As a member of the church, I try to be an example to others. Sometimes that means not going to a place I'm invited, because I know there will be unwholesome language and beverages that shouldn't be legal anywhere. Sometimes that means taking the time to help people when no one else will, even if they are never nice to me. Sometimes it means wearing clothes that are uncomfortable just so I'm not immodest. But, there are always questions as to what we do in certain situations the Bible never specifically addresses.
One of these topics is whether or not we should dance. I don't mean dancing as clapping a few times or doing the wave, or even doing that Cupid Shuffle routine at a sleepover. I'm talking about the dance of people at parties, weddings, and other get-togethers that involve partners or slow dancing. I'm talking about the dance that usually happens at proms and homecoming dances.
Recently in our Wednesday night bible class, a lot of information was given to us on both sides of the argument. We were suppose to research the topic, and, once we fully understood the biblical standpoint, come to our own conclusion on the matter. After all, the teacher can teach, but never make you believe one thing. You have the final decision.
So, with the information given me, a bible, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and Strong’s Comprehensive Concordance of the Bible, I set out on a journey to either prove the Bible supports or opposes dancing. I'm sharing my finding with you so that maybe you can also make that decision, but please research more and don't just go by my word on this. I'm human and make mistakes, and I may not have all the information. I just want to make it easier for others to learn about God’s intentions.
The first thing I was given was a list of all the scripture references (KJV) that were about or mentioned dancing. There are 19 Old Testament verses, and 5 New Testament verses.
Old Testament:
Exodus 15:20
Exodus 32:19
Judges 11:34
Judges 21:21
Judges 21:23
1 Samuel 18:6
1 Samuel 21:11
2 Samuel 6:14
2 Samuel 6:16
1 Chronicles 15:29
Job 21:11
Psalm 30:11
Psalm 149:3
Psalm 150:4
Ecclesiastes 3:4
Jeremiah 31:4
Jeremiah 31:13
Lamentations 5:15
New Testament:
Matthew 11:17
Matthew 14:6
Mark 6:22
Luke 7:32
Luke 15:25
All of these verses either mention or talk about dancing in the Bible. Although I used a NKJV in study, the words are still the same in the verses as the KJV. To not take anything out of context, we first looked up the original Greek and Hebrew words for each “dance” and wrote the definitions. Here’s a typed out version of my notes.
Old Testament: # in Strong’s Concordance Word (Hebrew)-Meaning
Exodus 15:20 ~ 4246 Mekolaw-Dancing to rejoice
Exodus 32:19 ~ 4246 Mekolaw-dancing to rejoice / worship idols
Judges 11:34 ~ 4246 Mekolaw-dancing for joy
Judges 21:21 ~ 2342 Khool-stretching out; dancing to relieve pain after working
Judges 21:23 ~ 2342
Khool-stretching out
1 Samuel 18:6 ~ 4246 Mekolaw-dancing to celebrate
1 Samuel 21:11 ~ 4246 Mekolaw-dancing to celebrate
1 Samuel 30:16 ~ 2287 Kahawgag-to move in a circle/march in a sacred recession; circular celebration of happiness or giddiness
2 Samuel 6:14 ~ 3769 Kawraw-whirling dance of celebration
2 Samuel 6:16 ~ 3769 Kawraw-whirling dance of celebration
1 Chronicles 15:29 ~ 7540 Rawkad-to spring wildly for joy; leap or skip
Job 21:11 ~ 7540 Rawkad-leap or skip; joy of living life
Psalm 30:11 ~ 4234 Mawkhole-a round dance; celebration; rejoicing
Psalm 149:3 ~ 4234 Mawkhole-turning in circles
Psalm 150:4 ~ 4234 Mawkhole-turning in circles
Ecclesiastes 3:4 ~ 7540 Rawkad-to jump, leap, or skip
Jeremiah 31:4 ~ 4234 Mawkhole-celebration
Jeremiah 31:13 ~ 4234 Mawkhole-rejoicing
Lamentations 5:15 ~ 4234 Mawkhole-rejoicing
New Testament: # in Strong’s Concordance Word (Greek) Meaning
Matthew 11:17 ~ 3738
Orcheomai A ring dance
Matthew 14:6 ~ 3738
Orcheomai A ring dance
Mark 6:22 ~ 3738 Orcheomai A ring dance
Luke 7:32 ~ 3738 Orcheomai A ring dance
Luke 15:25 ~ 5525
Choros A round dance
While these verses all talk about dancing, we need to learn their context to understand the meaning and whether in that instance dancing was good or allowed.
