Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 23:18
You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly on the plains of Moab, delivering covenant stipulations just before the people cross the Jordan. The command functions as a boundary marker for communal holiness and sanctuary practice.
The words — The text highlights אֶתְנַן (et.Nan), meaning the wages or price of prostitution, and כֶּ֗לֶב (Ke.lev), literally a dog. These terms mark the profane earnings and the metaphorical status of those who deal in them as unfit for the sanctuary.
The thread — The metaphor of the dog for moral impurity and exclusion reappears in Matthew 7:6, Philippians 3:2, and Revelation 22:15. These passages consistently use the image to designate those who reject holy boundaries or spread defilement.
Why it lands — The text states that tainted earnings and profane identities must not be brought into the house of Yahweh to fulfill vows. It requires worshipers to exclude commercial exploitation and sexual immorality from sacred worship, maintaining strict separation between profane gain and divine service.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
Cross-references
- Philippians 3:2 Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Revelation 22:15 But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Matthew 7:6 Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
- Leviticus 18:22 You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
- Psalms 5:4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.
- Isaiah 61:8 For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.
- Ezekiel 16:33 Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.
- Deuteronomy 23:21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Psalms 22:16 For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
- Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.