Ter wille van 'n stabiele familie : die literêre konteks van Levitikus 18:22 en 20:13

For a stable family life : the literary context of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are the only texts in the Old Testament that explicitlycondemn homosexual acts. It is of the outmost importance to take the literary contextof these texts into consideration. Both prohibitions have family laws as immediatecontext. Since homosexual acts drastically influence the relations in the larger family,the prohibitions of these acts were associated with the family laws. Leviticus 18 and20 are closely connected to Leviticus 19, a chapter that emphasises the holiness ofthe people. The call to holiness in 19:2 concerns all facets of life including sexual relations.The prohibitions against homosexual acts finally belong to the legislation thatwas given by Yahweh to Moses at Sinai. Therefore Israel had to take them seriously.