Deuteronomy 23:17
ContextNETBible | There must never be a sacred prostitute 1 among the young women 2 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 3 among the young men 4 of Israel. |
XREF | Ge 19:4,5; Le 19:29; De 22:21,29; Jud 19:22; 1Ki 14:24; 1Ki 15:12; 1Ki 22:46; 2Ki 23:7; Pr 2:16; Ro 1:26; Ro 1:27,28; 1Co 6:9; 1Ti 1:10 |
NET © Notes |
1 tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qÿdeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah). 2 tn Heb “daughters.” 3 tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB). 4 tn Heb “sons.” |