Prostitutes
and Prophets
by K. J. Aaron
"Would you
make love to me if I paid you a
million dollars?" a man
asked a woman he knew.
"For
that amount - why yes, of
course!" she replied.
"Would you do it for fifty
dollars?"
Indignant, she
answered: "What do you
think I am?" "I've
already established what you
are," he said, "I'm
just dickering on the
price!"
Though the law of
Moses said: "Do not
prostitute thy daughter, to
cause her to be a whore"
(Leviticus 19:29), prostitution
was apparently tolerated among
the Israelites. The accompanying
drawing from an old Bible shows
Judah, from whom the famous
tribe derives its name,
propositioning a woman for sex
and agreeing on a price (Genesis
38:16,17). There is nothing in
the text that would suggest this
was unusual behavior.
When
Joshua sent two spies to
Jericho, they "came into an
harlot's house, named Rahab, and
lodged [margin: lay] there"
(Joshua 2:1). The margin
"lay" is no doubt
correct, for the Hebrew word
used here is not translated
"lodge" in any other
reference. The word in question
can mean to merely lie down for
rest, but it is also used in the
sense of "sexual
connection" (Strong's
Concordance, 7901).
Are we
suggesting, then, these men may
have been sexually involved with
Rahab? We don't know for
certain, but if they were only
seeking a place to
"lay" for sleep, why
in a harlot's house? If they the
engage in sexual relations, it
would not have been totally
inconsistent with the general
moral tone of the time.
Because
Rahab hid the two men, lied
about their whereabouts, and
helped them escape, she was
spared when the city was
overthrown. As the Israelite
armies approached the best
little whore house in Jericho,
Rahab identified it by hanging
up a piece of scarlet cloth. In
the course of time, a red light
came to be an identifying mark
for a house of prostitution. The
colors scarlet and red have long
been associated with sexual
sins, even at the time of Isaiah
who wrote: "...though your
sins be as scarlet, they shell
be as white as snow; though they
be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).
When the Israelites took
Jericho, seeing the scarlet
cloth, "Joshua saved Rahab
the harlot alive, and her
father's household, and all she
had" (Joshua 6:25). This
dramatic event, as pictured by
famous artist Gustave Done
(1832-1883), is included here.
Rahab continued living among the
Israelites, but we are not
specifically told whether or not
she continued the oldest
profession. According to legend,
she had become a prostitute at
age 10, was one of the four most
beautiful women in history, had
sexual intercourse with various
kings and leaders from whom she
heard about the exploits of the
Hebrews. Finally she married
Joshua and became the mother of
noted priests and people.
Another belief, based on Matthew
1:5, is that she married Salmon,
which would have made her a
great grandmother of David.
The
word translated "Rahab"
is "rachab," meaning
"broad" (Strong's
Concordance 7342, 7343). It is
so translated in Jeremiah 51:58
and Ezekiel 42:11. Of course it
is only coincidental that the
word "broad" is,
today, a derogatory expression
for a woman!
We
read that Samson saw a harlot at
Gaza "and went in unto
her" (Judges 16:1).
The
Biblical text does not condemn
Samson for this, but seems to
imply that prostitution was
quite common and unquestioned at
this period. Interestingly, it
was not while having sex with a
harlot that the Lord departed
from him-this happened later
when he got a haircut! A
fifteenth century woodcut by the
famous artist Albrecht Durer
shows Delilah cutting off
Samson's hair. But the careful
Bible reader will notice it was
a MAN who cut off Samson's hair,
NOT Delilah! (Judges 16:19,20).
At the time of Solomon, two
harlots who shared the same
house, gave birth to sons within
three days of each other, When
one of the women awoke to
"give suck" to her
baby, it was dead. As she
carefully observed the infant,
she realized it was not her
baby. The babies had been
switched!
We
are reminded of a Chinese couple
and a Caucasian couple whose
babies were born in the same
hospital. By mistake a nurse had
gotten the babies mixed up. The
problem was not too difficult,
however, for upon comparison
they realized that "two
Wongs don't make a white!"
But
in the case of the two harlots,
how could they prove who the
living baby belonged to?
"Then came there two women,
that were harlots unto the king,
and stood before him" (1
Kings 3:16). When each insisted
she was the mother of the living
baby, Solomon ordered the baby
to be cut in two-half given to
each. The resulting response, of
course, revealed which woman was
the true mother.
