Ezekiel 16:31

16:31 When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment. ¹ 

Genesis 38:14

38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because ²  she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) ³ 

Genesis 38:21

38:21 He asked the men who were there, ⁴  “Where is the cult prostitute ⁵  who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”

Proverbs 9:14-15

9:14 So she sits at the door of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

9:15 calling out ⁶  to those who are passing by her ⁷  in the way, ⁸ 

who go straight ⁹  on their way.

Isaiah 3:9

3:9 The look on their faces ¹⁰  testifies to their guilt; ¹¹ 

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ¹² 

Too bad for them! ¹³ 

For they bring disaster on themselves.

Jeremiah 2:23-24

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to ¹⁴  the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ¹⁵ 

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ¹⁶ 

2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.

In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. ¹⁷ 

No one can hold her back when she is in heat.

None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.

At mating time she is easy to find. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 3:2

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ¹⁹ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ²⁰ 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ²¹ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ²² 

Jeremiah 6:15

6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?

No, they are not at all ashamed.

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die, just like others have died. ²³ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

[16:31]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term, which also occurs in vv. 34 and 41 of this chapter, always refers to the payment of a prostitute (Deut 23:19; Isa 23:17; Hos 9:1; Mic 1:7).

[38:14]  ² tn The Hebrew text simply has “because,” connecting this sentence to what precedes. For stylistic reasons the words “she did this” are supplied in the translation and a new sentence begun.

[38:14]  ³ tn Heb “she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not given to him as a wife.”

[38:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.

[38:21]  ⁵ sn The Hebrew noun translated “cult prostitute” is derived from a verb meaning “to be set apart; to be distinct.” Thus the term refers to a woman who did not marry, but was dedicated to temple service as a cult prostitute. The masculine form of this noun is used for male cult prostitutes. Judah thought he had gone to an ordinary prostitute (v. 15); but Hirah went looking for a cult prostitute, perhaps because it had been a sheep-shearing festival. For further discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution,” Orient and Occident (AOAT), 213-23.

[9:15]  ⁶ tn The infinitive construct “calling out” functions epexegetically in the sentence, explaining how the previous action was accomplished.

[9:15]  ⁷ tn The term “her” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[9:15]  ⁸ tn The noun is a genitive of location after the construct participle. Its parallel word is also an adverbial accusative of location.

[9:15]  ⁹ tn The participle modifies the participle in the first colon. To describe the passers-by in this context as those “who go straight” means that they are quiet and unwary.

[3:9]  ¹⁰ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

[3:9]  ¹² tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

[2:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.

[2:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.

[2:23]  ¹⁶ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.

[2:24]  ¹⁷ tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:24]  ¹⁸ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ²² tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[6:15]  ²³ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”