Prostitution

​​​Introduction

I recently watched the film ‘I Daniel…’ in which a down-at-heel young unmarried mother of two was effectively forced into prostitution as a direct result of her poverty. She needed to make enough money to feed her two children as well as herself and joining an ‘escort agency’ seemed to be the only option within her reach. Despite not approving of that particular life choice, one could not help but understand and sympathise that she was trying to make ends meet to provide for her family. And hers is by no means the only example of a woman effectively being forced into prostitution by her financial needs: https://www.ft.com/content/a5839336-fe3a-470a-b20d-a4a4c7b65ef8 and even reported on in the UK Parliament: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/126343/pdf/.

This caused me to reflect on the numerous and somewhat mixed verses we have in the bible regarding harlots and harlotry. So let us carry out a more thorough investigation on what the good book has to say about prostitution than I have considered previously since it seems to be a topic of some importance to our God.

I should point out that I am here only looking into female heterosexual prostitution. Male prostitution is a whole other ballgame which resides wholly outside the intended scope of this paper and is represented entirely differently in the scriptures. A subject for another day perhaps?
 

The Law

First off, I guess we ought to know what the Law of Moses has to say on the topic of prostitution. Fathers are warned not to allow their daughters to become prostitutes as this would end up being the demise of a healthy society. So, this would be a stricture on fathers to give their daughters proper protection and control to ensure this does not occur in their own households. This would also seem to be a warning to the daughters themselves to take responsibility for leading a life free from harlotry:

29 You shall not pollute your daughter, to cause her to be a prostitute, that the land may not go whoring, and the land become full of wickedness. (Leviticus 19 GLT)

This is extended further in the Book of Deuteronomy from outlawing prostitution among Israel’s daughters to include homosexual behaviour among its sons as well as the conducting of such business in God’s temple:

17 There shall be no prostitute among the daughters of Israel, nor shall there be a homosexual among the sons of Israel. (GLT)
17לֹא-תִהְיֶה קְדֵשָׁה, מִבְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה קָדֵשׁ, מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. (MM)
18 You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah your God for any vow; for even both of these [are] an abomination to Jehovah your God. (Deuteronomy 23 GLT)
18לֹא-תָבִיא אֶתְנַן זוֹנָה וּמְחִיר כֶּלֶב, בֵּית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ--לְכָל-נֶדֶר:  כִּי תוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, גַּם-שְׁנֵיהֶם. (Deuteronomy 23 WLC)

Now the above verses present several challenges as far as the translation of the original Hebrew text is concerned. Firstly, it is not clear whether that homosexual behaviour would be that of a male prostitute since the Hebrew root ‘קְדֵשָׁ’ is used to describe ‘prostitute’ and ‘homosexual’ in the above translation. I should add that I consider Green’s translation to be as good as any other in this respect. In verse 18 above it is also not clear to the writer whether ‘dog’ refers to a general conducting of secular business in God’s house or whether it is being used as a derogative term aimed at male prostitutes conducting their specific trade in the temple. I am not sure if it really matters for the topic at hand since God is clearly condemning all those behaviours regardless of the details. However, a different Hebrew word ‘זוֹנָה’ is used in verse 18 with more of the meaning of ‘fornicator’. Since a different word is used for ‘prostitute’, it would seem comparable that ‘dog’ would be substituted for ‘homosexual’ would it not? For those interested readers, I found the following website to be very helpful in exploring the real definition of the Hebrew word ‘קְדֵשָׁ’: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/temple-prostitute-word-study/.

Then we have the law that an Aaronic priest was not to take a prostitute as a wife due to their unclean behaviour. Did this mean that it was okay for a man not of the cloth to do so I wonder? I think the answer to this question must be ‘yes’. If that be the case then a prostitute would represent a level of unholiness to God but not to the bulk of mankind:

7 They shall not take a woman [who is] a prostitute, or polluted; nor shall they take a woman put away from her husband; for he [is] holy to his God. (Leviticus 21 GLT)

A couple of verses further on we have this statute against the daughter of any priest,  presumably Levitical as well as Aaronic, playing the harlot. Again, this would seem to be a sin against the holiness of God and His priesthood. We can see how seriously God views this particular behaviour since it is deemed a capital offense, bringing upon its perpetrator the  sentence of death.

9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. (Leviticus 21 KJV)

God also treated those that would follow after foreign gods as harlots, being unfaithful to Jehovah:

5 then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that play the harlot after him, to play the harlot with Molech, from among their people.
6 And the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards, to play the harlot after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. (Leviticus 20 ASV)

We will see later on in this paper that God also regarded this description of the harlotry of nation states in the same way as the Law would apply to an individual man.
 