Though
this incident is given to show
how much wisdom Solomon had, it
also reveals something about the
prevailing attitude regarding
prostitution. It appears that
the oldest profession was more
or less taken for granted-a
necessary evil. Certainly these
women were not arrested or put
in jail. Indeed, a special gift
of wisdom in Solomon functioned
in their behalf.
One
might suppose that wise king
Solomon would have been able to
rid the holy city of
prostitution - if this had been
his aim. But no such moral
reform was a part of his
administration. It would appear
from the book of Proverbs, he
could actually look out the
palace window and see
prostitutes carrying on their
trade on the street! "For
at the window of my house I
looked through my casement, and
beheld ... a young man void of
understanding, passing through
the street near her corner ...
and behold, there met him a
woman with the attire of an
harlot, and subtle of
heart" (Proverbs 7:6-10).
Such activities were carried on
"in the streets" and
"at every corner"
(verse 12).
For
much of its history, Jerusalem
was a "holy city" in
name only. The prophets
described its moral condition in
these words:
In
the midst of thee they commit
lewdness. In thee have they
discovered their fathers'
nakedness [incest]: in thee have
they humbled her that was set
apart for pollution [forcing sex
on menstruating women]. And one
hath committed abomination with
his neighbor's wife; and another
hath lewdly defiled his
daughter-in-law; and another in
thee bath humbled his sister,
his father's daughter .... They
committed adultery, and
assembled themselves by troops
in the harlot's houses. They
were as fed horses in the
morning: every one neighed after
his neighbor's wife .... I have
seen thine adulteries, and thy
neighings, the lewdness of thy
whoredom.... Woe unto thee, O
Jerusalem! (Ezekiel 22:2-11;
Jeremiah 5:7, 8; 13:27).
According
to the Encyclopedia Judaica,
after capturing Jerusalem in 70
A.D., in order to desecrate the
temple, "Titus entered the
Holy of Holies...and spreading
out a Scroll of the Law on the
top of the altar, had
intercourse with two harlots he
had brought in."
We
know Solomon was familiar with
the seductive words used by
harlots in Jerusalem, for he
quoted some of them in Proverbs
7:18: "Come, let us take
our fill of love until the
morning: let us solace ourselves
with loves." The actual
wording is watered down in our
English translation. Clarke puts
it in Latin., stating that
"the original itself is too
gross to be literally
translated.!" She had paid
her vows, her husband was away,
her bed was perfumed. In
seductive tones she promised a
good time - love making in all
forms - not just for the few
hurried moments of a sexual
quickie, but "until the
morning."
In
another proverb dealing with
prostitution, we read: "For
by means of a whorish woman a
man is brought to a piece of
bread: and the adulteress will
hunt for the precious life"
(Proverbs 6:26). Some versions,
including the Septuagint and
Vulgate, word it like this:
"For the price of a whore
is about one loaf." In
order to survive, so many women
were forced into prostitution,
they hired out for a bare
sustenance. The Goodspeed
translation points out a
contrast between the two clauses
of this verse: "For the
price of a harlot is but a piece
of bread, but the adulteress
hunts for the precious
life." A man would only
have to pay a piece of bread for
a harlot, but a sexual affair
with a married woman might cost
his life.!
A
strange verse about harlots is
linked with the death of
Ahab.
Having
been mortally wounded in battle,
his blood flowed into his
chariot, "and one washed
the chariot in the pool of
Samaria; and the dogs licked up
his blood; and they washed his
ARMOR" (1 Kings 22:38).
Though
not generally known, the word
that is used here translated
"armor," is the word
that is elsewhere translated
"harlots"! (Strong's
Concordance, 2158). In view of
this, it seems evident that
Goodspeed has come closer to the
original in his translation:
"And when they washed off
the chariot by the pool of
Samaria, the dogs licked up his
blood, and the HARLOTS washed in
it." The Septuagint says,
"And the swine and dogs
licked his blood, and the WHORES
bathed themselves in his
blood." It has been
suggested that to bathe in a
king's blood may have been
considered a tonic or beauty
treatment.
