Editing Sodomy (section)

== Views prior to the Medieval period ==
=== Jewish views ===
: ''Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters,''
: ''neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took''
: ''them away as I saw this.'' (16:49-50, [[King James Version of the Bible|KJV]]).

The [[13th century|thirteenth-century]] Jewish scholar [[Nachmanides]] wrote, “According to our sages, they were notorious for every evil, but their fate was sealed for their persistence in not supporting the poor and the needy.” His contemporary Rabbenu Yonah expresses the same view: “Scripture attributes their annihilation to their failure to practice [[tzedakah]] [charity or justice].” [http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/tzedaka/Tzedakah_Activists_Vs_Sodomites.html]

The [[Book of Wisdom]], which is included by Orthodox and Roman Catholics, but excluded by modern Jews (Judaism had obviously still included it in the first century AD), Protestants, and other Christian denominations, makes reference to the story of Sodom, [[further]] emphasizing that their sin had been failing to practice hospitability:

:''And punishments came upon the sinners not without former signs by the force of thunders: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness, insomuch as they used a more hard and hateful behaviour toward strangers.''
:''For the Sodomites did not receive those, whom they knew not when they came: but these brought friends into bondage, that had well deserved of them.'' (19:13-14, [[King James Version of the Bible|KJV]])

Prohibitions on same-sex activities (# 157-159) and bestiality (#155-156)[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments#Maimonides.27_list] are among the [[613 commandments]] as listed by [[Maimonides]] in the 12th century; however, their source in [[Leviticus 18]] does not contain the word ''sodomy,'' nor does the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in [[Genesis]] have any explicit reference to such acts.

=== First century Christian and Jewish opinions ===
==== Modern English translation of Jude ====
The [[Epistle of Jude]] in the [[New Testament]] echoes the Genesis narrative and potentially adds the sexually immoral aspects of Sodom's sins: '''…just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire'' (v. 7, English Standard Version). The phrase rendered ''sexual immorality and unnatural desire'' is literally translated ''strange flesh'' or ''false flesh'', but it is not entirely clear what it refers to.

*The [[English Standard Version|ESV]] translators situated in the year 2001 supply one plausible paraphrase for "false flesh", arguably influenced by more recent Christian views, in making the phrase refer to alleged illicit sexual activity of the Genesis account (cf. the language of the [[epistle to the Romans]] 1:21-32 not specifically referring to Sodom).
*Another theory is that it is just a reference to the “strange flesh” of the intended rape victims, who were angels, not men. There is a counter-argument which focuses on the fact that the men of Sodom did not know that the strangers were angels.
*A third opinion is takes "false flesh" to refer to cannibalism, as such a meaning is used elsewhere in the Mosaic laws, referring to practices of those who lived in [[Canaan]].

==== Josephus ====
The Jewish historian [[Josephus]] used the term “Sodomites” summarizing the Genesis narrative: “About this time the Sodomites grew proud, on account of their riches and great wealth; they became unjust towards men, and impious towards [[God]], in so much that they did not call to mind the advantages they received from him: they hated strangers, and abused themselves with Sodomitical practices” (''Antiquities'' 1.11.1 [http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/ant1.html] — circa A.D. [[96]]). The final element of his assessment goes beyond the Biblical data, even in the New Testament.

=== Islamic views ===
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The [[Qur'an]] makes a more explicit scriptural connection between homosexual aggression and Sodom. The city name ‘Sodom’ does not appear there, but the Sodomites are referred to as “the people of [[Lut]] (Lot).” Lot is the nephew of the Hebrew/Arabic patriarch [[Abraham]] and, in the Judaic Sodom stories, is head of the only family allowed by God to survive Sodom's destruction. In the Qur'an, he is also the divinely appointed national prophet to his people. Since their national name was unrecorded and “people of Lot” was the only available designation, the Islamic equivalent of ‘sodomy’ has become ‘liwat,’ which could be roughly translated as “lottishness” (see [[Homosexuality and Islam]]).

According to Islamic view, homosexuality is not a natural activity and it was initiated under the influence of Satan among the people who dwelled in Sodom and Gomorrah. In order that they should abandon this immorality, Allah had sent to them Lut as a Prophet. The Qur'an relates, 

'We also (sent) Lut: he said to his people: "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds".' - Holy Quran 7:80-81 

It is evident from this verse that the sin of the Sodomites was indeed homosexuality (to be specific amongst men) in Islamic context.

In Islam sodomy (Anal sex) is forbidden whether done with a man or a woman.