Okay this is far enough down that I can waste this subreddit's room. Here's an old response I wrote:

It's in there a few times:

The word arsenokoitai is the most argued over translation. It literally means "man-bedder" or "those who bed males" (arsen[male] + koite[bed]), and may be Paul's own coinage.¹ Many translations transcribe the word directly as "homosexuality" or "homosexual offenders."² I prefer the word "sodomite": simply because the idea of homosexuality is anachronistic. There was no “straight” or “gay” at the time as we might think of them now. The Greeks would partake in man on man sex. Then go home to their wives later that day. They were not defined as gay or bisexual, they just had some good ole man on man sex.

I've heard others somehow interpret this as Paul stating that he simply does not want straight men to take part in gay sex, as it would be unnatural for them, and in that same light it could be said Paul would have told homosexuals not to have unnatural sex for them (in this case: straight sex). This argument falls apart however when we stop looking at sexual identity as straight and gay. In a more historical context Paul was forbidding a sexual act that the men would take part in, and therefore was imposing Judaic sexual restrictions.

There is a reason the NRSV uses "sodomy" as the translation - which is an act which can take place between a man and a woman. It relates to the argument used to dispel the translation of arsenokoitai.

Disclosure: This is where my knowledge begins to end, despite it being crucial to the study. I still hold my conclusion with conviction with the help of supporting passages but I've yet to fully make sense of this.

There is a document written late 500AD, Penitential, ascribes to John the Faster,³ which contains the passage:

Some even do it with their own mothers, and others with foster sisters or goddaughters. In fact, many men even commit the sin of arsenokoitia with their wives.

In this context, arsenokoitia cannot mean man on man sex. I stand by the translation of arsenokoitia. I see no reason – I see an agenda, but no reason – why there would be such debate over “man-bedder”, especially with supporting passages speaking against man-on-man sex. This passage cannot be overlooked though. Yet I suspect most come to the same assumption when first reading the passage: John the Faster is using the word to mean anal sex. I’ve clearly lost any sort of formal voice but it’s certainly understandable. Even now there are people who would call anal sex “gay sex”. It’s a dangerous path to dismiss conflicting evidence, but there are supporting passages speaking against man-on-man sex and the idea of calling anal “gay sex” is by no means unusual in my opinion. I wouldn’t dismiss someone who is more skeptical than I on the matter; I do dismiss those who find this passage found 500 years later as enough evidence against arsenokoitai.

As for "male prostitutes", the word is malokois. Is has three degrees of definition: pansy,⁴ adolescent boys who had sex with older men,⁴ and the passive member of homosexual sex.⁵ Some interpreters try to read the passage as having to do with pedastry, a sexual act that should be condemned; arsenokoitai then referring to the older active partner is the act. However, this ignored Paul's condemnation of homosexuality in Romans, however.

Almost all respected modern translations translate arsenokoitai as sodomy or homosexual acts including the NRSV, NIV, NLT, ESV, NASB and the ISV.

Citations:

|¹ H. W. Attridge, ed., p. 1939, annotation to 6:9.

|² 1 Corinthians 6:9, Parallel Translations.

|³ "John the Faster (?) (d. 595) Penitential." Internet History Sourcebooks Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/johnnest.asp

|⁴ "Strong's G3120 - malakos", Blue Letter Bible.

|⁵ H. W. Attridge, ed., p. 1939, annotation to 6:9.

References:

|¹ H. W. Attridge, ed., The HarperCollins Study Bible, (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2006), p. 1939, annotation to 6:9.

|² Mayhall, C. Wayne. "Is Arsenokoitai Really That Mysterious?" Christian Research Institute. Web.

|³ Dod, Brian J. "Paul, Homosexuals, and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11." Catalyst: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives. Web.

References with alternate conclusions:

|⁴ "Arsenokoites Was Never Used in Antiquity with Our Modern Meaning of Homosexual." Gay Christian 101. Web.

|⁵ Lynn, Gary. "Difficult to Understand and Ambiguous Scriptures Concerning Homosexuality." Is Homosexuality a Choice? Web.

|⁶ Robinson, B. A. "Homosexuality in The New Testament: Conservative and Liberal Views." Religious Tolerance. Web.

|⁷ Townsley, Jeramy. "Translations of Malakoi and Arsenokoitai Through History." Christian Gays. Web.