that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah “acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust” (1:7). The Second Letter of Peter speaks of Lot’s distress at “the licentiousness of the wicked” and God’s judgment on the Sodomites as a warning to “those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority” (2:10). Since these texts are part of Scripture, they must be recognized as giving an authoritative biblical interpretation of the sin of Sodom.
The question of Sodom’s sin is thus not either/or, but both/and. Their sexual misconduct was part of a larger pattern of pride, greed, and selfishness—all rooted in arrogant disregard for God and his will.
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