| WHAT PAUL MEANT BY MALAKOI |
What Paul meant the Corinthians to
understand by the word malakoi
The following four meanings of malakoi refer to general
types of people who could fit the requirements of 1
Corinthians 6:9 of being unrighteous or wrongdoers
(harming themselves or others) or unjust – and therefore
being ineligible to inherit the kingdom of God (especially
from the point of view of Paul’s time).
- People who lack self-control, including of their
desires, or people who indulge unrestrainedly in
bodily pleasures.
- People who have a soft, luxurious lifestyle.
- Men who choose to act like women in appearance
or non-sexual behavior.
- Men who have passive sex with other men.
The meanings of malakoi which would
readily come to the minds of the Corinthians
When the Corinthian Christians heard or saw the word
malakoi in Paul’s letter, they would most probably have
thought of soft men or effeminate men (those with
effeminate appearances or weaknesses). Alternatively,
they might have thought of people who have a soft,
luxurious lifestyle.
Points for and against various meanings of
malakoi
Points for malakoi meaning people who lack self-control,
including of their desires.
- This was one of the meanings of malakoi in Paul’s
time.
- There are many references to lacking self-control
and indulging in bodily pleasures in Paul’s letters
eg. 1 Cor 7:5 & 9 and Titus 3:3.
Point against malakoi meaning people who lack self-
control, including of their desires.
- Paul elsewhere used the Greek word akrateia to
mean lack of self-control and it is therefore most
unlikely that he would have used malakoi in 1
Corinthians 6:9 for the same meaning. Similarly
other specialized Greek words were used for
people who indulge unrestrainedly in bodily
pleasures.
Points for malakoi meaning people who have a soft,
luxurious lifestyle:
- This could have been one of the meanings coming
to the Corinthians’ minds when they first heard the
word malakoi (soft people) in Paul’s letter, i.e.
people living lives of luxury and ease in Corinth’s
mansions.
- The Wesley New Testament (1755) had a footnote
to this verse stating Nor the effeminate – who live in
an easy, indolent way, taking no Cross, induring no
Hardship. Similarly the New Jerusalem Bible
(1985) translates malakoi as the self-indulgent.
These two translations appear to refer to this type of
lifestyle.
- Some of Jesus’ stories criticized the greed and
selfishness of rich people, e.g. the story of the rich
man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.
Points against malakoi meaning people who have a soft,
luxurious lifestyle:
- In his letters and recorded speeches, Paul did not
mention people having a soft, luxurious lifestyle. It
seems that this was not a high priority matter for
Paul.
- Other than the New Jerusalem Bible translation of
malakoi as the self-indulgent, there has been no
translation in English of malakoi similar to people
who have a soft, luxurious lifestyle.
Points for malakoi meaning effeminate men:
- In ancient Greece effeminate was a common
meaning for malakoi, often being a synonym for soft
men.
- Until the 20th century, malakoi was only translated in
1 Corinthians 6:9 as weaklings or effeminate or
similar (including the King James Version) i.e.
without any direct reference to sex between males.
- A man was called the derogatory term effeminate
in Greco-Roman society when he acted like a non-
man by showing feminine qualities or appearance
and was therefore not acting like a true man
should. His actions were considered shameful and
abhorrent and he was often mocked. He was seen
as a sissy.
- The effeminate weaknesses of cowardice, loving
luxury, or lacking self-control may be possible
reasons for exclusion from inheriting the kingdom of
God.
- It is possible that Paul would consider a man
choosing to act like a woman (e.g. as in Philo
Special Laws 3.37–42) to be not conforming to the
male role given by God and therefore to be
ineligible for the kingdom of God.
Points against malakoi meaning effeminate men:
- Paul’s letters and recorded speeches do not
elsewhere mention effeminate men, i.e. men acting
like women in a non-sexual way.
- It is doubtful that men acting in unmanly, non-sexual
ways or having a feminine appearance would, in
itself, fit the requirement of 1 Corinthians 6:9 that
they be wrongdoers (harming themselves or others)
or unrighteous or unjust. A more serious
transgression seems to be required.
- If Paul had meant to refer to effeminate men he
could have used the more direct words thelubrios or
androgunos.
Points for malakoi meaning men who have passive sex
with other men:
- This is the primary derogatory meaning given in the
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and
Other Early Christian Literature (3rd edition, p 613).
- Such sex is condemned in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:
13 (don’t let another male penetrate you) and by
Paul in Romans 1:27 (men abandoned natural
relations with women and committed indecent acts
with other men).
- Paul’s letters imply that people should keep the Old
Testament sexual laws and he knew that Leviticus
20:13 condemned both men participating in sex
between males. It therefore seems unlikely that
Paul would restrict the condemnation in 1
Corinthians 6:9 to active sex between males only by
not covering passive sex between males. It can
also be argued that he replicated the Leviticus
condemnation in 1 Corinthians 6:9 by using malakoi
for the passive participant and arsenokoitai for the
active participant in sex between males. This
situation would also reflect Paul’s condemnation of
participants in sex between males in Romans 1:27.
- By placing malakoi immediately next to
arsenokoitai (men who have [active] sex with men),
Paul seems to have invited the readers or hearers
of his letter to think of men having passive sex with
men when they read or heard malakoi, especially
since they knew that some effeminate men did have
passive sex with other men.
- Malakoi is situated between the perpetrators of two
sexual vices and so it would be logical for it to have
a sexual nature also.
- Paul's readers would probably share the Greco-
Roman view that it was shameful and unmanly for an
adult man to be the receptive participant in sex with
another man. Some readers would also be aware
of the similar condemnation in Leviticus 20:13.
Points against malakoi meaning men who have passive
sex with other men:
- In Paul’s time, malakoi was never used to directly
mean men who have passive sex with other men.
- Until the 20th century, malakoi was only translated in
1 Corinthians 6:9 as weaklings or effeminate or
similar (including the King James Version) i.e.
without any direct reference to sex between males.
- If Paul had meant to refer to men who have passive
sex with men he could have used a direct word such
as pathikoi. But instead he chose a word whose
usual meanings are soft or effeminate.
- It could be argued that Paul was instead referring to
effeminate men because effeminate was a
common meaning for malakoi, indicating shameful
and abhorrent behavior.
Conclusion on the meaning of malakoi
While we cannot be totally certain what Paul meant, it
appears that malakoi in 1 Corinthians 6:9 probably
means either effeminate men or men who have passive
sex with other men. There are valid points both for and
against each of these translations.
The strongest point for malakoi meaning effeminate men
is that this is one of its literal meanings, indicating
shameful and abhorrent (but usually non-sexual)
effeminate behavior of a man.
On the other hand, it is doubtful that men acting in non-
sexual effeminate ways or having a feminine appearance
would, in itself, fit the requirement of 1 Corinthians 6:9 that
they be wrongdoers or unrighteous or unjust. A more
serious transgression seems to be required.
The strongest point for malakoi meaning men who have
passive sex with other men is its position next to
arsenokoitai (men who have [active] sex with men)
especially since some effeminate men did have passive
sex with other men. The use of both malakoi and
arsenokoitai would seem to replicate the condemnations
in Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1:27 of both active and
passive men participating in sex between males.
On the other hand, malakoi was never used to directly
mean men who have passive sex with other men and if
Paul had meant to refer to such men he could have used a
direct Greek word such as pathikoi instead of a multi-
meaning word like malakoi.
Finally, it would appear that the case for malakoi meaning
men who have passive sex with other men is the
stronger, particularly because Paul criticizes such men
elsewhere in his letters (Romans 1:27) but does not
similarly criticize effeminate men.
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