The New Testament

As in all things, the forgiving principle of the New Testament can override the Law, but not replace it, where appropriate. In His parable-telling to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus advises them that their priestly endowments count as nothing compared to a harlot that believes in the saving grace of our saviour. Interesting that even in those days tax collectors were considered the equals of harlots (LOL):

31 Which of the two did the will of the father? They said to Him, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, The tax collectors and the harlots go before you into the kingdom of God.
32 For John came to you in [the] way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax-collectors and the harlots believed him. And having seen, you did not repent afterwards to believe him. (Matthew 21 GLT)

However, notwithstanding this, Paul still references the Law in that the 1NC Saints within the Corinthian congregation must not have relations with a harlot:

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make [them] the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. (1 Corinthians 6 KJV)

But then, was Paul talking about a physical or a spiritual harlot I wonder??
 

Rahab

The story of Rahab the prostitute is a lengthy tale covering many biblical verses, so I shall attempt to keep the quotations to the minimum necessary to convey the message that this account delivers. It begins with Joshua’s sending out two spies who chose to lodge at a prostitute’s house.

1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. (Joshua 2 KJV)

Why stay at a prostitute’s house? Well, I think it was because the Holy Spirit had an important message to impart to us, so let us read on. The King of Jericho got to hear of the spies staying at Rahab’s house and demanded that she bring them out. Rahab said that she did not know who they were but that they had already left and she did not know where they now were. In actuality, she had hidden them on her roof:

3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have come in to you, who have come into your house. For they have come in to search out all the land.
4 And the woman took the two men and hid them, and said, This way the men came in to me, but I did not know from where they were.
5 And it happened [as] the gate was to [be] shut at dark, even the men went out. I do not know where they have gone. You go after them, and hurry, for you may overtake them.
6 But she made them go up on the roof, and hid them with stalks of flax, which she arranged on the roof. (Joshua 2 GLT)

A little later she explained to the two spies that the reason she had hidden them was that she also feared God and hoped that her dealing kindly with them would put her and her family in good stead with the Israelites and thereby Jehovah:

9 And she said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given the land to you, and that your terror has fallen on us, and that all those living in the land have melted before you.
10 For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Sea of Reeds before you, as you were going out of Egypt; also that which you have done to two kings of the Amorites who [were] beyond the Jordan; to Sihon, and to Og, whom you destroyed.
11 And we have heard, and our heart has melted, and there still does not rise spirit in [any] man, because of you. For Jehovah your God, He is God in the heavens above, and in the earth below.
12 And now, please swear to me by Jehovah, since I have dealt with you in kindness, that you will also deal with my father's house in kindness, and shall give to me a true token;
13 and shall keep alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that [is] to them, and shall deliver our souls from death.
14 And the men said to her, Our life instead of yours, if you do not tell this matter of ours, then it shall be, when Jehovah gives this land to us that we shall deal with you in kindness and truth. (Joshua 2 GLT)

The spies kept their promise by bringing Rahab and her family out of her house before the Israelites destroyed Jericho. Joshua clearly made the point that they were being saved as a direct result of her hiding his spies. And as a further consequence, she became a citizen of Israel:

21 And they utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.
24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that [was] therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel [even] unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Joshua 6 KJV)

This account is deemed important enough to be referenced by Paul in his letter to the Hebrew congregation:

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11 KJV)

Likewise, it is further confirmed by James:

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent [them] out another way? (James 2 KJV)

Regardless of her (illicit?) trade, Rahab was saved from destruction through her faith in God. From this, it would seem that God treats kindly all those who act out their faith in Him regardless of their erstwhile sinful behaviour. This is a message that is consistent through all scripture and should give all faithful ones great comfort in these difficult times.
 

