Deuteronomy 23:18
in Deuteronomy 23You 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
KJV
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThou shall not bring the hire of a whore,.... Which was given to her as a reward for the use of her body: or the price of a dog; not of the firstborn of a dog, the price for the redemption of it, as some; nor for the loan of a hunting dog, or a shepherd's dog for breed, as Josephus (z) interprets this law.
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
the wages of a prostitute
Where the Berean reads female or male, the Hebrew names a prostitute and a dog. Wesley takes the dog for a male prostitute, as at Revelation 22:15.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
No whore - No common prostitute, such as were tolerated and encouraged by the Gentiles, and used even in their religious worship. Not that such practices were allowed to the strangers among them, as is evident from many scriptures and reasons, but that it was in a peculiar manner, and upon special reasons, forbidden to them, as being much more odious in them than in strangers.
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
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Another Gentile practice, connected with the one alluded to in the preceding verse, is here forbidden. The word “dog” is figurative (compare Rev 22:15), and equivalent to the “sodomite” of the verse preceding.
The words behind it
17 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 |
| תָבִיא֩ | tavi' | you will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶתְנַ֨ן | ʾetnan | [the] price of | H868 → | |
| זוֹנָ֜ה | zonah | a prostitute | H2181 → | 94 times |
| וּמְחִ֣יר | umechir | and [the] hire of | H4242 → | |
| כֶּ֗לֶב | kelev | a dog | H3611 → | |
| בֵּ֛ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | for any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נֶ֑דֶר | neder | vow | H5088 → | 60 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תוֹעֲבַ֛ת | toavat | [are] [the] abomination of | H8441 → | 117 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃ | sheneihem | both of them | H8147 → | 768 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָבִיא֩you will bring
tavi'H935 →2568 times
אֶתְנַ֨ן[the] price of
ʾetnanH868 →
זוֹנָ֜הa prostitute
zonahH2181 →94 times
וּמְחִ֣ירand [the] hire of
umechirH4242 →
כֶּ֗לֶבa dog
kelevH3611 →
בֵּ֛ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לְכָל־for any
lekholH3605 →5413 times
נֶ֑דֶרvow
nederH5088 →60 times
כִּ֧יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
תוֹעֲבַ֛ת[are] [the] abomination of
toavatH8441 →117 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃both of them
sheneihemH8147 →768 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
Matthew 7:6Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
it leads to
- Proverbs 9:7–8
He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.
- Proverbs 23:9
Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Matthew 10:14–15
And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
- Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
- Matthew 15:26
But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
- Proverbs 9:7–8
Through
Philippians 3:2Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:13
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 11:13
Through
Revelation 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Revelation 21:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
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; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.