Even though I haven’t lived in Ames for the past two years, I happen to read the online version of the ISU Daily. I would like to respond to a letter published in your Opinion section under the title “Homosexual offenders” by Karl von Uhl, published Thursday, Feb. 12.

In particular, I would like to comment on the translation of the greek phrase of St. Paul’s 1 Corinthians 6:9 “oute malakoi oute arsenokoitai.”

I’m Greek in origin, and even though I did my Ph.D. in astrophysics at ISU, I had enough classical studies to propose a grammatically appropriate (IMHO) translation:

Oute = neither, nor

Malakoi : noun (malakos) in plura = the ‘soft,’ the ‘effeminate,’ the ones who have female characteristics

Arsenokoitai = composite word, from “arsenikos” + “koitai”

Arsenikos = the male

Koitai : verb (koimai) in the third person of passive voice = lie-down, sleep

So “arsenokoitai” would refer to an individual who “sleeps (i.e. has sex) with males.”

In my opinion, the actual interpretation of these words in English is rather obvious, but it can be left to your readers.

If one checks the Web at: http://thechristian.org/BibleStudy/biblestudy.htm, one can find various translations of this verse in several languages.

Dr. Vassilios Charmandaris

Observatoire de Paris

Paris, France