Short answer: The word "sodomy" is not a biblical word. It comes from the city of Sodom in Genesis 19, and over the centuries it became a label for various sexual acts. The phrase "sodomizing a woman" does not appear in Scripture at all. What the Bible does teach clearly is that sexual immorality, including what the men of Sodom intended, is sin, and that God designed sex for marriage between a man and a woman.
In This Article
People usually land on this question in one of two ways. Some have read the word in a legal or news setting and wonder what it has to do with the Bible. Others have been told that a particular act is "sodomy" and want to know if Scripture actually says so.
I want to be careful and plain. We will look at where the word came from, what really happened at Sodom, what the Bible says and does not say, and what that means for a Christian today. I will keep it frank without being graphic.
Where Does The Word Sodomy Come From?
The word is borrowed from the name of the city. Sodom and its neighbor Gomorrah are the cities God destroyed with fire and brimstone in Genesis 18 and 19. Later generations took the name of the city and built the words "sodomy" and "sodomite" on it, and then stretched them to cover whatever sexual behavior a given culture or legal code wished to condemn.
That is the first thing to see: the Bible tells a story about a city, and tradition made a category out of it. Some older English translations, the King James Version for example, use the word "sodomite" in a few places, such as Deuteronomy 23:17, but there the Hebrew refers to male shrine prostitutes in pagan worship. Modern translations such as the NIV do not use "sodomy" as a technical term. Nowhere does Scripture define it as a list of acts.
What Was The Sin Of Sodom According To The Bible?
Start with the scene. Two angelic visitors came to Lot's house in the evening, and the men of the city surrounded it.
They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
Genesis 19:5 (NIV)
That is an attempted sexual assault on guests, and it was the last straw in a city already ripe for judgment. The New Testament reads it the same way. Jude points to Sodom and the surrounding towns as an example of those who gave themselves over to sexual immorality and perversion.
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.
Jude 1:7 (NIV)
I read the sexual sin there as a central part of the city's guilt, and I stand by that. But the Bible also paints a wider picture. Through Ezekiel, God says what else was wrong with Sodom.
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:49 (NIV)
Pride, comfort, and indifference to the poor sat beside the sexual violence (see pride and laziness). Christians do read the story differently. Some say the sin was mostly cruelty and the breaking of hospitality toward strangers, which mattered enormously in the ancient world. Others, including me, say you cannot remove the sexual element from the text without ignoring Jude. The honest reading holds both: a city that was proud, careless and violent, whose violence took a sexual form.
Abraham's prayer in the same story is worth remembering. He pleaded with God to spare the city if righteous people could be found (Genesis 18:22-33), and God agreed to spare it for the sake of ten. Ten could not be found, and Lot and his family were led out (Genesis 19:12-29). It is a sobering picture of judgment, but also of how patient God was.
Does The Bible Mention Sodomizing A Woman?
No. The phrase is not in the text, and I do not think we should pretend it is. The men of Sodom were demanding Lot's male guests. Lot even offered his daughters, a horrifying moment in the account that the Bible records without approving it. Nothing in Genesis 19 gives a technical definition of any sexual act with a woman.
Nor does the Bible catalogue sexual acts the way a legal code might. It speaks in broad categories. The Greek word porneia, covering sexual immorality of every kind, shows up again and again, and I wrote about it in defining porneia and in what sexual immorality means according to the Bible. That is the category any act outside God's design falls into, whatever it is called in a courtroom.
Paul gives a list in his letter to the Corinthians, where the NIV renders one term as men who have sex with men, among others who will not inherit God's kingdom.
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV)
The list is wide on purpose. Paul names the sexually immoral, the greedy, the drunkards and others, which is a reminder that none of us stands outside the need of grace. He adds in the next verse that some of the Corinthians were like this, but they were washed and made holy (1 Corinthians 6:11).
What Does Sodomy Mean Today Compared To The Bible?
In modern English, and in many legal systems, "sodomy" has been used broadly for anal or oral sex, sometimes between a man and a woman, sometimes between two people of the same sex, and sometimes for sex with animals. The definition has changed from place to place and from century to century, which is itself a clue that it is a human label and not a biblical one.
That is why I will not tell you the Bible says "sodomy means X." It does not use the word that way. What I can do is send you to what Scripture does say, and to the separate questions people often fold into this one. If you are asking about specific acts inside or outside marriage, I address them directly in is anal sex a sin in the Bible and is oral sex a sin in the Bible. For same-sex relationships, see what the Bible says about homosexuality. And if you are asking because of something that was done to you against your will, please know that is violence and never your fault, and see is rape a sin in the Bible.
One more caution. The ancient world did not think of sexuality the way we do. Reading modern categories back into Genesis 19 can distort it, which is why I stay close to the words of the text and let the other passages interpret it.
What Should Christians Take From The Story Of Sodom?
The story is a warning, not a weapon. It shows what happens when a society loses its sense of right and wrong, and treats vulnerable people, including strangers, as something to be used. It calls us to purity, to hospitality and to humility, because pride was Sodom's root as much as anything.
For marriage, the New Testament sets a clear standard.
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Hebrews 13:4 (NIV)
Spouses are called to honor one another with self-giving love (Ephesians 5:25-33), and all of us are called to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh (Galatians 5:16-25). See also what sexual activities the Bible forbids for the broader teaching.
And the end of the matter is hope. For anyone carrying guilt over sexual sin, the promise is real.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (NIV)
Through the power of the Spirit we can overcome temptation and walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Pursue holiness, as Paul urged the Thessalonians to do (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8), and keep short accounts with God.
Key Bible Verses About Sodom And Sexual Purity
- Genesis 19:5: the men of Sodom demand Lot's guests.
- Ezekiel 16:49-50: Sodom's pride, comfort and neglect of the poor.
- Jude 1:7: Sodom as an example of sexual immorality and judgment.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: a wide list of sins, and the washing that follows.
- Hebrews 13:4: honor marriage and keep the marriage bed pure.
- 1 John 1:9: God forgives and purifies those who confess.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the word sodomy in the Bible?
No. The word comes from the city of Sodom in Genesis 19. Some older translations use "sodomite" in places like Deuteronomy 23:17, where the Hebrew refers to male shrine prostitutes. The NIV does not use it as a technical term.
Does the Bible mention sodomizing a woman?
Not in those words. The Bible speaks of sexual immorality in broad terms (porneia) instead of listing acts. See what sexual immorality means in the Bible for the wider teaching.
What was the sin of Sodom?
The Bible names several: pride, comfort, neglect of the poor (Ezekiel 16:49) and, in the story itself, the sexual violence the men of the city planned against Lot's guests (Genesis 19:5, Jude 1:7).
Does sodomy mean anal sex?
In modern law and speech it has often meant that and more, but the Bible never defines it that way. I address the question directly in is anal sex a sin in the Bible.
Can a person be forgiven for sexual sin?
Yes. The Corinthians Paul wrote to had been sexually immoral and were washed and made holy (1 Corinthians 6:11). Confess, turn from it, and trust the promise of 1 John 1:9.
