Ehud and King Eglon – A Queer Reading

Judges 3:12-30 accounts for the triumph of a Ehud, a Benjaminite, over King Eglon of Moab through an act of deception. However, three distinct elements of this story appear providing a worthy queer hermeneutic.  First, Ehud is described as being left handed, a queer characteristic.  Second, the word “hand” (yad) itself is open to multiple interpretations including “penis.”  Finally, the […]

Read more

Leviticus 18:22 – A Queer Hermeneutical Analysis

This blog entry addresses the problematic translation of Leviticus 18:22, a verse commonly used as a “clobber passage” to justify prejudice against LGBTQIA people.  A hegemonic interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 posits a strict prohibition of male-on-male sexual activity. This interpretation is problematic because it conforms to idiomatic rules that do not exist in the original Hebrew.  Three problems discussed in […]

Read more

Queering Hosea

Queering Hosea via Genesis – A Genderqueer discussion of the marriage metaphor This blog presents a genderqueer analysis of the marriage metaphor in Hosea by way of a discussion of female sexuality found in Genesis. The marriage metaphor in Hosea has deeply patriarchal roots originating in the early chapters of the book of Genesis.  Deryn Guest notes that Hosea’s view […]

Read more

Interpenetration – God did it first

Interpenetration provides a model to understand the Trinity more clearly.  The concept of a Triune God is complicated to grasp.  In systematic theology, we study at length the natures of God as Divine, human and spirit. I find that fully understanding the Trinity remains an elusive undertaking.  Patrick Cheng’s discussion in Chapter 3 of “An Introduction to Queer Theology:  Radical […]

Read more

Womanist Interpretation of Judges 19-21

Koala Jones-Warsaw’s womanist interpretation of Judges 19-21 draws upon the complex social dynamics that black women experience in their everyday lives, focusing on the intersectionality of gender, class, and race.[1] Jones-Warsaw asserts that womanist hermeneutics unearths the “significance and validity of the biblical text for black women who today experience the ‘tridimensional reality’ of racism, sexism, and classism.”[2]She analyses Judges […]

Read more

What Is Queer Biblical Hermeneutics

What is Queer Biblical Hermeneutics? Queer biblical hermeneutics is a way of looking at the sacred text through the eyes of queer people. It is important to understand the meaning of these terms in relation to the exegetical process. “Queer” is a term that collectively refers to people who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender) and to people with […]

Read more

Dancing Across Identities

Through the study of Queer Biblical Hermeneutics, I have found freedom from the heteronormative, imperialist, marginalizing and essentialist interpretation of the scripture which allow me to dance across the intersectionality of my identities. Coming out in the early nineties to my family and Christian community was a liberating and heart-breaking time. I was in college in California where one might […]

Read more

Lost in Translation: Alternative Meaning in Leviticus 18:22

Most traditional English translations interpret Leviticus 18:22 as a divine condemnation of erotic, same-sex relationships. However, careful philological, literary analysis of the original Hebrew shows another interpretation: a divine condemnation of same-sex rape. The original Hebrew is more ambiguous than the traditional English translation. Instead of practicing the principle of lectio difficilior probabilitor, “the more difficult reading and more likely […]

Read more
1 2