What Does Deuteronomy 23:17 Mean in the King James?
There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The feminine and masculine terms share the root ק־ד־שׁ, “set apart,” bringing the language of consecration into a prohibition of sexual roles.
THE MEANING
The verse sets a communal boundary around the sexual roles named here, addressing both Israel’s daughters and sons. Its Hebrew terms are gendered forms from the same word family associated elsewhere with being set apart.
THE ROOT
קְדֵשָׁה
qĕdēšāh
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־שׁ
Q-D-Sh
Set apart; consecrate.
“whore / sodomite” in this verse is qĕdēšāh. English gives the woman and man different labels, while Hebrew repeats the same root in feminine and masculine forms. The root also appears in words for set-apartness, connecting these roles to consecration vocabulary without changing the verse’s clear prohibition.
ALSO GROWS
qādôš: Set apart; holy.
קָדוֹשׁ
This familiar form makes the shared root audible: the verse’s gendered terms belong to the same word family as language for being set apart.
qōdeš: Holiness; something set apart.
קֹדֶשׁ
It shows how the same root can name the quality or status of being set apart, a shade carried beneath the English labels.
miqdāš: Sanctuary; a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
This branch extends the root from people and qualities to a place marked as set apart.
THE PATTERN
Set-apartness marks both a community’s identity and the conduct named within it.
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:THE THREAD
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.The word translated “holy” is קָדוֹשׁ (qādôš), from the same root as the feminine and masculine terms in Deuteronomy. The shared root brings their set-apart vocabulary into view while the verses use it differently: Leviticus names the community as holy, while Deuteronomy prohibits the roles named.
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