Acting the Harlot

Well, let us now continue with the somewhat strange tale of Judah and his widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar:

11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren [did]. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
14 And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which [is] by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought her [to be] an harlot; because she had covered her face.
16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she [was] his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17 And he said, I will send [thee] a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give [me] a pledge, till thou send [it]?
18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that [is] in thine hand. And he gave [it] her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. (Genesis 38 KJV)

24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she [is] with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
25 When she [was] brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these [are, am] I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose [are] these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
26 And Judah acknowledged [them], and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins [were] in her womb. (Genesis 38 KJV)

This is a pretty convoluted tale from which I hope to gain a few insights into God’s view of prostitution. This account starts with Judah promising Tamar, his daughter-in-law, the hand of his youngest son Shelah. Her previous marriages to Judah’s elder sons had ended with both their deaths at the hand of God. Sometime after this, Judah’s wife died and he then went to the town of Timnath to get his sheep sheared after a period of comfort for her death. Tamar was made aware of this and decided to play the harlot by the wayside knowing that Judah would pass her on the way to Timnath. She covered her face with a veil so that he would not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

Well, they conducted their business as she had planned. Sometime afterwards, Tamar’s consequent pregnancy was made known to Judah and he responded immediately by proposing that she be burnt as a whore as per Leviticus 21:9 above. However, when she was brought forth to him, she laid out the tokens of payment that he had given her for her services. Judah acknowledged that they were his and that therefore she was pregnant with his issue. He then effectively acknowledged that she wanted children of the house of Judah and stated, as a result of the overall transaction, that Tamar had been more righteous than he in that regard. He had not delivered on his promise to give her to his son Shelah. Finally, she was blessed with twin boys.

What are we to learn from all of these goings on? Well, apart from anything else, God did not intervene in any of this. Tamar acted the harlot for the sole purpose of having children in the house of Judah and not to make any ill-gotten gains from her trade. Both Judah and Tamar were no longer married and therefore were not committing adultery. Judah had just gotten over the death of his wife so was arguably in a delicate frame of mind that made him seek comfort from a prostitute’s services. So, whilst this was not a true case of prostitution, it all seems to have been acceptable to God. Perhaps Jehovah was pleased that two more young souls were being brought into the world and into His holy people?
 

Proverbs Chapter 7

The whole of this particular chapter of Solomon’s wisdom is solely devoted to the ‘strange woman dressed as a harlot’ and hence its dedicated place in this paper. Again, for the sake of brevity, I will only quote those verses which are necessary to highlight the key points of my research.

Let me set the scene by starting at verse 4. Clearly here we are dealing with symbolic substitutions which frequently involve identifying different women with different respective entities or qualities. In this example of the True Bible Code (check out section 'C2.5  Paul describes one particular account in Genesis as a symbolic drama' in Understanding C2 - What reason is there to suppose that the bible is in a code?) one’s ‘sister’ represents ‘wisdom’, one’s ‘kinswoman’ represents ‘understanding’ and the ‘strange woman’ by deduction represents the deceiver:

4 Say unto wisdom, Thou [art] my sister; and call understanding [thy] kinswoman:
5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger [which] flattereth with her words. (Proverbs 7 KJV)

The rest of the chapter then goes on to warn the innocent ones to be wary of the deceiver who is symbolically dressed as the painted lady of the night. First off, Solomon identifies the deceiver’s victim as a young inexperienced and not worldly-wise man who happens past her place of entrapment:

7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, (Proverbs 7 KJV)

The scene is set at night, well removed from the light of day and of righteousness. The deceiver again dressed as an enticing harlot but with a cunning agenda:

9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
10 And, behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (Proverbs 7 KJV)

There then follows a brief but interesting description of the deceiver. ‘She’ is described as a loud and rebellious individual. I think we have all encountered this type of person, in everyday life, whose extravert and iconoclastic behaviour is very attractive to the unwary. The deceiver also appears to have no home of her own, preferring the public places in which to ensnare her victims:

11 She is riotous and rebellious, her feet abide not in her house;
12 Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and lieth in wait at every corner. (Proverbs 7 JPS)

After several verses describing her manner of enticing the young man with her words of temptation, we then have his yielding to her wiles, describing his response to her as an ox going unknowingly to its slaughter:

21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; (Proverbs 7 KJV)

The chapter finishes with Solomon’s final warning not to be taken in by the deceiver as it will lead to the gates of Gehenna:

25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong [men] have been slain by her.
27 Her house [is] the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. (Proverbs 7 KJV)

So, in Proverbs Chapter 7 we have the harlot portrayed as Satan from whom we have to protect ourselves with the God-given worldly wisdom with which we are endowed. So, despite the positive attributes of harlots that we have previously seen, we are now given the potential negative portrait of harlotry. I think this provides an interesting view that one should never take anyone as one finds them at first sight. I have often found in life that once you get to really talk to someone for the first time, one is often surprised that their appearance and outward behaviour belies their true character for good or for bad. I guess we all put on an outward appearance for the public view that does not necessarily portray who we really are. More great wisdom from King Solomon.
 

