23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute 6 among the young women 7 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 8 among the young men 9 of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute 10 or the wage of a male prostitute 11 into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.
2:12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution 12
that my lovers gave to me!”
I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees 13 into an uncultivated thicket,
so that wild animals 14 will devour them.
3:3 and they cast lots for my people.
They traded 15 a boy for a prostitute;
they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. 16
1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;
all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. 17
I will make a waste heap 18 of all her images.
Since 19 she gathered the metal 20 as a prostitute collects her wages,
the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” 21
1 tn Heb “I will go to you.” The imperfect verbal form probably indicates his desire here. The expression “go to” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
2 tn Heb “for he did not know that.”
3 tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
4 tn Heb “until you send.”
5 tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
6 tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qÿdeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah).
7 tn Heb “daughters.”
8 tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).
9 tn Heb “sons.”
10 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.
11 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.
12 tn Heb “my wages.” The words “for prostitution” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied for clarity; cf. CEV “gave…as payment for sex.”
13 tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).
15 tn Heb “gave.”
16 sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).
17 tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”
18 tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).
19 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).
20 tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.
21 tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the
22 sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).
23 sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.
24 sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.
25 sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.