Sex: Part 1

Sex: Part 1
(Don't click the footnotes, they'll take you off the page!)

Sex. In many circles, it’s considered taboo to speak about it and much more condemnable to speak about it in public. As one journalist said, “no one really wants to talk about it, it remains hidden within our inner being, trapped like a volcano spewing to burst.”[1] Further, it seems that religions, even Christianity, have helped express the notion that sex is a shameful, immoral act. True, many times in the Bible there seems to be a negative connotation when anything sexual is involved, but it is usually, if not always, in a context of adultery/fornication.

But outside of an adulterous context, what is the Bible’s view on sex? Some have suggested that sex is merely for reproduction purposes and nothing else. Indeed, they cite such texts as Genesis 1:28 where it says,

Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”

Of course, sex’s primary purpose was to populate the earth but it was not just limited to such an act. In fact, the Bible says otherwise.

(Genesis 26:8-9) . . .So it came about that as his days there extended themselves A‧bim′e‧lech, king of the Phi‧lis′tines, was looking out of the window and taking in the sight, and there was Isaac having a good time with Re‧bek′ah his wife. 9 At once A‧bim′e‧lech called Isaac and said: “Why, she is no other than your wife! So how is it that you said, ‘She is my sister’?” At this Isaac said to him: “I said it for fear I should die on her account.”

Concerning the phrase “having a good time,” some Bible commentaries note that it expresses the “exchanging [of] conjugal caresses”[2] but that is “a display of affection between husband and wife in public that is culturally acceptable.”^[3] The Hebrew word that is used here, ṣā∙ḥǎq, can mean several different things since its meaning is context dependent. We do know, however, that the word can mean laugh, joy, play, and in a sexual context mean “caress, fondle, engage in foreplay, i.e., indulge in physical sexual play.”[4] Whatever the case maybe, this is a clear example of where sex (or sexual acts) is portrayed in such a way that is not only appropriate, but that functions as something other than the primary purpose of sex.

Another text worth consider is Proverbs 5:18-19:

18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.

For those not familiar with Hebrew thought and poetry, it may seem odd to compare one’s wife with a “deer” and “doe” (plural form of dove). However it’s not that odd at all when one realizes that in a Hebrew cultured-context “the phrase “loving deer and a graceful doe” is a reference to animals commonly used in Semitic poetry as figures of female beauty and endearment.”[5]

Indeed, this verse teaches that “just as a husband should show consideration for his wife because she is of a more delicate constitution, so a wife should recognize her husband’s emotional and sexual needs. The Bible indicates that a man and his wife should take delight in each other and satisfy each other. That requires sensitivity to each other’s needs and moods.”[6] This ‘taking delight in each other and satisfying each other’ involves satisfying one’s self with his wife’s breasts, whether that involves caressing, fondling or orally stimulating them. Of course, this sort of sexual expression is only limited to “your wife” (see verse 18) and not to unmarried people, even if they are engaged.

Many other examples can be cited, but I’ll leave that for a future entry, namely, Part 2.

---

[1] http://www.globalpolitician.com/22818-sex

[2] A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis

^[3]Reyburn, William David ; Fry, Euan McG.: A Handbook on Genesis. New York : United Bible Societies, 1997 (UBS Handbook Series), S. 595

[4] Swanson, James: Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament

[5] Believer's Study Bible, (Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997) Proverbs 5:19.

[6] Showing Love and Respect as a Wife, Watchtower May 15, 1989 p 19, par 16.