This article on a Usenet newsgroup was in response to this one:
Re: Masturbation: A Christian Perspective
Sorry, Neill, but your interpretation of the Bible’s view on masturbation is incorrect.
Please note that when there was a spillage of semen a person was onunclean for the evening. And that when you had normal sex that day, you were unclean for the evening because of the spillage of semen.
Please note that verse 16 of Lev. 15 talks about the simple spillage of semen without a woman involved and this meant only being unclean until the evening and washing one’s garments. But then in verse 18 it specifically speaks of copulation with a woman and both being unclean.
So verse 16 refers to spillage of semen apart from sex with a woman.
The reference? MASTURBATION. So it was no more of a sin than normal sex with your wife.
Furthermore, it is referred euphemistically in the OT twice as “covering one’s feet.” This was the incident when David cut the back out of Saul’s coat when he was alone in a cave to “ease nature” as some translations put it. But Saul wouldn’t have gone into a cave just to use the rest room. He would have simply gone outside his tent and taken care of that as all his soldiers did. But in order to masturbate and relieve oneself sexually, it takes TIME and most of all PRIVACY. And that’s why he went into the cave and that’s why David had time to cut the back of his coat. Saul probably didn’t notice him because he was concentrating on something else….
The other incidence of “covering one’s feet” was when King Eglon was killed and locked up on his summer porch. His servants thinking he wanted privacy for a while thought he was “covering his feet” or masturbating in private until they finally broke in to check on him and found him dead.
The euphemism, “covering one’s feet” comes from the Jewish practice of standing while masturbating in a private place and thus the need to cover one’s feet in order to protect it from falling semen. Of course, as you pointed out, semen soils the clothes and anything it touches so if one were really careful, they could get away with a minimal of ceremonial uncleaness and not have to bathe if no semen touched their flesh but fell to the ground on a cloth covering their feet. So it became known as “covering one’s feet.”
But the fact is, men have desires and when they release semen it relieves sexual tension. How many wives complain their husbands masturbate and ignore them? If boys were required to masturbate a half hour before going on dates in order to lower their sexual drive how many dates would be broken? Lots!
Thus, when men are single and the semen builds up, they are more prone to temptation since the desire gets stronger as the semen builds up. So Paul encouraged Christians to very modestly learn how to relieve themselves (masturbate) in order not to be tempted into fornication by trying to ignore natural sexual desires. But he didn’t mean that one was to fantasize about immorality but only sexuality under normal Christian circumstances. Thus the Bible not only condones masturbation, but RECOMMENDS it to help control sexual desires and temptation for those who do not have that outlet normally with a wife.
Here is the specific reference to MASTURBATION in the NT, which is called euphemistically, “to get a hand on one’s vessel”:
1 Thess. 4:3: “For this is what God wills, the sanctifying of you, that you abstain from fornication”.
(NOTE THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP THEM ABSTAIN FROM FORNICATION).
4 “that each one of you should know how to get possession of his own vessel with sanctification and honor…”
THAT IS, THAT EACH ONE SHOULD LEARN HOW TO MASTURBATE (HOLD ONE’S VESSEL, HOLD ONE’S ORGAN) IN A WAY THAT IS APPROPRIATE. SANCTIFICATION AND HONOR ARE BOTH TERMS RELATED TO “MARITAL”… THUS ONE SHOULD LEARN TO MASTURBATE IN AN HONORABLE, NOT DISHONORABLE WAY…BUT HE CONTINUES…
5. “Not in covetous sexual appetite such as also those nations have which do not know God.”
“COVETOUS SEXUAL APPETITE” MEANS WANTING SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE. BASICALLY, FOR CHRISTIANS, WANTING ANY TYPE OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY THAT A CHRISTIAN WOULD NOT APPROVE. SO SINCE SOME FANTASY THOUGHTS ARE INVOLVED WITH MASTURBATION, THE CHRISTIAN IS BEING TOLD HE SHOULD NOT FANTASIZE ABOUT ANYTHING THAT A CHRISTIAN WOULD NOT ORDINARILY DO SEXUALLY. IN OTHER WORDS, JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN RELIEVE YOURSELF THIS WAY, YOU SHOULDN’T USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO FANTASIZE ABOUT BEING PICKED UP AT A SINGLE’S BAR BY TWO OR THREE GIRLS AND HAVING AN ORGY!!! THAT WOULD BE “COVETOUS” OF THE WRONG THING. INSTEAD, THE FANTASY COULD BE ABOUT ANY CHRISTIAN SETTING, SUCH AS YOUR WIFE IS ON A BUSINESS TRIP FOR TWO MONTHS AND SHE’S JUST GETTING BACK ON THE PLANE TONIGHT, SO YOU DECIDE SINCE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN HER IN A LONG TIME THAT YOU’LL PICK HER UP WITH THE VAN INSTEAD OF THE TWO-SEAT SPORTS CAR, AND YOU CONVENIENTLY PARK IN THE OVERNIGHT DISCOUNT PARKING SECTION….
But one thing Paul definitely warns against, are others trying to tell you how to do this!!! It is so easy to make rules. And a persons conscience before God is his own. So how often or what thoughts, etc. is left up to the individual Christian with the above guidelines.
Here’s the warning in the next verse:
6 “that NO ONE go to the point of harming and encroach upon the RIGHTS of his brother in this matter.. because God is one who exacts punishment for these things…”
That is, it is not the Church’s or anybody else’s right to tell a Christian not to masturbate if he feels a need to to relieve his sexual tensions, nor to try to regulate him, since this might stumble him and these are his PERSONAL MATTERS. These are his RIGHTS to do so with his own conscience before God.
