| 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.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
