The qdesha in Hosea 4:14: Putting the (Myth of the) Sacred Prostitute to Bed

Despite a lack of evidence for the practice of sacred prostitution in the ancient Middle East, scholars have continued to understand the word qdešɔ in Hosea 4:14 to denote a female officiant who performed sexual acts in a cultic setting. This article argues that the understanding of the qdešɔ as a c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vetus Testamentum
Main Author: DeGrado, Jessie (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2018
In: Vetus Testamentum
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Hosea 4,14 / Hebrew language / Noun / ḳedeshah / Prostitute
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
NCF Sexual ethics
Further subjects:B Hebrew Bible Hosea prostitution qdšh qadištu diachronic semantics Hebrew lexicography
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:Despite a lack of evidence for the practice of sacred prostitution in the ancient Middle East, scholars have continued to understand the word qdešɔ in Hosea 4:14 to denote a female officiant who performed sexual acts in a cultic setting. This article argues that the understanding of the qdešɔ as a cultic prostitute has appealed to interpreters for over two millennia because the Hebrew word has a semantic range that includes both female cultic functionaries and prostitutes. The lexeme denotes a class of women who are employed outside of the patrimonial estate, including priestesses or prostitutes (but never both at the same time). When the prophet indicts the Israelites for sacrificing with qdešot, he deploys a pun that strengthens his metaphor of Israel as a wayward woman.
ISSN:1568-5330
Contains:In: Vetus Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685330-12341300