A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 22:5
This is an extraordinarily important Torah law—though one suspects its importance has not been appreciated over the past several thousand years, since wearing the clothing of the other sex was rare in societies rooted in the Bible. At the time of this writing, this is no longer the case: this law is widely reviled, regarded as not only archaic, but intolerant, and even immoral. It is therefore imperative to explain what it means, what it does not mean, and why it exists. We will begin with the latter.
As often noted in this commentary, the Torah is rooted in distinctions. Among these distinctions are:
- God and man
- God and nature
- Man and animal
- Good and evil
- Life and death
- Parent and child
- Holy and profane
- Male and female
In the Torah’s views, these distinctions reflect God’s design—and therefore a Designer. In the biblical worldview, recognition of this design makes civilization possible. The demise of these distinctions would mean the end of civilization as we know it. As I explain in Genesis, God spent most of the six days of Creation not creating, but making order. The second verse of the Bible describes the state of the world as chaos (“unformed and void” in this translation) when God began His work. The natural state of the world is chaos; the divine state of the world is ordered; and order means distinctions.
Whenever distinctions are obliterated, chaos ensues. When the arts obliterate the distinction between beauty and ugliness, when doctrines blur the distinction between good and evil, and when movements blur the distinction between human beings and animals (such as refusing to kill a pig to use its heart valve to save a person—see the commentary at Deuteronomy 12:20), these are examples of chaos.
The most recent distinction to be erased is the subject of this Torah law: the distinction between male and female. Its purpose is to maintain this distinction. How we dress is the most obvious way we declare our sex. Therefore, when a man (who looks like a man, has a male name, etc.) publicly dresses as a woman, or a woman (who looks like a woman, has a female name, etc.) publicly dresses as a man, one of the most basic of God’s distinctions is blurred. The sex-distinction of the human being is so central to God’s plan that it is declared at the beginning of Creation in Genesis 1: “God created the human being in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27; emphasis added).
The Torah is not necessarily addressing individuals who identify as, live as, dress as, take the name of, and appear to others as a member of the opposite sex to which they were born—because such an individual is not publicly blurring the distinction between male and female. The Torah is addressing males who continue to appear male (and often even identify as such) but who publicly dress in female garb, as well as females who appear female (and often even identify as such) but who publicly dress as male.
To be clear, publicly blurring the distinction between man and woman is what is prohibited for individuals here. On the other hand, an individual who identifies as a member of the other sex (“transgender” or “transsexual”), appears to be a member of that sex, takes on a name associated with that sex, and dresses as a member of that sex is not necessarily blurring the distinction God made. The individual who truly feels estranged from his or her biological sex is to be given sympathy, not condemnation. If that person does not publicly blur the male-female distinction, that person would not appear to be violating this law.
What the Torah prohibits is the deliberate blurring of the male-female distinction. For example, the winner of the viewed-around-the-world Eurovision contest in 2014 was Thomas Neuwirth, a bearded Austrian man, who performed under the name Conchita Wurst as a drag queen—a man wearing women’s clothing (a floor-length formal gown). He has explicitly stated he is not transgender, but a male who identifies as a male. What he did at Eurovision would be prohibited by this Torah law. So would the practice in America beginning in the second decade of the twenty-first century of “Drag Queen Story Hours”—teachers inviting drag queens to perform in front of children, starting in kindergarten.
How God regards an individual who is convinced he or she is living in the wrong body is not addressed here. I believe God both has standards (that we never blur the male-female distinction) and compassion (for those few individuals who do not identify with their biological sex), and so should we.
Dennis Prager is the author of the nationally bestselling series, The Rational Bible, the newest in the series The Rational Bible: Deuteronomy releases October 11, 2022.
Is it an abomination for a woman to wear jeans or a pantsuit?
Women in jeans look like women to me, unless they have made themselves obese.
Mo, Mo, some people are just chubby.. live and let live as pass the donuts….
