Romans 1:26

26 For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural,

Romans 1:26 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 1:26

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections
Because of their idolatrous practices, God left them to very dishonourable actions, sodomitical ones, both among the men and women:

for even the women did change the natural use into that which is
against nature;
either by prostituting themselves to, and complying with the "sodomitical" embraces of men, in a way that is against nature F8; or by making use of such ways and methods with themselves, or other women, to gratify their lusts, which were never designed by nature for such an use: of these vicious women, and their practices, Seneca F9 speaks, when he says,

``libidine veto nec maribus quidem cedunt, pati natae; Dii illas Deoeque, male perdant; adeo perversum commentae, genus impudicitiae, viros ineunt:''

also Clemens Alexandrinus F11 has respect to such, saying,

``(gunaikev andrizontai para fusin, gamou men ai te kai) (gamousai gunaikev) ''

and such there were among the Jews, whom they call (wzb wz twllwomx) (Myvn) F12, and whom the priests were forbidden to marry.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 Vid. R. Sol Jarchi in Gen. xxiv. 16.
F9 Epist. 95.
F11 Paedagog. l. 3. p. 226.
F12 T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 65. 2. Piske Tosaph. ib. artic. 266. Yevamot, fol. 76. 1. & Piske Tosaph. ib. art. 141. Maimonides in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 4. & Hilchot Issure Bia, c. 21. sect. 8, 9.

Romans 1:26 In-Context

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.