Some
rabbis have understood this
passage to mean there were
images of prostitutes in Ahab's
chariot. Clarke has written:
"They suppose that Jezebel
had made him two images of
prostitutes, which he had with
him in the chariot. It is not
worth inquiring into the use for
which they say these images were
made."
The
Encyclopedia Judaica, however,
does not hesitate to explain the
use of the images: they were to
excite him sexually.
This
brings to mind an experience I
once had when car trouble forced
me to hitchhike into town. As I
climbed up into the cab of a
huge truck that stopped, I
noticed the cross-country truck
driver had Playboy magazine
opened. I asked if he read it or
just looked at the pictures - it
was obvious he was looking at
the magazine while he drove.
Well, Ahab didn't have Playboy
magazine in his chariot, but
according to rabbinical
tradition, he did have images of
two naked prostitutes.
When
Isaiah sought to illustrate how
Israel would conquer the city of
Tyre, taking from it all the
riches it had taken from others,
he likened it to a rich
prostitute. "And it shall
come to pass after the end of
seventy years, that the Lord
will visit Tyre, and she shall
turn to her HIRE, and shall
commit fornication with all the
kingdoms of the world ... and
her merchandise and her HIRE
shall be holiness to the
Lord" (Isaiah
23:17,18).
If
the reader will pardon a crude
example, it will illustrate the
idea the prophet had in mind. A
man once told me he had gone to
a prostitute in the Philippines
during World War II. While
engaged in sexual relations with
her, he figured she probably
kept her money under a little
mat by the bed. Later, when she
went into the adjoining room to
wash, he grabbed all her money
and fled from the shack. So
would be the fate of Tyre at the
hands of the Israelites.
In
those days harlots walked the
streets and sang seductive
songs, a fact alluded to by
Isaiah: "Take an harp, go
about the city, thou harlot that
hast been forgotten; make sweet
melody, sing many songs, that
thou mayest be remembered"
(Isaiah 23:16). By likening Tyre
to a singing harlot, Isaiah
emphasized that she was old, for
young harlots also danced as
they sang to show how lively
they were.
Such
was the type of girl that danced
at Herod's birthday party-and no
doubt extremely talented in
exotic dancing, as evidenced by
the fact that Herod promised her
anything "unto the half of
his kingdom" (Mark
6:21-23). Whether she jumped out
of a huge birthday cake--dressed
only in her birthday suit - we
are not told, but we can be
certain her performance was
X-rated entertainment.
Another
famous political figure,
Tiberius, who was Caesar at the
time of Jesus' ministry (Luke
3:1), was known for his
indulgence in many forms of
sensual entertainment. His
favorite pleasure involved using
CHILDREN in a perverted way.
According he caused little
children, of the tenderest age
to be taught to play between his
legs, while he was swimming in
his bath, calling them his
little fishes, to touch him
lightly with tongue and teeth,
and like babies of some little
strength and growth, though not
yet weaned, to suck his privates
as they would their mother's
breast. His age and his
inclination predisposed him for
this sort of pleasure before all
others."
According
to the writers of antiquity, it
was not uncommon for children to
be sold and traded, and used for
the basest purposes.
The
prophet Joel wrote: "They
... have given a boy for a
harlot and sold a girl for
wine" (Joel 3:3). Amos
mentioned a man and his father
will go in unto the same
MAID" (Amos } -
"maid" being the word
used to describe a female child
from (Strong's Concordance,
5291).
Prostitution
prevailed at the time of Jesus
and prostitutes were even
mentioned in some of his
messages. He told of a wayward
young man who went into a far
country and spent his
inheritance on
"harlots" (Luke
15:30). On another occasion,
Jesus shocked the religious
leaders of his time by saying:
"The harlots go into the
kingdom of God before you"!
(Matthew 21:31). The point was
that sinful people will sooner
repent than self-righteous
people who feel no need of
repentance.
The
very thought that Jesus Christ
would have sex with a prostitute
is repulsive to any Christian.
Using this as the basis for his
argument, Paul likened
Christians to the various parts
of the body of Christ - feet,
ears, eyes, and even the
"uncomely parts" (1
Corinthians 12:12-27) - so that
for Christians to visit
prostitutes would be parallel to
Jesus Christ himself doing this!
"Know ye not that your
bodies are the members of
Christ? Shall I then take the
members of Christ and make them
the members of a harlot? God
forbid" (1 Corinthians
6:15,16).
