I'm not a Biblical scholar and I don't know Hebrew, but I know of the passages you refer to. I know that many gay Christians would like the relationship between Jonathan and David to be homosexual, but I truly don't interpret it that way. My love for one male friend of mine I could describe as "surpassing that of a woman," but it isn't gay. For years I thought it might be simply because I had never experienced that kind of love for another guy before. We don't kiss, but this is an entirely different culture.

The passage you quoted where David "exceeded himself" was in the King James Version, one of the least accurate translations. The New International Version translates it "Then they kissed each other and wept together-but David wept more." The New American Standard Version translates it "And they kissed each other and wept together, but David more."

I don't think it's wise to base a belief on an interpretation of one phrase in the Bible, practically one word. Especially considering all the places in the Bible that condemns homosexual sex. I don't say this as a "holier than thou" straight Christian. It's true that I am not attracted to men, but I AM strongly attracted to boys. And it isn't just a sexual attraction, but a deep emotional one as well. For me, being sexual with a boy I loved would be the ultimate expression of that love we 2 shared. It would be absolute bliss. And I would so very dearly love it if the Bible were a little more open to same gender sex. But I just don't see it.

But if you want to interpret the Bible differently, that's entirely between you and God, not you and me. I don't think any less of Christians who see things differently than I. But I have to be true to what I believe.

Dakota