Was Masturbation Implied In The Bible When God Spoke To The Ancient Hebrews?

It’s pretty much accepted that the Bible is silent on the subject of masturbation–at least as far as any kind of specific instructions or advice. Other aspects of sexuality warrant a lot of guidance, but masturbation is not specifically mentioned. What can we conclude from this silence? Perhaps that masturbation is just a natural, normal response to human sexuality and really doesn’t need guidance. In short–it’s just what guys do!

The following text implies that ejaculation can and does occur in several ways and gives instructions for good hygiene.

“If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.”

Leviticus 15 in the Bible, this text at least shows us that the ancient Hebrews accepted the fact that men discharge semen in more than one way and this is accepted as a usual event in a guy’s life. It’s clear from this writing that they understood that a guy ejaculates both through intercourse and masturbation. The instructions are the same–wash up and hang loose for the day–sex is sacred.

What’s Solomon’s Take on Masturbation?

Look at this next passage from Proverbs written by Solomon, also in the Bible. The writer points out the cost in life that a young guy will pay if he lay with prostitutes and advises the young man to rather enjoy his own body sexually and then when he is married, he’ll experience the joy of a sexual partner that he’d never imagined.

It’s poetry, and it’s a metaphor, but it’s a pretty good bet that the writer is giving advice to young men to masturbate and keep their sexuality to themselves until he is married. Read it. See what you think.

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
Lend your ear to my understanding,
That you may preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge.
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil;
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of hell.
Lest you ponder her path of life—
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.
Therefore hear me now, my children,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
Lest you give your honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,
And say:
hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.
For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He ponders all his paths.