The
Old Testament prophets commonly
likened Israel's unfaithfulness
to that of a woman who cheats on
her husband. In making this
point, they did not hesitate to
give vivid details about the
sexual acts committed, about the
woman's breasts being handled
and bruised in wild orgies, and
even talked about the size of
male sex organs. Even though the
language has been softened by
our translators, it is still so
crude that THE PULPIT
COMMENTARY, referring to a
passage in Ezekiel, says,
"We shudder as we read
it." Clarke, suggesting the
prophet used such wording to
shock the people into a true
realization of their condition,
goes on to say: "Let this
be the prophet's apology for the
apparent indelicacy of his
metaphors; and mine, for not
entering into any particular
discussion concerning
them"!
The
prophet Ezekiel compared
Jerusalem to a baby that was
forsaken at birth and left to
die. But the Lord-or more
correct Yahweh, the actual name
used for deity thousands of
times in the Old Testament -
adopts her, raises her, and she
blossoms into a beautiful and
shapely young girl. In spite of
the considerable age difference,
he takes her for a wife. But she
does not remain true to him and
ultimately becomes a prostitute
of the lowest type!
In
the day thou wast born thy navel
was not cut, neither wast thou
washed in water to supple
[cleanse] thee; thou wast not
salted at all, nor swaddled at
all. None eye pitied thee, to do
any of these unto thee, to have
compassion upon thee; but thou
wast cast out in the open field
to the loathing of my person, in
the day that thou wast born
(Ezekiel 16:4,5).
When
Yahweh passed by, he saw the
bloody baby, and saved her life.
"And when I passed by thee,
and saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, I said unto thee when
thou wast in thy blood,
Live" (Ezekiel 16:6). I
have known people who believe
that reciting this verse will
stop nosebleeds. But blood from
the nose is not the subject
here!
Twelve
or thirteen years pass - the
girl reaches womanhood and the
prophet finds it important to
mention that her pubic hair has
grown and her breasts have
developed: "thou art come
to excellent ornaments: they
breasts are fashioned, and thine
hair is grown" (Ezekiel
16:17). As THE PULPIT COMMENTARY
says, breast development and
pubic hair growth "point to
the most obvious signs of female
puberty." Puberty is a
hair-raising experience! Today
we might just say the girl
reached puberty or womanhood -
without going into details about
her breasts and pubic hair. But
the Eastern style of writing was
very descriptive!
Apparently
she became quite shapely, for
the word translated
"fashioned" in the
phrase "thy breasts are
fashioned" means "to
be erect" and is translated
by such words as
"certain" (Deuteronomy
17:4) and "firm"
(Joshua 3:17). Later in the
story, Ezekiel tells of
ornaments such as bracelets,
necklaces, and earrings. But the
shape of her breasts was, as the
margin has it, her ornament of
ornament: "Thou art come to
your ornament of ornaments: thy
breasts are
fashioned."
Her
breasts developed. Her pubic
hair appeared. She began
menstruating. According to the
customs of the time, she was old
enough to be married and make
love. "Now when I passed by
thee, and looked upon thee,
behold thy time was the time of
love." The word translated
"love" here means
sexual love (from the Hebrew
meaning "to boil") and
is used in erotic passages of
the Song of Solomon, in Ezekiel
23:17, and Proverbs 7:18.
"I
spread my skirt over thee"
- a primitive way of describing
marriage - "I sware unto
thee, and entered into a
covenant with thee...thou
becamest mine. Then washed I
thee with water; yea, I
thoroughly washed away thy blood
from thee, and I anointed thee
with oil" (Ezekiel 16:8,9).
Since a menstruating woman was
considered unclean, all
menstrual blood to be washed
away before intercourse was
considered proper.
When
David watched Bathsheba take a
bath, the bath was that ritual
cleansing that followed her
menstrual period. David
"from the roof saw a woman
washing herself; and the woman
was very beautiful to look upon
.... And David sent messengers,
and took her; and she came in
unto him, and he lay with her;
for she was purified from her
uncleanness" (2 Samuel
11:2,4). This wording seems to
imply that David did not regard
sexual intercourse too seriously
- as long as the woman had
completed her menstrual cycle
and taken a bath!
