165
Q.
Were there gay couples in the Bible?
evidence proving that characters like David, Moses, or others mentioned in
these ancient texts even existed historically.
These are stories. Our struggle as people of faith is to consider how we
use them to point toward historical accuracy and affi rmation of God’s pres-
ence in the lives of all people.
Joshua Einsohn
A.
I’ve always struggled with the story of Jonathan and David and
whether or not their love is sexual, or if it was just two very loving
friends. Oddly enough, it was while I was recently reading the geek
bible (The Lord of the Rings), following the story of Frodo and Sam and their
intense love for each other, that my mind drifted back to Jonathan and David.
Were they gay lovers or did they just happen to have an intense brotherly
bond?
As a gay man, I want to believe that their story is meant to show that
homosexuals are just as worthy in the eyes of God. There is a moment when
David sneaks into Saul’s camp and chooses not to strike Saul down, and he
is assisted by the “heavy sleep sent by the Lord” (1 Sam. 26:12). To me, this is
God’s way of showing his love for David; had he not approved of David and
his love of Jonathan, one of Saul’s men could have awakened, alerted the other
men, and killed David. Instead, David gets to pass in and out unscathed.
However, the part of the story that describes King Saul’s rage at his son
Jonathan for his friendship with David was, for me, downright scarring. In
his anger, he tells Jonathan that he has “chosen the son of Jesse to your own
shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness” (1 Sam. 20:30) and then
puts a death sentence on David’s head. I’m sure this passage is quoted (per-
haps unintentionally) to gay youths today with ultimately harmful results.
It’s hard to know what to take from all this, but I choose to believe that it
shows God’s love for David, regardless of his sexuality. And ultimately, David
is given the kingdom and Saul is killed, so maybe that should be a cautionary
tale for anyone who picks on the gays!
Craig Detweiler
A.
The fi ve or six references to homosexuality in the Bible defi nitely
indicate that gay relationships are nothing new. It is tough to know
if Jonathan and David’s friendship can be equated with our con-
temporary understanding of gay couples or monogamous same sex relation-
ships. There have been plenty of efforts to reread history, with speculation
about the sexuality of Alexander the Great, Michelangelo, and Leonardo
da Vinci.