Deuteronomy 23:17 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

No daughter of Israel should become a temple prostitute, and no son of Israel should become a male temple prostitute.

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

God is commanding that His people stay away from the pagan religious practices that involved ritual prostitution.

📚 Historical Context

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses was delivering God's laws to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, emphasizing the need to remain separate from the idolatrous practices of surrounding nations like the Canaanites. This verse specifically prohibits prostitution and homosexual acts, which were often linked to pagan fertility rituals and temple worship in those cultures. These commands aimed to preserve the holiness and moral integrity of God's chosen people.

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Leviticus 19:29

Do not force your daughter into prostitution or allow her to become a prostitute, so that the whole land doesn't fall into sexual immorality and become filled with evil.

Leviticus 21:9

If a priest's daughter disgraces herself by becoming a prostitute, she brings shame on her father. She must be executed by burning.

Amos 7:17

So here's what God says is coming: Your wife will be forced into prostitution in the city, your children will die in battle, your land will be carved up and given away, and you'll die in a place that's completely corrupted. And Israel? They're definitely getting dragged away from everything they know.

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