EUPHEMISM: THE OMISSION OF SEXUAL WORDS IN THE BIBLE.

The figure of speech we are going to study is Euphemismos, from which we get our English word “euphemism.” The root of the Greek word is eu meaning “good,” and phemi, meaning “speech.” The verb euphemeō and the noun euphemismos referred to “good speech”.

More along the lines of the English definition of euphemism, other ancient Greek meanings of the words were to abstain from inauspicious words, or phrases considered harsh and impolite, or which suggest something unpleasant and to speak in a mild, soft manner.

The modern definition of euphemism is “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.” Thus if we do not want to say someone “died,” we say he “passed,” or “passed away.” Genesis 15:15

If we do not want to say two people engaged in sexual intercourse, we say they “slept together.” If we do not want to say a couple is committing adultery, we say they are “having an affair.” Leviticus 18:6

Most people realize, of course, that the expression "Adam knew his wife" means he had sexual intercourse with her; for, as a result, "she conceived" (Genesis 4:1). To say Adam "knew" his wife (rather than to say he had "sex" with her) is an example of euphemism: the substitution of an inoffensive expression for one that may offend. 

Perhaps if the Bible stated "And Adam had sex with Eve" more people would see that it couldn't be the word of an Unholy God. To stop critics from seeing the Bible as an unholy and perverted book, all sexual words were substituted in the king James Bible with softer and inoffensive words. This is the reasons why SEX and SEXUAL WORDS are not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

MODERN BIBLE TRANSLATIONS CHANGED THE TRUE MEANING OF SEX:

One of the reasons why the general public is not outraged about the sexual content in the Bible is that many modern readers don't understand the 17th century Old English which the King James Version of the Bible was translated into. The more modern translations also tend to water-down those passages which are less than pleasing and alter the original intent of the authors of the Bible. For example, Ezekiel 23:20 speaks of a whore who lusts after men who have penises as big as donkeys and who ejaculate as much as horses. The original King James translation says it this way: "whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses."

And the Revised Standard Version puts it like this: "whose members were like those of asses, and whose issue was like that of horses".

It is very clear that the words “flesh or members” refer to the male “PENIS” and the “issue” refers to “SPERM”, but omitted.

The Good News Bible translation completely removes the reference to the sexual organs and discharges of these animals, calling it merely "lustfulness" as follows: "She was filled with lust for oversexed men who had all the lustfulness of donkeys or stallions."

The actual intent of some biblical passages is masked by the use of phrases or words which don't carry the same meaning in today's society. One example of this is the use of the word "feet." In some passages, the word feet are used to mean "genitals." For example, Ruth snuck into the barn where her prospective husband was sleeping and she layed down next to him and uncovered his "feet." Apparently, she was "checking out the goods before she purchased" and the man, realizing that he was uncovered wakes up afraid until Ruth proposed to him, then he realized that he was not threatened (Ruth 3:7-8).

The Bible warns that God will make mothers who don't obey him eat their own newborn children which "cometh out from between her feet." (Deut. 28:57) The word “feet” here means her “vagina”. The Bible also tells of a time when the Israelites would be taken captive by the Assyrian king, who would shave their heads and their pubic hair, describing it as "the hair of the feet" (Isaiah 7:20).

THE KNOWING AND THE LAYING OF SEX

Another example of how meaning gets lost in the translation can be seen in the use of the word "knew" for "had sexual intercourse with". Whenever Adam had sex with Eve it is described as "And Adam knew Eve his wife" (Gen. 4:1). Some other ways the Bible has for saying a man had sex with a woman include "he went in unto her" (Gen. 38:2, 9, 18) or "he took so and so to wife." (Exodus 6:20)

How do we know that the word "knew" in Hebrew means "sexual intercourse?" The Hebrew word for sex is “yada” meaning, "known, recognized, understood, respected." Yada is not the only word the Bible uses for sex. Throughout the scripture, when a man had sex outside marriage it was said, “He lay with”, (e.g. Samson lay with Delilah, and Amnon lay with Tamar) but if it was done inside marriage, the word “knew” was used.

In Genesis 19:33, we find that in desperation to carry on the family name, Lot’s "older daughter went in and LAY with (her dad)." The Hebrew word for "lay" in this instance is “shakab”, which is defined as “a mere physical exchange”. It is a euphemism for sexual intercourse and is often paired with the root word “sikba”, which means “body fluid”. In essence, it means “to exchange body fluids or bodily emissions”. It is limited to the physical and is used to reference sex between strangers, casual sex, one-night stands, rape, prostitutes and incest.

No one really wants a mere exchange of body fluids, do you? In most cases, we’re looking for something more. We prefer the pleasure of body to be accompanied with the incredible delight of truly being emotionally known and respected.