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  • From: <david.kimbrough AT charter.net>
  • To: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>, <Bearpecs AT aol.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Kadeshah
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 15:49:41 +0000

While later traditions certainly condemns the ritual prostitutes, in Genesis
38 Judah thinks nothing too much amiss of making use of what he thinks is a
road side *kadeshah*, who is, of course, is actually is daughter in law
Tamar. Whenever Genesis 38 was writen, the author (and audiance) obviously
did not think using the services of *kadeshah* too taboo or the author would
not have had one of the patriarchs doing so.

>
> From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
> Date: 2004/07/14 Wed AM 08:29:22 GMT
> To: Bearpecs AT aol.com
> CC: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "Sodomite" in 2 Kings 23.7 & Homosexuality
>
> On 14/07/2004 05:04, Bearpecs AT aol.com wrote:
>
> >
> >...
> >
> >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.
> >
> >
> >
> The answer to your theory is in what Yigal wrote:
>
> >In all of
> >these, it refers to something that the Bible regards negatively, some
> >forbidden practice. Since the root QD$ is usually related to things
> >"sacred", one would assume that here, too, the reference is to some
> >forbidden cultic activity.
> >
>
> Furthermore, in many of the references QADESH is linked to the
> idolatrous practices of the neighbouring nations. It is clear that, to
> the faithful Israelites who wrote the Bible books, this was something
> alien, idolatrous and detestable which had been imported into Israelite
> religion by syncretists. Ritual sex for cultic purposes was indeed never
> a part of normative Yahwism. But the Bible repeatedly tells us that
> non-normative pagan practices were imported into Yahwism, and condemned
> by the biblical authors. Even without the explicit references, we would
> expect cultic prostitution to be one of these practices. 2 Kings 23:7 is
> one of the passages in which these practices are condemned, in that they
> were stamped out by Josiah who is commended as the ideal faithful king
> (v.25).
>
> So, although we cannot be sure exactly what a QADESH did, we cannot
> argue that it was not temple prostitution because this was not an
> Israelite practice. Israelite practice in the pre-exilic period did not
> always match the ideals of the Deuteronomist, and the texts bear witness
> to that in their condemnations. Indeed, at times, such as the reign of
> Manasseh, Israelite practice was much like that of the surrounding
> nations, including child sacrifice (2 Kings 21:6), and the use of the
> word QADESH in association with such periods suggests that temple
> prostitution was included.
>
>
> --
> Peter Kirk
> peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> http://www.qaya.org/
>
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>

David Kimbrough
San Gabriel





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