At 10:49 PM 12/2/96 -0600, Stephen J. Harris wrote:
>To the question of which exegetical tradition names the sin of the
>Sodomites as inhospitality, I kindly recieved two replies:
>
>1)Mary Suydam called inhospitality "a standard Jewish Biblical
>interpretation to this day," noting that no halakhic argument names Sodom
>in relation to homosexuality.
>
>2) Thomas Izbiki noted the possible general violation of hospitality
>rules that were current in the Holy Land.
>
>Hertz's PENTATEUCH AND HAFTORAHS (London, 5753), one of the standard
>works I was taught from in Hebrew School, notes that the Sodomites
>abandoned themselves "to nameless abominations and depravities" (49).
>Sodomy is called a "monstrous abomination" (313), and with respect to
>Lev. XVIII:22, "the abyss of depravity," and with respect to Is I:10, "an
>insult to God." Gen 3:13 does not mention inhospitality. Neither
>the commentary nor the text itself mentions sodomy as the explicit sin.
>Sodomites were known for their hatred of strangers (65), but see the
>commentary to 19:4, "Emphasis is here laid on the fact that the inhabitants
>were all addicted to unnatural depravity" In fact, by touching Lot's
>tent-rope, the strangers/angels received protection from their host. The
>men of the town, perhaps angry that the right had been invoked, swore to
>deal then with Lot: "now we will deal worse with thee, than with them."
> The point seems to be that the Sodomites are incurably depraved in all
>aspects, not merely in either inhospitality or homosexuality (see Isa.
>1:9, 13:19; Jer. 23:14; 49:18; Amos 4:11; Zeph. 2:9; Matt. 10:15; Rom.
>9:29; Jud 7).
On this topic, you might also want to look at Ezek 16:49-50: "Behold, this
was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit
of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were
haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them." It
would be possible to read "abominable things" as a reference to
homosexuality, but the context in Ezekiel suggests that this refers to
idolatry. I haven't been able to check the medieval exigetical tradition on
this verse, so I don't know how it was read, but the emphasis of the verse
is clearly on something akin to inhospitality--call it proud avarice.
Perhaps one of the specialists on the Glossa Ordinaria on this list can fill
in the details.
Stephen A. Allen
The Medieval Institute
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
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