In Exodus, both times were speaking of a celebration dance because it was to rejoice. 15:20 was Miriam rejoicing with the other women because they were able to get away from Pharaoh’s army and onto dry land (they were crossing the sea). Notice that it only mentions the women dancing, so I infer that there was not any co-ed dancing is this story. In 32:19, the verse refers to the Israelites dancing around the calf to worship it when Moses came down from getting the two tablets (the ten commandments). They were wrongfully dancing, because Moses became furious and broke the tablets; this could have been from either worshipping the idol, from dancing, or both.
In Judges 11:34, it is a tragic story. A man name Jephthah had promised God that if he were able to win battle against the people of Ammon that he would give as a burnt offering the first thing to come through his door when he got home. When he got to his house, his only daughter came out to congratulate him with “timbrels and dancing”. He unfortunately had to keep his word to the Lord, so he had to kill his only child. (If you’d like to read it entirely, it is Judges 11:12-40). This dancing, again, was okay but was a self-dance, as in no one was dancing with another. 21:21 and 21:23 are the same meaning in the same story. In summary, the children of Israel promised an oath that they would not let their women be wives of the tribe of Benjamin. But, all the women of Benjamin were taken captive, and only a few survived. Because of this, they felt bad for them and tried to find them wives that weren’t children of Israel (because of the promise they made). They told the men to go wait in a vineyard where the women of Shiloh would go at the end of each day to stretch, and take a wife from those ladies. The dancing here is what you would do when you were aching from work all day, and you started shaking your limbs and stretching to relieve the pain. This would not really be considered dancing necessarily today, but that is what it was called.
1 Samuel 18:6 is referring to the same dance of celebration that was used by Miriam in Exodus. This dancing was by the women of Israel to celebrate the return of David from killing Goliath. In verse 11 of chapter 21, it references 18:6. It really isn’t a new verse, it only quotes the previous and paraphrases it. 1 Samuel 30:16 is about the Amalekites when they stole from David and his people. David went to take back the stuff, and found them dancing and drinking. This dancing was a circular celebration, so kind of like a line dance you would see with people just having a good time.
2 Samuel 6:14-16 talks about David spinning in circles for celebration because of his happiness from the blessings received from the ark of the Lord. He was doing what we would do when spinning in circles as kids or skipping around because we had just heard wonderful news.
Again, King David is happy about the ark of the covenant. 1 Chronicles 15:29 talks about David jumping and leaping for joy.
Job 21:11 is Job talking about wicked people. He says that they send their children in groups and they dance. This dance refers to the leaping or skipping for joy, so he was talking about why the wicked’s children got to have joy of living life while he suffered so much.
Psalm 30:11 is again David celebrating in round dance for the Lord, by rejoicing in circular motion. 149:3 is David advising Israelites to praise the Lord through the circular dance aforementioned. It is literally turning in circles. In 150:4, it is the same as 149:3.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 is a very popular verse used to support dancing. Little do most know, it means to jump, leap, or skip. This is not advising people that there is a time to dance as in closely with one of the opposite sex. While there is “a time to dance”, as said in this verse, this word does not mean there is a time to dance provocatively, lustfully, or immodestly.
Jeremiah 31:4 ‘s original word is not in any of my resources. If someone knows more about the origin, please comment below! I inferred that it was using the Hebrew word Mawkhole because that is what is used in another Jeremiah verse later in the chapter and because it seemed appropriate in context. I cannot say much on this, as I can only give what I know without leading to presumptuous thoughts.
Jeremiah 31:13 talks about the women of Israel dancing (or whirling in circles for celebration). The Lord was saying that they would rejoice because God would bring His people together again.
Lamentations 5:15 is the last mention of dance in the Old Testament. It refers to the danger Jeremiah faced from his city being taken over. He expressed that he was no longer rejoicing, but rather mourning. This dance is just a way of saying celebration, which he no longer did because he was sad.
Through reading these verses in its original meaning and context, it is easy to tell that the kind of dancing we dispute about today was not relevant to them. They may have participated in it, but the Bible is silent in that matter. Now that we’ve discussed the OT book references, we should talk about the few in the New Testament.
