Leviticus 18:22 is a plain prohibition: a man is not to lie with another man as one would lie with a woman, and the text calls such an act detestable. It is part of the law God gave Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai, spoken to the people of Israel as they were being formed into a nation set apart for the LORD. The verse belongs to a longer section that lists forbidden sexual relationships and practices.
“‘You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is detestable.
Leviticus 18:22 (WEB)
What Leviticus 18:22 Means
The phrase “you shall not lie with a man, as with a woman” uses the language of sexual intercourse, which is how the Hebrew of this law describes sexual relations. The verse names one specific act and forbids it. It does not describe a whole range of feelings or relationships, and it does not address the broader question of how a person should live with a desire they did not choose.
The final words, “that is detestable,” give the moral verdict. The Hebrew word translated “detestable” (to’evah) is used across Leviticus for things that are contrary to God’s character and to the order he establishes. The verse is a statement about what God considers a violation of his holy design, not a statement about the worth of any person.
What the verse does not do is offer a method for dealing with temptation, or describe what a faithful life looks like for someone wrestling with these questions. Those matters are addressed elsewhere in Scripture and in the wider teaching of the church. Leviticus 18:22 settles one question clearly: this act is outside the bounds God sets.
The Context of Leviticus 18:22
Leviticus is the third book of the Pentateuch, traditionally attributed to Moses. It is largely a book of instruction for priests and for the worshiping community, covering sacrifice, purity, holiness and the conduct that marks a people belonging to God. Chapter 18 opens with God’s command that Israel not follow the practices of the surrounding nations, and it then lists forbidden unions: relatives, neighbors’ spouses, and other unlawful acts.
The verses just before and after Leviticus 18:22 keep the same concern. Verse 21 forbids giving children to Molech, verse 23 forbids bestiality, and verses 24 and 25 explain that the nations were defiled by these things and that the land itself vomited out its inhabitants. Read in that setting, the verse is one item in a sequence of boundaries meant to keep Israel distinct and holy, and it is not isolated from the other prohibitions the chapter lists.
Key Phrases in Leviticus 18:22
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. 11 Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
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Paul lists various sins, including sexual immorality, and then reminds the church that some of them were once their own practice, but they were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. The passage places the call to holiness within the reality of God’s transforming grace.
Romans 1:26-27
26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
(WEB)
Paul describes the human turning away from God’s order, including same-sex relations, as part of a larger pattern of rebellion. The passage reads the moral law of Leviticus as continuing to shape Christian understanding of what God’s design for sexuality is.
A Short Prayer From Leviticus 18:22
Lord, you are holy, and your ways are good even when they cut across what I want or what my culture tells me is acceptable. Give me a clear view of your design for sexuality, and help me to trust that your commands protect and shape human life. Where I have fallen short, forgive me and cleanse me through Jesus Christ. Where I am tempted, give me the strength to walk in obedience and the humility to seek help from your people. Teach me to love you more than my own desires, and to find my identity in you. Amen.
