Leviticus 20:13 (KJV) “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
I am looking for an accurate description of the culture and civilization this verse was written within. This is certainly one of the most controversial bible verses of all time and I would like to know a valid, logical reason this verse ever existed.
Please, leave out personal beliefs and politics in the responses. This is only to examine the culture that produced this verse.
This is for college research.
This verse was most likely written during a transition period of the Hebrew culture. It was a time of setting themselves apart from the surrounding cultures, as the text states. See Leviticus 18:2-3, 18:24 and 20:33.
Part of it may relate to the practices in Canaanite culture of male same sex relations with temple priests. Specifically, the act of a man penetrating a male temple priest (the act Leviticus specifically condemns). The text could be in direct response of that.
Since the author continues to stress that part of the reason of these laws is to keep the Hebrews from doing what the Egyptian and Canaanites are doing, the above interpretation makes sense.