Matthew 11:17 uses the word orcheomai, which means a ring dance. This verse never says that someone danced and isn’t exactly an example of dancing. This is Jesus using a metaphor or example to illustrate His point. He speaks of (in verses 7-14) Him being the Messiah or the One that they prophesied about in the Old Testament. He then says that even if He claims to be the Son of God, none of them would listen; they wouldn’t listen because He didn’t do what they wanted Him to do, and instead did what was right. “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, And saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’”
Matthew 14:6 is a gruesome tale. This was in the story of when King Herod’s daughter asked him to behead John the Baptist. What made him do it? Her dancing. This dance has the same meaning as the one above, a ring dance. A lot of times we jump to conclusions that she was lustful and provocative in her dance, but all the Scriptures tell us is that it was a dance that was more or less walking in circles while doing body movements. Herod could have been intoxicated, which would have made an innocent movement into something it was not, but that’s another story altogether. But, we cannot 100% conclude she was dancing provocatively, or that she was dancing with another person.
Mark 6:22 is a retelling of the story in Matthew 14:6, using the same word.
Luke 7:32 is a retelling of Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:17.
Luke 15:25 is Jesus speaking again. He talks about a parable of two brothers where one takes all his inheritance and wastes it, but them comes to his senses and goes home to ask to be just a servant in his father’s house (because he didn’t feel worthy of being his son after what he’d done). His father surprised him by welcoming him back in and rejoicing and celebrating his return. This is only one half of the story. The other part is that his brother heard all of the celebrating and became furious because his father allowed such celebration for his brother who abandoned them. How he found out about the celebration was that “he heard music and dancing”. This dancing is the Greek word Choros, which is a round dance usually with music, which makes sense because choros→chorus, like singing (or in this case, music). A round dance is a group of people in a circle. A way to picture it is like the round dance that most people picture as a stereotype to Native Americans, or like that scene in Peter Pan where the lost boys do it in a circle around a fire.
So, as we can see, the Bible doesn’t specifically address the kind of dance some people nowadays choose to participate in. So, how do we know if it’s right? The ways to learn how God wants something to be is through the scriptures, usually by reference, example, or direct command. I am going to share a few verses with you that I think relate to this.
Galatian 5:19-21 tells us that those who practice things such as adultery, selfishness, murder, etc. will not go to Heaven. I’d like to focus on the word lasciviousness in verse 19 (KJV, lewdness in NKJV). It comes from a Greek word called aselgeia, which means filthy or wantonness. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, wantonness means “causing sexual excitement”, a synonym for lewdness or lustfulness. So think: is dancing with someone of the opposite sex going to ever lead them to sexual thoughts, whether intentional or not? The Bible clearly says that to cause others to have these desires is a sin, so, if this dancing does that, then it is definitely not okay. Psychological studies have shown that, while two partner or close dancing may not be attractive, it still will arouse people¹. That doesn’t mean you like them; it means your body is acting how it’s supposed to with certain hormones, and those are things that you can’t avoid. Those are also feeling that are supposed to be exclusively for married couples to express, so dancing and causing arousal/lust for others or yourself is not okay. {Romans 13:14 tells us not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.}
Of course, there is always the chance your body functions differently and you don’t have those emotions when you dance or watch others. That means it’s okay for you, right? Not exactly. When you take the Bible into account, you can’t leave out what the rest of the scriptures say. “...as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10 NKJV).” “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4 NKJV).” The problem with that mindset of “it doesn’t affect me so I’m not sinning” is very self centered. While you may not be affected, others will be. We cannot cause other Christians to sin or doubt your faith just because of selfish reasoning. (And even if you’re not affected, not everyone will know that.) Romans 14:13 and 14:21 say “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way”, “It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother tumbles or is offended or is made weak” (NKJV) (also refer to 1 Corinthians 8:13). Is fulfilling your wants of dancing worth the struggles of another?
1 Corinthians 10:31-33: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved” (NKJV). Do people think of godliness when they see you dancing?
I have shared with you all my knowledge on this topic. Obviously dancing in and of itself is not inherently evil, but it can be done in a sinful way. There are acceptable dances that were done to praise God, but no examples of the slow dance a lot of teens/young adults participate in nowadays. It’s up to you to decide what you will do with God’s word; whether you will take heed against what He has not permitted and do what is right. I choose to avoid the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). I hope you will do the same.
References:
¹ Stevens, Catherine J.; Schubert, Emery; Morris, Rua Haszard; Frear, Matt; Chen, Johnson; Healey, Sue; Schoknecht, Colin; Hansen, Stephen (2009). "Cognition and the temporal arts: Investigating audience response to dance using PDAs that record continuous data during live performance". International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 67 (9): 800–813. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2009.06.001.