Ezekiel's
vivid and sensual description
continues: I thoroughly washed
away thy blood from thee, and I
anointed thee with oil."
Anointing with oil is a very
common expression in the Bible.
But here the word translated
:anointed" is not the usual
word. It has the meaning of
"smeared" (Strong's
Concordance, 5480). The word
"oil" is the normal
word used for any oily
substance, defined by Strong as
grease, especially liquid (Strong's
Concordance, 8081). If the oil
was smeared in the same area
from which the blood had been
washed away, it is clear this
lubricant was to prepare the
virgin girl for her first
intercourse. These are some of
the things we were not told in
Sunday School - and were afraid
to ask!
The
girl was now married - to Yahweh
- who gave her beautiful
garments and jewelry. Her beauty
became known among the nations
(Ezekiel 16:14). Had she lived
in our day, she could have been
a beauty contest winner. But the
young bride was unable to
properly handle her fame and
beauty. She cheated on her
husband - not only with a
passing affair or two - but
actually became a prostitute!
"Thou didst trust in thine
own beauty, and playest the
harlot because of thy renown,
and pourest out thy fornications
on every one that passed by; HIS
IT WAS" (verse 15).
"His
it was." THE PULPIT
COMMENTARY says these are the
words of "extremist
scorn." She became so wild
that she wanted sex with anyone
and everyone - a point that
Ezekiel continues to stress as
the story unfolds.
Thou
hast also built unto thee an
eminent place [margin: brothel
house], and hast made thee an
high place in every street. Thou
hast built thy high place at
every head of the way, and hast
made thy beauty to be abhorred,
and hast opened thy feet to
every one that passed by, and
multiplied thy whoredoms
(Ezekiel 16:24,25).
The
language is very strong. So
great was her lust, she is
described as doing business in
"every street." She
did not refrain from any type of
sexual act, all were apparently
indulged in, for she even
"multiplied her whoredoms"
as she engaged in sex with
"everyone that passed
by."
Then,
as if all this sexual activity
was not enough, the prophet
tells us she used artificial
penises for sexual stimulation.
She made "images of men
[margin: of a male], and did
commit whoredom with them"
(Ezekiel 16:17). The word
translated "men" here
does not carry the meaning of
statutes of men, but that which
makes a man expressly male (strong's
Concordance, 2145). Numerous
writers have pointed out that
artificial penises are meant
here. Even the Kinsey report
mentions this.
Though
it was before the days of modern
shipping methods and
"adult" shops, the
artificial penis was well known
in the ancient world. The city
of Miletus, which was included
in one of Paul's missionary
trips (Acts 20:15), was known
for the manufacture and
exportation of this product.
According to classical writings
of this period, Milesian women
made "imitations in
leather, eight inches long and
thick in proportion."
The
word "dildo," a common
term for an artificial penis, is
of uncertain origin, says the
book A PLEASURE IN WORDS, but
may be a corruption of
"dill" - the pickle.
Called "anise" in the
scriptures (Matthew 23:23), dill
is used for making dill pickles.
Others lick the word
"dildo" with the
Italian "tiletto" -
meaning "delight."
Yahweh's unfaithful wife is
pictured as having sex with
Egyptian men - men who were
commonly imagined to have large
penises. "Thou hast also
committed fornication with the
Egyptians thy neighbors, GREAT
OF FLESH; and hast increased thy
whoredoms" (Ezekiel 16:26).
Though the translators have used
the word :flesh" here,
there is no doubt that the male
sex organ is intended (Strong's
Concordance, 1320).
Even the
debased "Philistines"
were embarrassed at the actions
of Yahweh's wife: "The
daughters of the Philistines are
ashamed of thy lewd way"
(Ezekiel 16:27). Considering the
very negative feelings the
Israelites had for the
Philistines, this comparison is
loaded with feeling. Ezekiel
continues:
Thou has played the
whore also with the Assyrians,
because thou wast unsatiable;
yea, thou hast played the harlot
with them, and yet couldest not
be satisfied, Thou hast moreover
multiplied thy fornication in
the land of Canaan unto Chaldea;
and yet thou wast not satisfied
therewith .... Thou doest all
these things, the work of an
imperious whorish woman (Ezekiel
16:28-30).
