Genesis 38:16-18

38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” ¹  (He did not realize ²  it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” ³  38:17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” ⁴  38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. ⁵  She became pregnant by him.

Deuteronomy 23:17-18

Purity in Cultic Personnel

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.

Hosea 2:12

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.

Joel 3:3

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 

Micah 1:7

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 

Luke 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ²²  came back, who has devoured ²³  your assets with prostitutes, ²⁴  you killed the fattened calf ²⁵  for him!’

[38:16]  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.

[38:16]  ² tn Heb “for he did not know that.”

[38:16]  ³ tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “until you send.”

[38:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[23:17]  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).

[23:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “daughters.”

[23:17]  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).

[23:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “sons.”

[23:18]  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.

[23:18]  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.

[2:12]  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.”

[2:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  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).

[1:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ²⁰ tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  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 Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.

[15:30]  ²² sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

[15:30]  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.

[15:30]  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.

[15:30]  ²⁵ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.