Not necessarily. Clothing makers design and build “jeans” and “pantsuits” that look VERY feminine, there is no danger anyone viewing a woman wearing such clothing mistaking her for a male.
Prager is using a funny translation of the bible here. When you look into it, the hebrew word used for “the dress of a man” or “the clothing of a man” actually indicates the clothing of a military man or a soldier in war.
Ok. Serious comment as I respect the author.
The difficulty that ensues when tip toeing around the trendy trans craze -compassion for the “few” individuals who do not associate with their biological sex- is that it isn’t “a few.”
High school and college campuses have an epidemic of this. Pre-adolescent children are being given drugs and some surgeries as the craze hits their peer groups.
I am agreeing with having compassion for anyone with a disorder or who feels out of step and suffers. I agree with compassion for any deserving individual no matter what the circumstance. But I can’t overlook what’s happening culturally today.
Insidious too is the impact of this craze on our thoughts through manipulation of language.
Another author (no names mentioned) recently wrote an article about one such “ trans” person who was accused of harming a child sexually. He started a sentence with
“Her …. (male body part)”
Once you name that body part and attach it with language that refers to females, the pronoun “ her” you’ve blurred a line not only against Torah but against sanity.
This easily is chaos.
And maybe not unrelated to crimes, such as harming children.
Dennis, I love you!
But as you said, the Torah states that God made them, male and female.
True science bears this out: look at the chromosomes.
So, if my mind is telling me, a woman, that my chromosomes and my physical apparatus are wrong, maybe the problem really exists in and with my mind, not in a misappropriation of my bodily assets.
Maybe what is needed is an ongoing acceptance of who and what God made me to be.
Maybe I need a compassionate rabbi, pastor, priest or professional dedicated to truth (which sets us free) to help me navigate that acceptance.
no “maybe” involved. You have it dead on the mark.
If a person is made byt God to be of one sex, and that person for whatever reason elects to play the role of the other, or even believe thmself to BE the other, that one is making God out to be a liar. And that is not acceptable.
There is a verse somewhere in the bible that says “let God be God and evert man a liar”. We tend to BE liars, after the father of darkness, satan. God calls to be like HIM.. that means to stop lying.
If God made Susie a woman, let NO ONE male or female make any attempts to confuse facts. To go along with the lie is to fling rebellion smack into the face of God.
there are some accounts in both testaments tht chronicle what happened to some of those sorts of folks.
Yes there are some accounts of times when WOMEN had to step up and take the role of a MAN because NO MAN cound be found with the balls to do what God had commanded to be done. So He raised up woman to serve Him. But in every one fo thise instances she made no attempt to confuse anyone as to her identity as a FEMALE. And when they all went back home they all KNEW they had been shamed by having God raise up a FEMALE to do the work none of them would do.
Today’s gener-confusion frce is not that.
And no drag queen story hour is NOT OK. Especially when such lies are openly oaraded in front of children who might be led astray by the confusion.. which IS happening regularly these days.
You’re right. We are what God made us, even if we alter our physical appearance, the chromosomes and DNA are still what God gave us….Deuteronomy 22:5 says A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this. This is obvious in Sodom and Gomorrah, men dressed as women,, and having sex with men. Genesis 19, and why God destroyed those cities,
God created man and woman, 2 genders Genesis 2:15-25. If God had created genders other than man or woman, none of us would be here because only one man and one woman can create offspring. It’s biologically impossible for 2 men together, or 2 women to create offspring. This gender dysphoria is insanity.
The continuous depravity by man saying there are 24 genders or more is total deception and man’s attempt to deny who God the Creator is.
Romans 1:28. Therefore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. 29. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. (We see that now more than ever.)
I believe that when a man deceives others by dressing and taking on the persona of a woman, he is doing what God says a man should not do. Just like a woman who dresses and takes on the persona of a man, she is deceiving those around her. This creates a duplicity of character which most Christians find abhorrent.