National Harlotry

The Bible provides many examples of nation states being described as harlots. The Hebrew word for harlotry ‘זּוֹנָה’ can also mean ‘adultery’. The Bible uses this term to describe nations that follow gods other than Jehovah signifying that God considers these peoples as being unfaithful to Him. One example of this is directed at Tyre, which was one of the main city-states of the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were a trading nation that held close ties with Israel, but who went through phases of following false gods hence these verses from Isaiah:

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it shall be unto Tyre as in the song of the harlot. (ASV)
15וְהָיָה, בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, וְנִשְׁכַּחַת צֹר שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, כִּימֵי מֶלֶךְ אֶחָד; מִקֵּץ שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, יִהְיֶה לְצֹר, כְּשִׁירַת, הַזּוֹנָה. (MM)
16 Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. (ASV)
16  קְחִי כִנּוֹר סֹבִּי עִיר, זוֹנָה נִשְׁכָּחָה; הֵיטִיבִי נַגֵּן הַרְבִּי-שִׁיר, לְמַעַן תִּזָּכֵרִי. (MM)
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. (Isaiah 23 ASV)
17וְהָיָה מִקֵּץ שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, יִפְקֹד יְהוָה אֶת-צֹר, וְשָׁבָה, לְאֶתְנַנָּה; וְזָנְתָה אֶת-כָּל-מַמְלְכוֹת הָאָרֶץ, עַל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. (Isaiah 23 MM)

Similarly, we have Nahum’s rant against Nineveh, the ancient metropolis of Assyria, which, one might recall, fell foul of God’s favour on more than one occasion:

4 because of the many harlotries of the well favored harlot, the mistress of sorceries who sells nations by her harlotries, and families by her sorceries.
5 Behold, I [am] against you, declares Jehovah of Hosts, and I will uncover your skirts over your face, and I will cause the nations to see your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
6 And I will cast filth on you and will disgrace you. And I will set you as a spectacle.
7 And it shall be [that] all those who look on you shall flee from you and shall say, Nineveh is laid waste; who shall weep for her? From where shall I seek comforters for you? (Nahum 3 GLT)

And then, of course, we have the key example of God’s people Israel being warned against becoming an adulterous nation in God’s eyes:

14 for thou shalt worship no other god: for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
15 lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 and thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods, and make thy sons play the harlot after their gods. (Exodus 34 ASV)

And then prophesied to becoming such:

16 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. (Deuteronomy 31 ASV)

And finally acting out according to the prophesy:

17 And yet they hearkened not unto their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; [but] they did not so. (Judges 2 ASV)

25 And they trespassed against the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them. (1 Chronicles 5 ASV)

35 But mingled themselves with the nations, And learned their works,
36 And served their idols, Which became a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
38 And shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their works, And played the harlot in their doings. (Psalms 106 ASV)

As well as going after other gods, the Israelites also took the things of their own worship and effectively turned them into their own idols thereby also playing the harlot in God’s judgement:

27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. (Judges 8 ASV)

15 But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.
16 And thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places decked with divers colors, and playedst the harlot upon them: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].
17 Thou didst also take thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of men, and didst play the harlot with them; (Ezekiel 16 ASV)

Here God displays serious anger towards His own people at their idolatrous behaviour and makes specific symbolic reference to their gathering in a harlot’s house:

7 For this I am not propitious to thee, Thy sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by that which is not god, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together. (Jeremiah 5 YLT)

Somewhat earlier in the history of the Israelites, Israel became an adulterous people in that they forsook their obedience to Jehovah in favour of following after false idols. Here Hosea clearly likens such idolatry to the behaviour of an adulteress or prostitute. So, again, we see God’s displeasure at such behaviour:

12 My people seek advice by their wooden [idols], and their rod declares to them. For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they fornicated from under their God.
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because its shade is good. On account of this, your daughters shall prostitute, and your brides shall commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they fornicate, nor your brides when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go aside with harlots, and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes. The people [who] do not understand are thrust down.
15 Israel, though you fornicate, do not let Judah become guilty. And do not come [to] Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, nor swear, [As] Jehovah lives. (Hosea 4 GLT)

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled.
4 Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not Jehovah.
5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them. (Hosea 5 ASV)

10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there [is] the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. (Hosea 6 KJV)

Micah also commented on Israel’s idolatry in terms of harlotry:

6 And I will make Samaria into ruins of the field, planting places for a vineyard. And I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations.
7 And all her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her [gifts for] harlotry shall be burned with fire. And I will make all her idols a desolation. For she gathered [it] from the reward of a harlot, and they shall return to the reward of a harlot. (Micah 1 GLT)
 

