| 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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