Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Patrina" <patrina AT bestmail.us>]

Peter, agreed!  I also posted that I should have included the previous
verse as well - it was an oversight which would have changed my comments
on the verse below.

Patrina Nuske Small
Adelaide, South Australia

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 10:58:05 +0100, "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
said:
> On 16/07/2004 02:04, Patrina wrote:
> 
> > ...
> >
> >
> >Deuteronomy 23:18 - You shall not bring the hire of a zonah, or the
> >price of a dog (?male prostitute), into the house of YHWH your Elohim
> >for any vow: for both of these are an abomination to YHWH your Elohim.  
> >
> >Here would have been the perfect verse to mention kadeshah if there were
> >any major problems with this.  I think it seems clear that a distinction
> >was made in those days between a sanctioned kadeshah, whose services
> >would have been available in the temple precincts, and a zonah who
> >operates on the highways and byways.  
> >  
> >
> 
> Patrina, here is an excellent example of the principle that you can 
> prove anything by taking a verse out of context. Look at the previous 
> verse, which is 23:18 in the Hebrew, and you will find an unambiguous 
> statement that neither qadesh nor qadesha were sanctioned among the 
> Israelites. The two verses taken together seem to imply that 
> prostitution was not completely banned but was to be kept completely 
> separate from the house of YHWH.
> 
> -- 
> Peter Kirk
> peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> http://www.qaya.org/
>