Keluaran 34:15

34:15 Be careful ¹  not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when ²  they prostitute themselves ³  to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, ⁴  you will eat from his sacrifice;

Yeremia 3:6

3:6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. ⁵  You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. ⁶ 

Yeremia 3:9

3:9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land ⁷  through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. ⁸ 

Yehezkiel 23:3

23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers ⁹  fondled their virgin nipples there.

Yehezkiel 23:1

Two Sisters

23:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

1 Korintus 10:20

10:20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice ¹⁰  is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.

[34:15]  ¹ tn The sentence begins simply “lest you make a covenant”; it is undoubtedly a continuation of the imperative introduced earlier, and so that is supplied here.

[34:15]  ² tn The verb is a perfect with a vav consecutive. In the literal form of the sentence, this clause tells what might happen if the people made a covenant with the inhabitants of the land: “Take heed…lest you make a covenant…and then they prostitute themselves…and sacrifice…and invite…and you eat.” The sequence lays out an entire scenario.

[34:15]  ³ tn The verb זָנָה (zanah) means “to play the prostitute; to commit whoredom; to be a harlot” or something similar. It is used here and elsewhere in the Bible for departing from pure religion and engaging in pagan religion. The use of the word in this figurative sense is fitting, because the relationship between God and his people is pictured as a marriage, and to be unfaithful to it was a sin. This is also why God is described as a “jealous” or “impassioned” God. The figure may not be merely a metaphorical use, but perhaps a metonymy, since there actually was sexual immorality at the Canaanite altars and poles.

[34:15]  ⁴ tn There is no subject for the verb. It could be rendered “and one invites you,” or it could be made a passive.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn “Have you seen…” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.

[3:9]  ⁷ tc The translation reads the form as a causative (Hiphil, תַּהֲנֵף, tahanef) with some of the versions in place of the simple stative (Qal, תֶּחֱנַף, tekhenaf) in the MT.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of the lightness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.”

[23:3]  ⁹ tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.

[10:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “what they sacrifice”; the referent (the pagans) is clear from the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.