Harlot (Prostitute)

How Nave’s arranged it

• Shamelessness ofProverbs 2:16Proverbs 7:11–27Proverbs 9:13–18
• Machinations ofProverbs 7:10Proverbs 9:14–17Isaiah 23:15Isaiah 23:16Hosea 2:13
• To be shunnedProverbs 5:3–20Proverbs 7:25–27
• Hire of, not to be received at the templeDeuteronomy 23:18
• RahabJoshua 2:3–6Joshua 6:17Joshua 6:23Joshua 6:25Hebrews 11:31
• See Adultery
• See Harlotry

The passages, in Bible order (16)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Deuteronomy 23:18

   You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:182 voices

   “The hire of a whore, or the price of a dog - Many public prostitutes dedicated to their gods a part of their impure earnings; and some of these prostitutes were publicly kept in the temple of Venus Melytta, whose gains were applied to the support of her abominable worship.

   “Or the price of a dog - It seems to mean, of a whoremonger or sodomite. Such are called dogs, Rev. xxii, 15. And it is not improbable they are called so here.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 23:18→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Joshua 2:3–6

   So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.”

   ›Commentary on Joshua 2:3–61 voice

   “The king of Jericho sent unto Rahab - This appears to be a proof of the preceding opinion: had she been a prostitute or a person of ill fame he could at once have sent officers to have seized the persons lodged with her as vagabonds; but if she kept a house of entertainment, the persons under her roof were sacred, according to the universal custom of the Asiatics, and could not be molested on any trifling grounds.

   Everything gathered on Joshua 2:3–6→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Joshua 6:17

   Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.

   ›Commentary on Joshua 6:171 voice

   “Accursed - Better as in margin, (“devoted” (Lev 27:28 note). In other cases the inhabitants only of the towns were slain; their cattle and property became the booty of the victors. But Jericho, as the first Canaanite city that was captured, was devoted by Israel as first-fruits to God, as a token that Israel received all the land from Him. Every living thing was put to death (Rahab and her household excepted) as a sacrifice to God, and the indestructible goods were Jos 6:19 brought into the treasury of the sanctuary.

   Everything gathered on Joshua 6:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Joshua 6:23

   So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

   ›Commentary on Joshua 6:232 voices

   “And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab,.... Not only went into the city, but into Rahab's house, which they knew again by the scarlet thread hung out at the window of it. But here a difficulty occurs, how they could be said to go into her house, when it was built on the town wall, Jos 2:15; and that was now fallen down flat.

   “The part of the wall adjoining Rahab’s house had not fallen along with the rest. Rahab and “all that she had,” i. e., the persons belonging to her household, were brought out and “left without the camp of Israel.” These words literally “made to rest outside the camp of Israel” - indicate that being still in their paganism, they were separated from the camp of the Lord. This was only for a time. They desired, and eventually obtained, admission to the covenant of the chosen people of God Jos 6:25.

   Everything gathered on Joshua 6:23→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Joshua 6:25

   And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.

   ›Commentary on Joshua 6:252 voices

   “The harlot olive - For that general command of rooting out the Canaanites seems to have had some exception, in case any of them had sincerely and seasonably cast off their wickedness, and submitted to the Israelites.

   “Even unto this day - These words are rightly noted as implying that the narrative was written not long after the occurrences which it records.

   Everything gathered on Joshua 6:25→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Proverbs 2:16

   It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 2:162 voices

   “The stranger which flattereth with her words - החליקה hechelikah, she that smooths with her words. The original intimates the glib, oily speeches of a prostitute. The English lick is supposed to be derived from the original word.

   “To deliver thee from the strange woman,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange" woman; not because of another nation, or unknown, but because she belongs to another person, and not to him whom she entices into her embraces.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 2:16→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Proverbs 5:3–20

   Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 5:3–202 voices

   “Even when the sinner looks for gratification, he doesn't find the fruit of his sin pleasant. As the wisdom of God says in another place, "Bread of deceit is pleasant to a man, but after he eats it, his mouth will be filled with gravel." And, "Honey drips from the lips of an adulteress, and for a time it tastes sweet, but in the end you will find it more bitter than gall and sharper than a two-edged sword." So he eats and is quite pleased for a little while.

   “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,.... "Mulsa dicta", "honey words", as is Plautus's (e) expression.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 5:3–20→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Proverbs 7:10

   Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 7:102 voices

   “With a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks.

   “A woman with the attire of a harlot - It appears that sitting in some open place, and covering the face, or having a veil of a peculiar kind on, was the evidence of a harlot, Gen 38:14, Gen 38:15-19. No doubt, in Solomon’s time, they had other distinctions. In all other countries, and in all times. the show of their countenance did testify against them; they declared their sin as Sodom; they hid it not.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 7:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Proverbs 7:11–27

   She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 7:11–272 voices

   “With a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks.

