Romans 1:26

26 For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is 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.

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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 For this reason God gave them up to the evil desires of their hearts, working shame in their bodies with one another:

25 Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it.

26 For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is unnatural:

27 And in the same way the men gave up the natural use of the woman and were burning in their desire for one another, men doing shame with men, and getting in their bodies the right reward of their evil-doing.

28 And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right;