Soft Men

Can you spot the difference?

1 Corinthians 6:9 (KJV)  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

1 Corinthians 6:9 (ESV) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

Effeminate is ommitted in the ESV.

I looked at  other translations and most of the contemporary translations (except for the NASB) omit the word effeminate. What's the deal? The Greek word is malakos and it's pretty clear what it means. Soft. Effeminate. Normally, when there is such an omission, commentaries say things like, "the best translations omit" or "this word is not in the original." I went to the commentaries and Greek scholars and no one said malakos wasn't supposed to be there. Robertson and Vincent (published in 1930, and 1888 respectively) both say the word means effeminate. So everyone agrees malakos is there, but suddenly, in the last 50 years, the word means homosexual instead of effeminate? Must be a coincidence, I suppose that along with the rise of feminism and the sexual revolution, the word effeminate is edited out of the Bible. From what I understand, at one time, malakos was used to try and prove that homosexuality was not forbidden in the Bible, so people started saying that malakos meant the sexual act and editorialized Paul. Who knows why, but the fact remains, Paul said soft men won't go to Heaven. 1 Corinthians 6:10.....shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Jesus used the word malakos in Matthew 11:8, "But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses." Soft. The picture is clear. John the Baptist was a rough man. He was a strong man. If you wanted weak and soft, and prissy, go to the palace. Apply that to men, and soft is to be a precious, girly, submissive, dainty man. Men who are feminist. Men who refuse to take up their calling. Men who refuse lead their homes. Men who avoid service and sacrifice. In other words, men who do not live up to God's standard of manliness as defined in the Word of God. John Wayne or The Rock do not represent the standard of manliness either. The effeminate man is soft. He acts like a girl. 

When I played sports, in the politically incorrect realm of a locker room, we would not have said "effeminate" we would have said "gay" – not because we thought wearing pink socks and listening to New Kids on the Block meant you "practiced homosexuality." We called them gay because they acted effeminate. They adopted the gay culture. I recently watched a friend's son play in his Little League game. I saw a field full of boys wearing jewelry, ear rings, long hair with highlights. There was a lot of sighing, shrugging, complaining, and whining, but not a whole lot of hustle or toughness. There was also, no anyone saying anything about it because these kids were fashionable. And also effeminate. And sinning, according to Paul, but not according to the ESV, NKJV, CSB, and the other modern translations. 

If a man is effeminate, he's acting like a woman regardless whether or not there is sexual sin. Effeminacy doesn't exclude homosexuality and includes the sexual acts. But it is not limited to homosexual acts. You can be a married man with kids and be effeminate. Parents who let their boys act prissy and prance around and take interpretive dance lessons are sinning. There is a certain way men ought to act. There is a certain way men ought not to act. There is a certain way men ought to dress. And comb their hair. And talk. And worship. This is counter-cultural to say, but -- get ready -- men and women are different! It's a sin for a man to be effeminate and act like a girl. 

No wonder they took it out of the Bible.