Ezekiel 23

Following on from the previous section and, just as we had for Proverbs Chapter 7, we find the whole of Ezekiel Chapter 23 dedicated to God’s rant against the children of Israel for their whoredoms with other ungodly nations. Again, I will not reproduce the whole chapter here but you can see, from the sheer volume of verses, how indignant Jehovah was at the behaviour of His chosen people. What is also interesting from the LW standpoint is that this is yet another example of the True Bible Code (Understanding C2 - What reason is there to suppose that the bible is in a code?) standing out in plain sight. Once again we have two women, this time taken as symbolising the two nations of Judah and Israel:

2 'Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
3 and they committed harlotries in Egypt; they committed harlotries in their youth; there were their bosoms pressed, and there their virgin breasts were bruised.
4 And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister; and they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah. (Ezekiel 23 JPS)

Idol worship again is the key issue for our God, paralleling this with a harlot’s actions in trade. In the punishment meted out to Israel, she is being treated as a condemned prostitute, the symbolism being extended by describing other nations also as women:   

7 And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
8 Neither hath she left her harlotries brought from Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised her virgin breasts; and they poured out their lust upon her.
9 Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10 These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword among women, for judgments were executed upon her. (Ezekiel 23 JPS)

The symbolism is carried further by describing the prostitute’s customers as ‘desirable young men’. This description I think carries the sense that this harlot was not acting out her trade to make a living but because she enjoyed acting the part, thus making her out to be rather more the adulteress than the prostitute:

12 She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, [her] neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. (Ezekiel 23 ASV)

More symbolism follows representing adultery rather than prostitution. It also appears that Judah was very aware of the sinful ways of the Babylonians but that did not stop her from continuing to emulate their idolatrous practices. Verse 20 has Israel portrayed as having a big sexual appetite by lusting after the (symbolically!) large male members of her Babylonian lovers; this sounds little short of pornography:

17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
18 So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh [is as] the flesh of asses, and whose issue [is like] the issue of horses. (Ezekiel 23 KJV)

That we are dealing here with adultery rather than prostitution is made clear in that God’s jealousy mirrors the response that a husband would have for his wife playing away, with a view to exacting a harsh retribution in response:

25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. (Ezekiel 23 KJV)

Despite the parallel with adultery, we cannot forget that the overall sinful nature of Judah’s behaviour is also deserving of punishment from God:

29 And they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take all [the fruits] of thy labours and thy toils, and thou shalt be naked and bare: and the shame of thy fornication shall be exposed: and thy ungodliness and thy fornication
30 brought this upon thee, in that thou wentest a-whoring after the nations, and didst defile thyself with their devices. (Ezekiel 23 LXXb)

And, just in case of any doubt, we have confirmation of Israel’s and Judah’s adultery and generally sinful behaviour:

36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37 That they have committed adultery, and blood [is] in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through [the fire], to devour [them].
38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house. (Ezekiel 23 KJV)

And again, just in case you have forgotten the symbolism depicted at the start of this chapter:

43 Then said I unto [her that was] old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she [with them]?
44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women. (Ezekiel 23 KJV)

And so on… I think you will agree that God certainly wasn’t kidding when He decried the sinful ways of His chosen people continually comparing their behaviour towards Him with the sinful ways of prostitutes and adulteresses throughout the whole of this extensive chapter of His Word!
 

The End-Times

The greater harlotry of the false Christian churches is explicitly recounted in the Book of Revelation. Whilst I think it is TCC1, the Roman Catholic Church, which will likely come in for the major retribution, I think TCC3, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, will also be heavily judged by our God as per the True Bible Code website (Understanding 151/17a - Revelation 17 [Beast is the Roman State. Lamb is Jesus. Woman is the 1NC Kings. The Harlot is false 1NC Kings. Great harlot is the Roman Catholic Church - which is the corruption of the first Christian church beginning with Pope Linus] and Understanding 151/17b - Revelation 17 [Beast is the UN, Lamb is Jesus, Woman is the 1NC saints, Harlot is the Watchtower]). It is ironic that the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation of the Bible provides the clearest of the translations for this verse:

1 And one of the 7 angels that had the 7 bowls came and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, (Revelation 17 NWT) 

 
The Use of Prostitutes

This paper was originally intended to look at what the Bible had to say about female prostitutes. What has struck me since I started my research for this paper was what the Bible had to say about the users of a prostitutes’ services. This, unsurprisingly, would seem to be a somewhat different kettle of fish. The Scriptures seem to be unequivocal about this side of the coin.