   “She is loud and stubborn - המיה homiyah, she is never at rest, always agitated; busily employed to gain her end, and this is to go into the path of error: סררת sorereth, “turning aside;” preferring any way to the right way. And, therefore, it is added, her feet abide not in her house, she gads abroad; and this disposition probably first led her to this vice.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 7:11–27→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Proverbs 7:25–27

    Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths.

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Proverbs 9:13–18

    The woman named Folly is loud; she is naive and knows nothing.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 9:13–182 voices

    “A foolish woman is clamorous,.... Some by this woman understand folly itself, as opposed to wisdom; others blind reason, ignorant of divine things; others carnal sensual pleasure, which entices and draws men to that which is evil; others heresy and superstition; others the old serpent, the devil; she seems to be the same with the strange woman and harlot before described, Pro 2:16, &c. and being set in direct opposition to Wisdom, or Christ, seems to design antichrist, who is described in the book of the Revelation as the great whore; and all the characters here agree with the same.

    “The picture of the harlot as the representative of the sensual life, the Folly between which and Wisdom the young man has to make his choice (Pro 9:3 note). “Simple,” in the worst sense, as open to all forms of evil. “Knoweth nothing,” ignorant with the ignorance which is willful and reckless.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 9:13–18→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Proverbs 9:14–17

    She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the heights of the city,

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 9:14–172 voices

    “For she sitteth at the door of her house - Her conduct here marks at once her folly, impudence, and poverty. See above on Pro 7:6 (note), etc., where the reader will find a similar character.

    "Do not all persons of rank and figure in the world" (says she) "give themselves a greater liberty than the strict laws of virtue allow; and why shouldst thou humble thyself so far as to be cramped by them?" Thus the tempter affects to seem both kind and great. Who are the tempted--young people who have been well educated; these she will triumph most in being the ruin of.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 9:14–17→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Isaiah 23:15

    At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

    ›Commentary on Isaiah 23:152 voices

    “29:10). shall Tyre sing as . . . harlot--It shall be to Tyre as the song of the harlot, namely, a harlot that has been forgotten, but who attracts notice again by her song. Large marts of commerce are often compared to harlots seeking many lovers, that is, they court merchants of all nations, and admit any one for the sake of gain (Na 3:4;

    “Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. xxvii, 3, 8 Ezek xxvi, 7, a little after the taking of Jerusalem and was restored by the favour of the Persian monarchs after the return of the Jews. One king - One royal race of Nebuchadnezzar, including his son, and his son's son, in whom his family and kingdom were to expire.

    Everything gathered on Isaiah 23:15→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Isaiah 23:16

    “Take up your harp, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered.”

    ›Commentary on Isaiah 23:161 voice

    “Take an harp - This is a continuation of the figure commenced in the previous verse, a direct command to Tyre as an harlot, to go about the city with the usual expressions of rejoicing. Thus Donatus, in Terent. Eunuch., iii. 2, 4, says: ‘Fidicinam esse meretricum est;’ And thus Horace: ‘Nec meretrix tibicina, cujus Ad strepitum salias.’ 1 Epis. xiv. 25. Thou harlot that hast been forgotten - For seventy years thou hast lain unknown, desolate, ruined.

    Everything gathered on Isaiah 23:16→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Hosea 2:13

    I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

    ›Commentary on Hosea 2:132 voices

    “The days - The sins of those days. Of Baalim - Baal was the great idol of the ten tribes; here it is plural Baalim, to denote the multitude of idols which they worshipped, all called by this one name.

    “I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, or Baals - When men leave the one true God, they make to themselves many idols. They act, as if they could make up a god piece-meal out of the many attributes of the One God, and create their Creator. His power of production becomes one God; His power of destroying, another; His providence, a third; and so on, down to the very least acts.

    Everything gathered on Hosea 2:13→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Hebrews 11:31

    By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.

    ›Commentary on Hebrews 11:312 voices

    “THESE are two New Testament summaries of the life of Rahab and they are equally honorable to her. Paul puts her among the great worthies who, by faith, worked wonders. The 11th chapter of Hebrews is a triumphal arch to the soldiers of faith and among the illustrious names inscribed there are the name of this harlot of Jericho.

    “By faith the harlot Rahab - She resided in Jericho; Jos 2:1. When Joshua crossed the Jordan, he sent two men as spies to her house, and she saved them by concealment from the enemies that would have destroyed their lives. For this act of hospitality and kindness, they assured her of safety when the city should be destroyed, and directed her to give an indication of her place of abode to the invading Israelites, that her house might be spared; Jos 2:18-19. In the destruction of the city, she was accordingly preserved; Josh.

    Everything gathered on Hebrews 11:31→

    Verse page →Original language →