Risky Business: Prostitution & Sexual Marginalizations in the Tanakh

(18) No Israelite woman shall be a prostitute,*prostitute Meaning of Heb. qedeshah uncertain. Perhaps a type of female functionary at a religious site. NJPS “sacred prostitute,” but the notion that ancient Near Eastern religions included prostitution as a religious act has since been discredited. nor shall any Israelite man be a prostitute.*prostitute Meaning of Heb. qadesh uncertain. Although it is simply the masculine counterpart of qedeshah (see previous note), it is mentioned as if it refers to a distinct category. (19) You shall not bring the fee of a whore or the pay of a dog*dog I.e., a male prostitute. into the house of your God יהוה in fulfillment of any vow, for both are abhorrent to your God יהוה.

(1) About that time Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. (2) There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he took her [into his household as wife] and cohabited with her. (3) She conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er. (4) She conceived again and bore a son, and named him Onan. (5) Once again she bore a son, and named him Shelah; he was at Chezib when she bore him. (6) Judah got a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar. (7) But Er, Judah’s first-born, was displeasing to יהוה, and יהוה took his life. (8) Then Judah said to Onan, “Join with your brother’s wife and do your duty*duty Cf. Deut. 25.5. by her as a brother-in-law, and provide offspring for your brother.” (9) But Onan, knowing that the offspring would not count as his, let [the semen] go to waste*let [the semen] go to waste Heb. shiḥet arṣah; lit. “spoil [it] groundward.” NJPS “let it go to waste,” with “offspring” as the implausible co-referent of “it.” See the Dictionary under “seed.” whenever he joined with his brother’s wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. (10) What he did was displeasing to יהוה, who took his life also. (11) Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”—for he thought, “He too might die like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house. (12) A long time afterward, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When his period of mourning was over,*his period of mourning was over Lit. “he was comforted.” Judah went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. (13) And Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is coming up to Timnah for the sheepshearing.” (14) So she took off her widow’s garb, covered her face with a veil, and, wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Enaim,*Enaim Cf. Enam, Josh. 15.34. Others “in an open place” or “at the crossroad.” which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife. (15) When Judah saw her, he took her for a harlot; for she had covered her face. (16) So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here, let me sleep with you”—for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. “What,” she asked, “will you pay for sleeping with me?” (17) He replied, “I will send a kid from my flock.” But she said, “You must leave a pledge until you have sent it.” (18) And he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your seal and cord, and the staff which you carry.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him. (19) Then she went on her way. She took off her veil and again put on her widow’s garb. (20) Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to redeem the pledge from the woman; but he could not find her. (21) He inquired of the council of that locale,*council of that locale Or “locals.” Heb. ’anshe meqomah; cf. 26.7; 29.22; 34.20. NJPS “people of that town,” trad. “men of….” See further the Dictionary under ’ish. “Where is the prostitute,*prostitute Meaning of Heb. qedeshah uncertain. Perhaps a type of female functionary at a religious site. Trad. “harlot.” NJPS “cult prostitute,” but the notion that ancient Near Eastern religions included prostitution as a religious act has since been discredited. the one at Enaim, by the road?” But they said, “There has been no prostitute here.” (22) So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her; moreover, the local council*local council Heb. ’anshe ha-maqom; NJPS “the townspeople.” See the first note at v. 21. said: There has been no prostitute here.” (23) Judah said, “Let her keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. I did send her this kid, but you did not find her.” (24) About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is pregnant from harlotry.” “Bring her out,”*out I.e., for a hearing in the local court of law. (Judah had no jurisdiction over someone living in another household, but he could sue as an aggrieved party.) said Judah. “She should be burned!” (25) As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, “It’s by the man*man Or “party.” Lit. “[salient] participant.” See further the Dictionary under ’ish. to whom these belong that I’m pregnant.” And she added, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?” (26) Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again. (27) When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb! (28) While she was in labor, one of them put out a hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand, to signify: This one came out first. (29) But just then it drew back its hand, and out came its brother; and she said, “What a breach*breach Heb. pereṣ, connected with “Perez.” you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez. (30) Afterward his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread; he was named Zerah.*Zerah I.e., “brightness,” perhaps alluding to the crimson thread.

(1) Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, reconnoiter the region of Jericho.” So they set out, and they came to the house of a certain prostitute named Rahab and lodged there. (2) The king of Jericho was told, “Some men have come here tonight, Israelites, to spy out the country.” (3) The king of Jericho thereupon sent orders to Rahab: “Produce the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole country.” (4) The woman, however, had taken the two men and hidden them. “It is true,” she said, “the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. (5) And at dark, when the gate was about to be closed, the men left; and I don’t know where the men went. Quick, go after them, for you can overtake them.”— (6) Now she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had lying on the roof.— (7) So the men pursued them in the direction of the Jordan down to the fords; and no sooner had the pursuers gone out than the gate was shut behind them. (8) The spiesaThe spies Heb. “They.” had not yet gone to sleep when she came up to them on the roof. (9) She said to the men, “I know that GOD has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. (10) For we have heard how GOD dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed.bdoomed I.e., placed under ḥerem, which meant the annihilation of the inhabitants. Cf. Deut. 2.34ff. (11) When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no one had any more spirit left because of you; for the ETERNAL your God is the only God in heaven above and on earth below. (12) Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by GOD that you in turn will show loyalty to my family.cfamily Lit. “father’s house.” Provide me with a reliable sign (13) that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.” (14) The men answered her, “Our lives are pledged for yours, even to death! If you do not disclose this mission of ours, we will show you true loyalty when GOD gives us the land.” (15) She let them down by a rope through the window—for her dwelling was at the outer side of the city wall and she lived in the actual wall. (16) She said to them, “Make for the hills, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Stay there in hiding three days, until the pursuers return; then go your way.”

(17) The city and everything in it are to be proscribed for GOD; only Rahab the prostitute is to be spared, and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers we sent. (18) But you must beware of that which is proscribed, or else you will be proscribed:cbe proscribed I.e., be put to death; cf. Lev. 27.28–29. if you take anything from that which is proscribed, you will cause the camp of Israel to be proscribed; you will bring calamity upon it. (19) All the silver and gold and objects of copper and iron are consecrated to GOD; they must go into the treasury of GOD.” (20) So the troops shouted when the horns were sounded. When the troops heard the sound of the horns, they raised a mighty shout and the wall collapsed. The troops rushed into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they captured the city. (21) They exterminated everything in the city with the sword: man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey. (22) But Joshua bade the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into that prostitute’s house and bring out the woman and all that belong to her, as you swore to her.” (23) So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father and her mother, her brothers and all that belonged to her—they brought out her whole family and left them outside the camp of Israel. (24) They burned down the city and everything in it. But the silver and gold and the objects of copper and iron were deposited in the treasury of the House of GOD. (25) Only Rahab the prostitute and her familydfamily Lit. “father’s house.” were spared by Joshua, along with all that belonged to her, and she dwelt among the Israelites—as is still the case. For she had hidden the messengers that Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.