Deuteronomy 23:17
in Deuteronomy 23No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
KJV
There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThere shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel,.... The word for "whore" is "kedeshah", which properly signifies an "holy" one; and here, by an antiphrasis, an unholy, an impure person, one that is defiled by man; See Gill on Gen 38:
This site's exposition
Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you
on Deuteronomy 23:15-18
The runaway is not returned, which reverses the codes around Israel. The laws of Hammurabi put to death the man who hid a fugitive slave.
This site's exposition
to be a shrine prostitute
Barnes places the practice in the worship of Ashtoreth, where a prostitute served at the shrine as part of the rite. It names sons as well as daughters. Such male prostitutes stood in the land at 1 Kings 14:24, and Josiah tore down their quarters at 2 Kings 23:7.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
This seems to have an emphasis laid upon it. For a daughter of Israel to be a whore, or a son of Israel a whoremaster, is to reproach the stock they are come of, the people they belong to, and the God they worship. It is bad in any, but worst in Israelites, a holy nation, 2 Sam. xiii.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Compare the marginal reference. Prostitution was a common part of religious observances among idolatrous nations, especially in the worship of Ashtoreth or Astarte. Compare Mic 1:7; Baruch 6:43.
There shall be no whore - See on Gen 38:15-21 (note).
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִהְיֶ֥ה | tihyeh | she will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| קְדֵשָׁ֖ה | kedeshah | a female cult prostitute | H6948 → | |
| מִבְּנ֣וֹת | mibenot | any of [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | he will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| קָדֵ֖שׁ | kadesh | a male cult prostitute | H6945 → | |
| מִבְּנֵ֥י | mibenei | any of [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִהְיֶ֥הshe will be
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
קְדֵשָׁ֖הa female cult prostitute
kedeshahH6948 →
מִבְּנ֣וֹתany of [the] daughters of
mibenotH1323 →588 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִהְיֶ֥הhe will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
קָדֵ֖שׁa male cult prostitute
kadeshH6945 →
מִבְּנֵ֥יany of [the] sons of
mibeneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 23:7He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:12
He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 16:16
You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!
- 1 Kings 14:24
There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- 1 Kings 15:12
Through
1 Kings 15:12He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:46
He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 22:46
Through
Deuteronomy 22:21she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 13:5
Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the…
- Genesis 34:7
When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that…
- Deuteronomy 13:5
Through
Leviticus 19:29You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 23:17–18
No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.
- Deuteronomy 23:17–18
Through
1 Kings 14:24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:7
He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.
- 2 Kings 23:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.