The ancient Greek word ?arsenokoites? is apparently used in the
Biblical verse:  1 Timothy 1:9-10 (King James Version)

? Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for
the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for
unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers,
 
 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for
menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any
other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;?

This Greek word has apparently come to be translated as ?homosexual?
in other more recent Bible translations.

I want to know what the best Greek language scholars say is the
correct meaning and context of the Greek word ?arsenokoites? as used
in the Christian Bible.

This article may be of interest:

http://www.dtl.org/ethics/article/homosexuals.htm

The term you are referring to is one of the rarest ancient words,
therefore it is one of the lelast understood, etymologically
sppeaking:

"Arsenokoite* is a word that appears only THREE times in all ancient
Greek texts.  Here, in a companion list of sins in 1 Timothty 1:10,
and by a later Greek Father who was commenting upon 1 Corinthians 6:9.
 This word appears to be a made up word by Paul who stuck together two
other Greek words, ?Arsen? - male and ?Koitos?-sexual intercourse.? 
As you can see, the term could either then mean ?men who have sex? or
?those men who have sex with men.?

BIBLE VERSES
http://gendertree.com/Bible%20Verses.htm

Clearly this ancient word is one that could have be used in more than
one context; meaning either "homosexual" or "promiscuous", depending
on the text or perhaps on the opinion of the reader of such text.

Does this answer your question as well as possible under the circumstances?

tutuzdad-ga

Most of the sources agreed with the fact that the original meaning of
this word is lost:
"I Cor 6:9 Paul lists a many activities that will prevent people from
inheriting the Kingdom of God. One has been variously translated as
effeminate, homosexuals, or sexual perverts. The original Greek text
reads malakoi arsenokoitai. The first word means soft; the meaning of
the second word has been lost. It was once used to refer to a male
temple prostitute. The early Church interpreted the phrase as
referring to people of soft morals; i.e. unethical. From the time of
Martin Luther, it was interpreted as referring to masturbation . More
recently, it has been translated as referring to homosexuals . Each
Translator seem to take whatever activity that their society
particularly disapproves of and use it in this verse."
"Corinth & Timothy":
http://www.geocities.com/rainbowchristian1225/C_and_T.html


See also "Homosexuals" in 1Corinthians 6:9 - Article:
http://www.dtl.org/ethics/article/homosexuals.htm

wow!!  - Thanks so much for your very useful comments - I am so
impressed with the researchers on this site - and with this resource
that Goggle has offered to all of us.

Strong?s identifies the word in 1 Timothy 10, as used in the King
James Bible, as ?andrapodistes? rather than ?arsenokoites?. This word
is also quite rare. It is defined literally as ?manstealer?, (i.e.
enslaver; one who steals the slaves of others and sells them).

http://www.craigwhite.net/craignew/cosb/0405.htm

The New Testament Greek Lexicons I consulted confirm this, defining
the word essentially as ?kidnapper?:

STUDY LIGHT
http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=405

LEKSIKON IBRANI
http://www.bit.net.id/SABDA-Web/L/L4a.htm

Is this sufficient as an answer?

Tutuzdad-ga

GOOGLE
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%CE%B1%CC%93%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%B4%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7%CC%81%CF%82&btnG=Google+Search

GOOGLE
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=andrapodistes

To: tutuzdad-ga

I'm confused - are you saying that there are prominent scholars who
argue that the word "arsenokoites" is confused with "andrapodistes"

From the looks of these Lexicon examples, apparently so.

tutuzdad-ga