Kejadian 38:21

38:21 He asked the men who were there, ¹  “Where is the cult prostitute ²  who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”

Kejadian 38:1

Judah and Tamar

38:1 At that time Judah left ³  his brothers and stayed ⁴  with an Adullamite man ⁵  named Hirah.

1 Raja-raja 14:24

14:24 There were also male cultic prostitutes ⁶  in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations ⁷  that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

Yehezkiel 16:16

16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. ⁸ 

[38:21]  ¹ tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.

[38:21]  ² 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.

[38:1]  ³ tn Heb “went down from.”

[38:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he turned aside unto.”

[38:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man, an Adullamite.”

[14:24]  ⁶ tc The Old Greek translation has “a conspiracy” rather than “male cultic prostitutes.”

[14:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “they did according to all the abominable acts of the nations.”

[16:16]  ⁸ tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.