Was cult prostitution homosexuals?
In Deuteronomy , Kings, and Job, the Hebrew uses a form of qādēš (“cult prostitute”). The LXX uses a variety of words to translate this one term. Is this a reference to homosexual relations, as in the King James Bible and some other translations, which use the word sodomite? The Revisionist Answer There is no basis for reading homosexual connotations into the concept of “cult prostitute.” The word qādēš does not demand this, and historical records are silent. The word would more likely mean simply a female prostitute who serviced males. The LXX translates the references to “cult prostitute” in such passages by a variety of terms, showing that even these early Jewish scholars were confused as to the meaning of the Hebrew. None of the terms used suggests homosexuality. The LXX and English versions using sodomite are “mistranslations.” The Biblical Answer Context again informs the meaning of the Hebrew word. In Deuteronomy 23:17–18 the text refers explicitly to both female ...