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  • From: Bearpecs AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "Sodomite" in 2 Kings 23.7 & Homosexuality
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 00:04:56 EDT


In a message dated 7/13/2004 3:09:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
david.kimbrough AT charter.net writes:

While the kadesh performed homosexual acts as a cultic activity,


I do not think it is at all certain that the qadesh performed homosexual
acts. Why do we assume the qedesha performed heterosexual acts but not the
qadesh? Indeed, in the verse cited, we are told that these men were located
in
the spot that women did weaving. Isn't it likely that women went to this
sanctuary site to perform a devotional activity dedicated to a goddess and
were
there entertained by available men?

Further, I am not convinced that qedesha in reference to Tamar truly meant
"temple prostitute" at all. Why not assume that the root has its basic
meaning (HALOT p. 1072) of "set apart"; and as a prostitute she is set apart
from
normative family life.

I also think it is likely that a qadesha associated with a sanctuary may not
have been a "temple prostitute" in the sense of a woman who commited sexual
acts for cultic, ritual reasons. I am not aware of any evidence that
ancient
Israel practiced ritual sex for cultic purposes -- or even acknowledged for
example any sympathetic magic of human sex encouraging agricultural
fertility. (And if you say that all the evidence has been expurgated from
the Bible,
then why would the mention of qedeshot not also be expurgated?) Rather, I
would suggest that a qedesha may have been a woman (presumably a slave)
dedicated to the sanctuary, just as other items were dedicated to the
sanctuary.
Her income would then have belonged to the sanctuary. Thus, she may have
been
a prostitute, and a "holy" prostitute in the sense that her cost went to the
upkeep of the holy sanctuary, but not a "temple prostitute" in the classic
meaning of the term. (A qadesh -- whether performing homosexual or
heterosexual acts -- would similarly have been a sanctuary prostitute but
did not engage
in sex for cultic purposes.) This would be just as deplorable in the eyes
of the Bible as temple prostitution, but I suggest is more consistent with
what we know of the theological environment.









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