2 Samuel 9:8

9:8 Then Mephibosheth ¹  bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” ² 

2 Samuel 16:9

16:9 Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

Deuteronomy 23:18

23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute ³  or the wage of a male prostitute ⁴  into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 23:1

Purity in Public Worship

23:1 A man with crushed ⁵  or severed genitals ⁶  may not enter the assembly of the Lord. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 24:14-15

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ⁸  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ⁹  24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Deuteronomy 24:2

24:2 When she has left him ¹⁰  she may go and become someone else’s wife.

Deuteronomy 8:13

8:13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything,

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”

³ tn Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה (zonah) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17.

⁴ tn Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17.

⁵ tn Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”

⁶ tn Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”

⁷ sn The Hebrew term translated “assembly” (קָהָל, qahal) does not refer here to the nation as such but to the formal services of the tabernacle or temple. Since emasculated or other sexually abnormal persons were commonly associated with pagan temple personnel, the thrust here may be primarily polemical in intent. One should not read into this anything having to do with the mentally and physically handicapped as fit to participate in the life and ministry of the church.

⁸ tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

⁹ tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Heb “his house.”