Bible Dictionary
Sodomites
Sodomites were persons who practiced the immoral and unnatural conduct associated with Sodom, sometimes as part of pagan religious practice. Israel’s kings were repeatedly commended or condemned according to whether they removed such practices.
Definition
Sodomites were persons who practiced the immoral and unnatural vice associated with Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Old Testament usage described here, the term especially refers to those who practiced such conduct as a religious rite.
Biblical Usage
The term occurs in passages describing practices condemned in Israel. Asa and Jehoshaphat are commended for removing such persons from the land.
Historical Background
The word does not simply mean inhabitants of the ancient city of Sodom; it became a designation for a particular form of licentious and idolatrous practice.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Those who imitated the licentious wickedness of Sodom (Deut. 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24; Rom. 1:26, 27). Asa destroyed them “out of the land” (1 Kings 15:12), as did also his son Jehoshaphat (22:46).
Smith's Bible Dictionary
This word does not denote the inhabitants of Sodom; but it is employed in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament for those who practiced as a religious rite the abominable and unnatural vice from which the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have derived their lasting infamy.