At a glance
Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth includes a list of conduct that he says is inconsistent with inheriting the Kingdom of God. Debate centers on the meaning of malakoi and arsenokoitai. English versions render them in markedly different ways, and scholars do not agree that a modern identity label captures either term precisely.
The passage and its setting
First Corinthians 6:9–10 forms part of a broader ethical warning that also addresses idolatry, adultery, theft, greed, intoxication, verbal abuse and exploitation. The interpretive issue considered here is narrower: what did Paul intend by two Greek words in that list?
The King James Version uses older English expressions for these entries. Later translations variously describe softness or effeminacy, male prostitution, same-sex conduct, exploitative sexual behavior, or homosexuality. Those choices are interpretations rather than simple one-to-one substitutions.
Modern readers should also distinguish sexual orientation—a pattern of attraction—from conduct. Ancient Mediterranean writers did not organize sexuality around the same identity categories commonly used today. A translation employing a modern identity term may therefore imply more than the Greek text itself establishes. See the site's background discussion of sexual orientation.
The disputed Greek terms
Malakoi
The literal sense is “soft.” Elsewhere in the Christian Scriptures it describes fine or soft clothing. In wider ancient usage, it could carry moral judgments about self-indulgence, weakness, passivity or a failure to meet prevailing ideals of masculinity.
Arsenokoitai
This uncommon compound combines words associated with “male” and “bed.” Its first surviving appearances are in Pauline texts, so its exact scope is difficult to recover. Proposed meanings range from a category of male same-sex conduct to prostitution or sexual exploitation.
Because context is limited and surviving usage is sparse, neither word maps neatly onto a contemporary category. The separate essay on arsenokoitai examines the linguistic debate in greater detail.
A translation caution
Translations that name a broad class of people can blur the difference between identity, attraction and conduct. Other versions narrow the phrase to a particular act or role, but that approach also depends on interpretation. Readers comparing Bibles should ask what assumptions each English rendering adds.
Why English versions differ
Translation choices represented in historical and modern Bibles can be grouped broadly:
- Character or gendered language: older versions sometimes use a word suggesting softness or failure to conform to masculine expectations.
- Behavioral language: some versions identify male same-sex conduct without applying the wording to orientation.
- Identity language: several twentieth-century versions use a modern category for people, even though that vocabulary developed long after Paul.
- Commercial or exploitative contexts: other translations understand one or both terms as referring to prostitution, coercion, abuse or unequal sexual relationships.
A survey of multiple English Bibles therefore demonstrates substantial variation, but variation alone does not settle which interpretation is strongest. Readers may also compare the site's overview of English Bible versions.
Two broad Christian approaches
The labels “conservative” and “liberal” describe broad tendencies, not every reader or congregation. Views also exist between these positions.
Traditional conservative reading
Many conservative Christians treat the passage as a continuing prohibition of all male same-sex sexual conduct. This approach often rests on a high view of biblical inspiration and continuity in Christian sexual ethics. Readers may understand the two terms together as active and passive participants, or as overlapping descriptions of prohibited conduct.
This interpretation is frequently connected with beliefs about biblical inspiration and inerrancy.
Historical-critical or affirming reading
Many liberal and affirming Christians emphasize linguistic uncertainty and the social setting of the first-century Mediterranean world. They argue that Paul may have had exploitative, commercial, abusive or status-based practices in view rather than modern, consensual same-sex relationships.
Some also hold that contemporary knowledge about orientation and relationships should inform ethical application, while still taking the ancient text seriously.
The disagreement is therefore not only about a dictionary definition. It also concerns scriptural authority, historical context, how moral teaching develops, and whether ancient categories can be applied directly to modern relationships.
A closer look at malakoi
In Matthew 11:8 and Luke 7:25, forms of this word refer to soft clothing. Non-biblical writings use it across a wide range of contexts, including luxury, lack of discipline, cowardice and perceived weakness. Some later interpreters treated it as a criticism of indolence or moral pliability.
That range makes a narrowly sexual definition possible in context but not automatic. Rendering it with an English term for gender expression can also import modern stereotypes absent from the Greek. A careful summary should therefore acknowledge both the possible sexual context of Paul's list and the word's broader ancient usage.
A closer look at arsenokoitai
The rarity of this term is the central difficulty. Some scholars connect its components to Greek wording in Leviticus and understand it as a general reference to male same-sex intercourse. Others argue that later uses point toward economic exploitation, prostitution or abuse. The evidence does not reveal with certainty how broad a group Paul meant.
It is also grammatically male-specific. Using it by itself to make a claim about every form of same-sex attraction or about women requires interpretive steps beyond the term's visible components.
Reading the passage responsibly
- Compare several translations rather than relying on one English phrase.
- Separate what the Greek can reasonably mean from what a theological framework concludes.
- Distinguish orientation, consensual relationships, commercial sex, coercion and abuse rather than treating them as interchangeable.
- Recognize that faithful Christian readers disagree about both translation and present-day application.
- Discuss the passage without demeaning LGBTQ+ people or dismissing religious conviction.
Archive references and further reading
- Robertson's Word Studies, commentary on 1 Corinthians 6.
- Fred Tasker, “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?”, Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 July 1997. The article surveyed a range of theological interpretations.
- Wesley's Notes, commentary on 1 Corinthians 6. Wesley interpreted malakoi primarily in terms of ease and lack of moral discipline.
- For related textual context, see Genesis 19, the essay on arsenokoitai, and the Bible and sexual orientation menu.