I believe this is what God is against – the deception that would place a man or woman in a position where they would be fooled by the transperson into a sexual relationship that could not be normal by any means regardless if that person had what is called “bottom surgery” because the idea behind the sexual relationship is to have children together.
I belive that God was referring to this kind of thing because during the time before Christ there was a goddess worship where the goddess was both male and female and those who worked at her/his temple were feminized men who wore women’s clothing and used makeup as well as plucking their facial hair and growing their hair long. They would engage is sex with worshipers. This, sadly was also embraced by women worshipers as well. This form of worship also included child sacrifice which we can now see in our socieity as abortion on demand at any month of gestation including up to the moment of birth.
A great book to read about this is “The Return of the Gods” by Cohen.
The Article overlooks one aspect, that God made people in HIS own image, so what is the explanation for those who are ” in the wrong body ” , ie a person with natuarally female feelings in a male body. And one of the greatest sins carried out by certain societies is the persecution of ” gay ” persons, whose sexual identity is not selected by them but either inherited genetically or induced into them by the circumstances in which they were brought up. One must take great account of such persons who live in fear of their lives in certain countries even now because of the sexual orientation. God has much to answer for, why create some and then require their deaths.. By public stoning one may add.
God never makes such mistakes, When HE creates a person male, that person IS male, and is so because He intended it to be so. DOn’t come to me and tell me those are “stuck” or “trapped in the wrong body”. You call God aloar by so doing. HE is never ocnfused. If God says one thing and some person says the opposite the one opposing God is the one in error.
NO one is being FORCED to “live in the wrong body” There are many instances of those who WERE confused repenting and coming to God, agreeing with Him, and then living the life God had originally intended for that person… in the correct body and actiing like it.
I will not say those persecuting the trans people in some countries are right to do so. We ae to leave the settlng of such differences to His hand. HE will deal with them Not our job.
Go ahd read again the account of that town floozie who had been “caught in the very act” of adultery and dragged before Jesus. He settled the matter by declaring that the one holding the stones to kill her who was without sin of any kind can be the foirst to chuk his rock at her. Interesingly enough, NOT ONE could take that shot… and He knew it because He knew their wocket hearts.
For one thing, if she had been caught “in the very act” of adultery, WHERE was the other half of the crime? Where was the MALE who was sexually involved with her? Funny HE was not dragged before Jesus too.
Once everyone else had left, Jess asked “where are your accusers? “there is no one left here to accuse me. “Then neither do I accuse you. (now HERE is the amasing part.. get this…) He te-then COMMANDED her “go and sin no more”. stop your adulteron]us ways, that is NOT ho I have made yo to be. Stop making Me a liar.
Same with those who think they are “stuck in the wrong body”. Stop calling God a liar. HE never puts a man into a woman’s body, nor a woman into man’s body. HE is not the author of confusion, nor is HE confused. The one confused is the one disagreeing with God and claiiming He mad a mistake, Nope, Wrong roles. YOU change, God never does.
Dear Dennis,
You are usually quite consistent in your arguments, but consider what you have written:
“To be clear, publicly blurring the distinction between man and woman is what is prohibited for individuals here. On the other hand, an individual who identifies as a member of the other sex (“transgender” or “transsexual”), appears to be a member of that sex, takes on a name associated with that sex, and dresses as a member of that sex is not necessarily blurring the distinction God made. The individual who truly feels estranged from his or her biological sex is to be given sympathy, not condemnation. If that person does not publicly blur the male-female distinction, that person would not appear to be violating this law.”
You have completely undercut your argument for no cross-dressing.
So-called “transgender/transsexuals” are mentally ill. Encouraging their fantasy by giving them “biblical” permission does not help them. They are, and will remain, biologically one sex or the other and no amount of surgery or affirmation will change that fact. It really is a simple biological fact, and your “permission” to violate that Mosaic/Divine fact now only provides perverts and child-abusers continuation of their attack on God’s work.
God didn’t make no junk, to quote someone else, and you have no right or business to put erroneous words in Moses’ mouth.
Sincerely.