Deep Dive

Deuteronomy 23:17

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No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.

Commentaries

Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.

Keil-Delitzsch Old Testament Commentaryv. 17

On the other hand, male and female prostitutes of Israelitish descent were not to be tolerated; i.e., it was not to be allowed, that either a male or female among the Israelites should give himself up to prostitution as an act of religious worship. The exclusion of foreign prostitutes was involved in the command to root out the Canaanites. קדּשׁ and קדשׁה were persons who prostituted themselves in the worship of the Canaanitish Astarte (see at Gen 38:21). - "The wages of a prostitute and the money of dogs shall not come into the house of the Lord on account of (ל, for the more remote cause, Ewald, 217) any vow; for even both these (viz., even the prostitute and dog, not merely their dishonourable gains) are abomination unto the Lord thy God." "The hire of a whore" is what the kedeshah was paid for giving herself up. "The price of a dog" is not the price paid for the sale of a dog (Bochart, Spencer, Iken, Baumgarten, etc.), but is a figurative expression used to denote the gains of the kadesh, who was called κίναιδος by the Greeks, and received his name from the dog-like manner in which the male kadesh debased himself (see Rev 22:15, where the unclean are distinctly called "dogs").

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Matthew Henry Bible Commentaryv. 17

The laws of this chapter provide, I. For the preserving of the purity and honour of the families of Israel, by excluding such as would be a disgrace to them (Deu 23:1-8). II. For the preserving of the purity and honour of the camp of Israel when it was abroad (Deu 23:9-14). III. For the encouraging and entertaining of slaves who fled to them (Deu 23:15, Deu 23:16). IV. Against whoredom (Deu 23:17, Deu 23:18). V. Against usury (Deu 23:19, Deu 23:20). IV. Against the breach of vows (Deu 23:21-23). VII. What liberty a man might take in his neighbour's field and vineyard, and what not (Deu 23:23, Deu 23:25).

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Tyndale Open Study Notesv. 17

23:17 A temple prostitute was commonly a part of Canaanite religious rituals, but they were forbidden in Israel.

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Cross-references

Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.

II Kings 23:7rank 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.

Leviticus 19:29rank 6

You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.

I Kings 14:24rank 6

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.

I Kings 22:46rank 5

He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.

Deuteronomy 22:21rank 5

she 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 in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.

I Kings 15:12rank 5

He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

I Timothy 1:10rank 4

for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching

I Corinthians 6:9rank 3

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

Judges 19:22rank 2

While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”

Proverbs 2:16rank 2

It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

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