So in conclusion, MASTURBATION, is suggested as an activity which might spill semen apart from sex with a woman at Lev. 15:16 and the only consequence was simply ceremonial uncleanness for the day, the same as normal intercourse with a woman. Even when a woman had her menstrual cycle she was unclean. So this was considered natural. And since masturbation can help to regulate natural sexual desires, Paul recommends it to help reduce the temptation for fornication. It makes a big difference is a Christian is always fighting back desires and trying not to masturbate all the time than when he simply takes care of this urge in a simple manner on a regular basis so he can focus on more spiritual things, keeping his thoughts appropriately in line with Christian sexuality.
It is not dirty. It is not unclean.
On the other hand, many know that there is a great failure rate in trying not to dwell on sexuality when one is trying to stay completely aesexual and this sometimes leads to excessive sexual-related preoccupations that can be dangerous.
Bottom line is that the natural build-up of semen definitely increases the sexual urge but afer release of semen the sexual urge is greatly diminished. So it is a practical exercise for Christians to help control their desires, particularly for HOMOSEXUALS who might not otherwise be fulfilled in a material relationship. When someone is holding all their sexual urges until marriage the temptation for fornication is much greater. But for those who can masturbate without guilt, they may not even want or need to get married since it is sufficiently satisfying to take care of that urge. The primary issue is not being tempted by one’s desires. For those who need more, there is marriage with the opposite sex, even for gays. Modest masturbation can be a saving gift for those who choose to be single since in reality it gets their mind off sex and they don’t spend all their time feeling guilty and being tempted and facing trying to control natural urges.
They can just GO WITH THE FLOW, enjoy themselves for a few moments and feel relieved from sexual tensions for the moment and go on with their lives. The only precaution is not to use this to cultivate sexual appetite. It is supposed to DECREASE desire not increase it.
IN PRACTICE it works since in order to create a sensual fantasy involving a wife takes a certain amount of controlled energy and that diminishes the capacity for excessive masturbation since it takes brain power and the level of excitability drastically reduces immediately after the first emission.
So it is much more difficult to create arousal when your fantasies are limited to a marital situation after the first or second time. Whereas it is quite easy to do so after a few days since very little fantasy is needed because the natural excitability is so high in direct relation to the build-up of semen. Between the two, therefore, there is a happy medium of regulation without the temptation to excessive sexual appetite. But still, no Christian is to impose their views on this upon any other. That is a private issue for each Christian.
Thanks for considering the BIBLE’s VIEW of MASTURBATION.
Posted anonymously
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The article on this issue with the most referrals: http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/4884.htm
John I agree with you; I believe masturbation to be a total sin because i almost always lust. but it doesn’t mean I see myself ever being able to stop…
First of all, I’m not saying that I am the definitive authority on anything. And masturbation is something that I struggle with, but God’s helping me through it. So here’s some thoughts that came to me as I read through this comment.
Firstly Leviticus 15:16 does identify that the same regulations apply for an emission of semen to a man lying alone as do to a man lying with a woman. But masturbation is not the only way that semen can be released from a man who is lying alone – what about wet dreams, or ‘nocturnal emissions’ if you prefer – how do you know this passage isn’t just referring to that?
I found the whole ‘covering the feet’ thing very interesting, and you’re probably right. I’d never heard it all before, and it was interesting to read. And possibly King Saul and King Eglon were masturbating, or thought to be masturbating. But any small amount of looking into either of these characters shows that they’re not the kind of Bible characters put there for us to emulate, copy or make role models of! Both were killed and had their kingdom taken away from them because of their corruption. I’m not saying masturbation was all this corruption – it was mostly things such as ignoring God, relying on their own power to run the country, ignoring the cases of the needy, etc…but while they probably did masturbate, they also did a lot of other things that we wouldn’t want to make an example of!
And now, finally, we come to 1 Thessalonians 4:3,4. While it does say to “possess your own vessel” in the KJV and NKJV, the words used in Greek here are very ambiguous and hard to translate. The word is the same as the one Paul uses for his famous “We have this treasure in jars of clay (or earthen vessels)” illustration in 2 Corinthians 4:17. It’s also the same word as 1 Peter 3:7 when a man’s wife is called the weaker partner, or weaker vessel. So the word can mean vessel (or container), jar, body or wife. Nowhere in there do I see the possibly meaning of penis. Paul was a very straightforward, direct kind of man – if he thought something, he said it. He wouldn’t have used an ambiguous euphemism, he would have just gone ahead and said penis if that’s what he meant. Other translations say that this verse means “take control of your body” or “learn to live with your wife,” both of which would help to stop sexual temptation without using masturbation.
These are my views on it, and I completely agree with 1 Thessalonians 4:6, and I’m not going to encroach upon your rights, as my brothers, by forcing you to believe what I say. But this is my interpretation.
I believe God can help men to live virtuously with either less frequent masturbation or without it at all. It’s something that I’m still struggling with, and I’ll readily admit that. But as for now, I’m pretty convicted that my life is better without it, and if I’m wrong, I’d rather err on the side of caution. Also, if I’m wrong, I’m confident that God will reveal that to me.
Blessings, brothers.
definitely a new perspective for me. I always have felt guilty, but I think at some point we just have to accept the realities of being a man.
hopefully others will discover this as well so that we might all be stronger in our faith
Wow! What a revelation. “Covering one’s feet” logic is something I cannot dismiss. I instinctively always seemed to believe that the Bible is way more straight forward about all of life’s issues and therefore was more sexual than most people want to believe. This explains a lot. I look forward to possessing my vessel with HONOUR. It’s a release to be a balanced person.