Let us have a look at some other verses from that wise King Solomon. The following verses from Proverbs Chapter 6 have been variously translated but the best sense that I have got from them is that for a man to be bedazzled by an illicit relationship with a woman is sinful but that the price exacted by a prostitute is minor compared with the price exacted by an adulterous affair with another man’s wife. This makes perfect sense to my mind:

24 to guard you against the bad woman, against the smoothness of the tongue of the foreign woman.
25 Do not desire her prettiness in your heart, and may she not take you with her lustrous eyes,
26 because in behalf of a woman prostitute [one comes down] to a round loaf of bread; but as regards another man's wife, she hunts even for a precious soul. (Proverbs 6 NWT)

Nonetheless we are later told that all illicit sexual relations are sinful and are therefore to be avoided:

27 For a whore [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men. (Proverbs 23 KJV)

More words of wisdom suggesting that those that use the services of harlots are lacking in wisdom. It is beginning to sound as if using harlots is not so much sinful as unwise:

3 He who loves wisdom gladdens his father, but a feeder of harlots wastes wealth. (Proverbs 29 GLT)

Then we are told, apropos nothing at all apparently, that the Judge Samson used the services of a prostitute. What is interesting about this verse is that one of God’s heroes used such services without any comeback whatsoever from Jehovah. This seems to put the use of a prostitute down to a man’s physical needs rather than a sinful act:

1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. (Judges 16 KJV)

Then we have the reaction from the elder sibling of the prodigal son. The elder brother accuses the younger of profligate living in the company of harlots. The father, however, is forgiving of his youngest in that he has returned to his household. The father, though, describes the prodigal of having been dead/lost and on his return is now alive/found. Since the parable is about those condemned to Gehenna and being repentant and returned to the Kingdom of God, this certainly does not put those using  a harlot’s services in a very good light:

30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15 KJV)
 

Synopsis

1. Female heterosexual prostitution can be seen in several different lights. The Bible has much to say on the subject to reflect these various perspectives.
2. Prostitution is clearly denounced in the Law of Moses, in the case of the priesthood being deemed to be a capital offence.
   
3. Whilst abiding by the Law in Paul’s denouncing of the joining of a 1NC Saint to a harlot, the New Testament still preaches the salvation of a harlot for believing in her saviour.
   
4. Even the Old Testament is at pains to demonstrate the saving of a harlot, Rahab, for protecting the two Israelite spies in her house.
   
5. Acting the harlot and the use of a harlot’s services in the case of Tamar and Judah goes without any mention of retribution from Jehovah. A case of mitigation against punishment for an act of prostitution.
   
6. The whole of the Book of Proverbs Chapter 7 is devoted to the symbolic representation and interplay between wisdom, understanding and the ‘strange woman’ acting as the deceiving harlot aka Satan.
   
7. In further symbolism, the actions of nations, especially those of Israel, is likened to a harlot or adulteress in being unfaithful to Jehovah by following after false gods.
   
8. The symbolic harlotry of Israel and Judah is further expanded upon throughout the whole of the Book of Ezekiel Chapter 23.
   
9. The End-times brings us the depiction of the false church(es) as the Great Harlot thereby extending national harlotry beyond Old Testament times.
   
10. The use of a harlot’s services is presented as lacking in wisdom but not as inviting punishment except in cases of adultery.

 

Conclusion

As I expected, on deciding to write this paper, the scriptures have much to say about prostitution, with whole chapters devoted that single topic. Whilst it is clearly a sinful way of life to provide or use such services, there appear to be numerous mitigating circumstances which would cause such behaviour to go unpunished. It is often portrayed as unwise behaviour rather than terminal in God’s eyes.

Prostitution can be confused with adultery, given the lack of clarity provided by the Biblical Hebrew language. Prostitution is used symbolically on a national scale to describe the behaviour of whole nations. Israel is the prime example of this in their following after foreign gods, this being akin to unfaithfulness to Jehovah. Prostitution/adultery is thereby an important topic for our God. Amen.

Before closing I should mention that, prior to my writing this paper, the True Bible Code website had already included an understanding on the topic in Understanding 53 - God's view of Prostitution. This contains at least two additional aspects not included in this current paper, especially the comments on Rahab and Tamar! Enjoy!
 

Date of Publication: 28th May 2024
 

Rahab

Jewish Lords' Witness