65 ἀσέλγεια in Mark 7:22 G. THOMAS HOBSON The article argues that Jesus euphemistically refers to homosexual behavior and similar sexual offenses against the Jewish law by use of the term ἀσέλγεια on his list of sins that “defile the human heart” in Mark 7:22-23. The article examines the use of ἀσέλγεια by Jewish, pagan, and NT writers, and uses the Syriac translation to attempt to identify the original Aramaic word used by Jesus in this verse and what he may have meant by it. Jewish writers use ἀσέλγεια to refer to what they considered to be shocking violations of the sexuality taught in the Torah. It is commonly claimed that Jesus never speaks one word about homo- sexuality. However, one can argue to the contrary that he actually speaks two. As we look at his list of sins in Mark 7, we find two words that arguably include homosexual behavior within the scope of their meaning. One is the term πορνεία (sex outside of marriage), a word which has been much studied and commented upon1. The other is the word ἀσέλγεια, a word on which precious little study has been done2. William Barclay considers ἀσέλγεια to be possibly the “ugliest word” in the list of NT sins3. He capsulizes the word’s meaning as “utter shame- lessness”. It is variously translated as “licentiousness”, “wantonness”, and “lasciviousness”. It’s a word that Jesus (translated through the tradition that Mark presents) could easily turn to as a synonym for homosexual ac- tivity and other similarly shocking behavior forbidden by the Jewish law. The word ἀσέλγεια first appears in a fragment from Eupolis in the fifth century BC. It is rare and late in the papyri4, and no listing is found in any of its forms in PGL for the patristic period. The Perseus search See F. Hauck and S. Schulz, πορνεία, TDNT VI, 579-95. Both TDNT and BADG 1 define πορνεία as referring to “every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse”, although neither dictionary gives specific examples where the word is used to refer specifically to homo- sexual intercourse. The major article on this word is W. Havers, “Wortgeschichtliches”, Indogermanische 2 Forschungen 28 (1911) 194-202. In addition to entries in the standard lexicons, see also Leo Meyer, Handbuch der Griegische Etymologie (Leipzig 1901) 166-7; and Pierre Chartraine, Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Grecque (Paris 1968) 122. W. Barclay, New Testament Words (London 1964) 60. 3 In P. Ox. 903,21 (fourth century AD), a writer complains about someone who has been 4 hurling “vulgar abuses” (ἀσελγῆματα) at him. P. Lond. 1711,34 (AD 570) uses ἀσέλγεια in a sexual context (with κοίτης). And P. Cair. Masp. 367305 (AD 568) uses ἀσέλγεια together with ἀσωτίας (“debauchery”). Filología Neotestamentaria - Vol. XXI - 2008, pp. 65-74 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Universidad de Córdoba (España)