Abstract
Despite the widespread ideas, there were no cult male prostitutes in Ancient Israel. Therefore, we must reject the popular hypothesis according to which the “dogs” in Deuteronomy (23:19) meant “male prostitutes”. The interpretation of female qedešot and male qedešim as cult harlots and fornicators dates back at least to the Vulgate (late 4th century) (while the translators of the Septuagint did not understand these words and interpreted them according to context). However, such an understanding contains a huge number of logical stretches and internal contradictions. We agree with Phyllis Ann Bird’s hypothesis about its origin. The interpretation of Mesopotamian temple singers and dancers assinnu as cult homosexual prostitutes analogous to the “dogs” looks unconvincing. Qedešot were minor servants at local sanctuaries, who supposedly disappeared as a result of the reform of the Jewish religion under Josiah (7th century BC) and were analogous to the Mesopotamian qadištu priestesses. both groups had no sexual functions. Hosea (8th century BC) compared qedešot to prostitutes (4:15) following the biblical prophets’ manner of calling “fornication” all that they considered a betrayal of the YHWH cult. In the story about Judah and Tamar, qedeša is used as an euphemism for the harlot (Gen. 38:21). The qedešim were invented by the compiler of the Deuteronomy (23:19), who did not know who the qedešot were, but duplicated them in the masculine gender, to give the prohibition an absolute character. The remaining references to qedešim are either revoicings and reinterpretations of the consonantal text under the influence of Deuteronomy (2 Kings 23:7; Job 36:14), or later insertions to explain the origin of the qedešim in Israel (1 Kings 14:23; 15:11; 22:47).
Published Version
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