קָדֵשׁ

From the study of 1 Kings 14:24

Range of meaning

A noun from the root q-d-sh, 'set apart, holy'. Its form describes a person: 'one who is consecrated'. In the Hebrew Bible the masculine (qadesh, plural qedeshim) appears in Deut 23:17(18), 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:46(47); 2 Kgs 23:7; Job 36:14. The feminine qedeshah appears in Gen 38:21–22, Deut 23:17(18) and Hos 4:14. In every case it means personnel tied to worship that the biblical writers reject. Lexicons that follow the traditional view (BDB, HALOT) gloss it 'male cult prostitute' or 'temple prostitute'. Many recent studies say only 'consecrated person, cult functionary' is secure and that the sexual part is inferred.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'sodomites'; BSB/NIV 'male shrine prostitutes'; ESV/NASB 'male cult prostitutes'; YLT 'whoremonger'; Vulgate effeminati ('effeminate men'). None of these keeps the word's actual root, 'holy'. Each picks one interpretation of the role and turns it into the meaning of the word.

How it drifted

The Greek and Latin translators were already reading these figures through a Greek story about 'sacred prostitution' (Herodotus 1.199 on Babylon) and the link with the zonah ('prostitute') in Deut 23:17–18. The Vulgate's effeminati and later English Bibles' 'Sodomites' (Geneva, then KJV 1611) moved the word into Christian moral categories about sex between men and tied it to Sodom, which the Hebrew never mentions.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugarit (13th c. BC): the qdšm are listed in administrative texts alongside the khnm (priests) as a recognised class of temple staff. No sexual function is mentioned. Mesopotamia: the Akkadian qadištu was a female cultic functionary connected with childbirth, wet-nursing and ritual. Westenholz (1989) found no evidence that she was a prostitute. Hebrew Bible: in Gen 38 the Canaanite Hirah calls Tamar a qedeshah where Judah thinks of her as a zonah ('prostitute'). Deut 23:17–18 puts qadesh/qedeshah next to 'the fee of a prostitute and the price of a dog'. Hos 4:14 pairs qedeshot with zonot at the sacrifices. 2 Kgs 23:7 places 'houses of the qedeshim' inside the Jerusalem temple, where women wove for Asherah. Septuagint: inconsistent. Here 'bond/conspiracy'; in 1 Kgs 15:12 'initiation rites' (teletas); in 2 Kgs 23:7 it just transliterates (kadēsim), which suggests the translators were unsure.

From the study of 2 Kings 23:7

Range of meaning

This word comes from the root q-d-š, 'holy, set apart'. Its basic meaning is 'consecrated person', someone dedicated to a deity's service. In the Hebrew Bible it always refers to personnel of cults that the biblical writers condemn: Deut 23:17–18; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2 Kgs 23:7; Job 36:14. The feminine qədēšâ appears in Gen 38:21–22 and Hos 4:14, where it stands in parallel with zônâ, 'prostitute'. The parallel is the main basis for the traditional sense 'cult prostitute'.

Against the English

KJV has 'sodomites' (in 1 Kgs 14:24, 15:12, 22:46 too). BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV have 'male shrine/cult prostitutes'. YLT has 'whoremongers'. Every one of these English words names a sexual role. None conveys the core Hebrew idea of 'holy / consecrated'.

How it drifted

The Greek and Latin translators were already guessing. Some Greek renderings simply spell out 'qadesim'. The Vulgate has 'effeminati' in some places. The KJV's 'sodomites' took up an early-modern English moral term, and today readers take it to mean 'homosexual men', which is not in the Hebrew at all. The 'sacred prostitution' picture was strengthened by Herodotus's (doubtful) story about Babylonian women (Histories 1.199) and by 19th–20th-century scholarship that read ancient fertility religion through that lens.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Ugaritic administrative texts, qdšm appear as a guild of temple personnel listed next to the khnm (priests), with no sign of a sexual role. In Akkadian texts the related qadištu women are linked with childbirth, wet-nursing and cult singing; Westenholz (1989) found no clear evidence that they served as prostitutes. Bird (1997) and Budin (2008) argue that 'sacred prostitution' as a set institution in the ancient Near East is poorly evidenced and may be a modern construct. On that view, the biblical link to the zônâ ('prostitute') would be a polemical or figurative jab, since 'whoring' is the prophets' standard image for unfaithful worship.

From the study of Deuteronomy 23:17

Range of meaning

Masculine form, 'consecrated man'. It occurs in Deuteronomy 23:18 (Hebrew numbering), 1 Kings 14:24, 15:12 and 22:47, 2 Kings 23:7, and Job 36:14. In Kings the qĕdēšîm are a class of people 'in the land' whom faithful kings drive out. 2 Kings 23:7 mentions 'the houses of the qĕdēšîm' inside the LORD's temple, where women wove hangings for Asherah. Job 36:14 uses the word for people who die young and in disgrace.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'sodomite', a word taken from the story of Sodom (Genesis 19), which the Hebrew word does not mention. Modern versions say 'male shrine/cult prostitute'. YLT says 'whoremonger', which changes the sense again (a man who uses or runs prostitutes).

How it drifted

'Sodomite' reflects a 16th–17th-century English tradition (also found in the Geneva Bible's Kings passages) and the Latin Vulgate's 'effeminati' in Kings. Both read a homosexual meaning into the word. Medieval Jewish interpretation also read it this way: Rashi glosses qādēš as a man 'available for intercourse with males'. That is an ancient interpretation, but it is not in the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugaritic qdšm appear in temple personnel lists with priests (khnm). Phoenician inscriptions also list temple staff. In the Kition tariff from Cyprus, payments to 'dogs' (klbm) appear among temple workers, which bears on 'dog' in v. 18. Phyllis Bird (1997) argues that the 'male cult prostitute' is largely a modern scholarly construction, and that the Kings references describe non-Yahwistic shrine personnel in general.