Leviticus Sex

Moses doesn't need Salt-n-Pepa to get him talking about sex (what it was, what it is, and what it should be). You probably don't either, especially when Leviticus provides so much juicy sex stuff to talk about.

Basically, Leviticus is The Jerry Springer Show in a tent, with the added bonus of polygamy.

But don't think this book is just a bunch of condescending moments where God tells Israelites what not to do. Read the commands literally, and a bunch of naughty loopholes seem to appear. Pre-marital sex. Affairs with women who aren't married. Threesomes. Even certain types of incest and same-sex sexual intercourse. If this tent's a rockin', it's not always time for the priests to come a knockin'.

Questions About Sex

• What's going on with the laws against a man lying with a man with the lying of a woman?
• Are the sexual prohibitions for the ancient Israelites relevant to deciding what should be banned today?
• What about the little-known loopholes in these ancient sex laws? How do we deal with those?
• A man should be put to death for consensual sex with someone else's wife, but it's okay to use a female slave for sex? How could the author see that as consistent with his emphasis on being holy?