Having become a whore
in "every street" in
town, she is pictured as going
to other towns and cities, and
even other countries to have sex
with foreigners. She stimulated
herself with dildos. She sought
out Egyptians with big penises.
She multiplied her acts of
whoredom. She had sex with
anyone who passed by. Still she
was not satisfied--a
nymphomaniac!
Ezekiel points out
that all whores sell sex to men,
but this woman is so debased SHE
PAYS THEM! "They give gifts
to all whores: but thou givest
thy gifts to all thy lovers, and
hirest THEM, that the may come
unto thee on every side for thy
whoredom" (Ezekiel
16:33).Needless to say, with
this much action, she was a busy
body! She wanted to be chased,
not chaste!
In
another message by Ezekiel, he
likens Yahweh to a man who
marries two sisters, "the
daughters of one mother,"
and both end up being untrue to
him! (Ezekiel 23:2). The older
sister, Aholah, personified
Samaria (the capital of Israel)
and Aholibah, the younger
sister, personified Jerusalem
(the capital of Judah).
And
Aholah played the harlot when
she was mine; and she doted on
her lovers, on the Assyrians her
neighbors ... she committed
whoredoms with them, with all
them that were the chosen men of
Assyria .... Neither left she
her whoredoms brought from
Egypt: for in her youth they lay
with her, and they bruised the
breasts of her virginity, and
poured their whoredom upon her
(Ezekiel 23:5-8).
The
word "doted" that
appears repeatedly in this
chapter means to breathe after,
i.e., to love sensually (Strong's
Concordance, 5689) - an allusion
to the heavy, excited breathing
and sensual lust of this
unfaithful wife. The prophetic
writer makes no effort to speak
in a refined way, but uses the
crudest terms in describing her
activities.
And
when her sister Aholibah saw
this, she was more corrupt in
her inordinate love than she,
and in her whoredoms more than
her sister in her whoredoms. She
doted upon the Assyrians ....
Then I saw that she was defiled,
that they took both one way, and
that she increased her whoredoms:
for when she saw men portrayed
upon the wall ... she doted upon
them ... and the Babylonians
came to her into the bed of
love, and they defiled her with
their whoredom, and she was
polluted with them (Ezekiel
23:11-17).
Though
Aholibah did not have PLAYBOY
magazine to look at, erotic
pictures of men were available
"men portrayed upon the
wall ... she doted upon
them." She indulged in all
kinds of sexual acts as she
"increased her whoredoms"
and "inordinate love."
She was also into group sex, for
Babylonian men (plural) came to
the bed of love and she was
polluted with THEM. Whether the
two sisters and their lovers
ever got together for four-play,
we are not told.
"Then
I said unto her that was old in
adulteries, Will they now commit
whoredoms with her, and she with
them?" (Ezekiel 23:43). She
remembered those days of youth,
the "lewdness," and
the Egyptians "bruising her
teats ... the paps of her
youth" (verse 21). Moffatt
translates this verse:
"Yes, you sought to repeat
the lustful days of your youth,
when the Egyptians handled your
nipples and pressed your young
breasts." She was older
now, the past-tense reference to
her well-developed breasts may
imply they had sagged with
Cowper's droop.
She
recalled those sexual sessions
with Egyptian lovers "whose
FLESH is as the flesh of asses,
and whose issue is like the
issue of horses" (Ezekiel
23:20). The word translated
"flesh" here, used
euphemistically, refers to the
penis (Strong;s Concordance,
1320). Seeking to emphasize the
size of these Egyptian penises,
the prophet compares them to the
sex organs of asses. Penis size
has been commonly compared to
those of animals. Among the
Hindus, the smallest size was a
"shushah" (hare man),
next was a "mrigah"
(buck man), then "vrishubba"
(bull man) and e largest a
"ushvah" (stallion
man)---obviously an
overstatement since a stallion
in passion measures 30 inches
long!
Egyptian
euphemisms for the male organ
include: Edewweel (The Long),
Es-Smeek (The Thick), and
Gedheeb-el-Kebeer (The Great
Rod). Not that men "well
endowed" are better lovers,
but a certain fantasy
prevails.
Modern
studies, such as those performed
by Masters and Johnson, have
presented some adult averages
for penis size. In one such
study, the range of those
examined was from two and a half
inches to five and a half inches
long in the flaccid state. The
average measurement at the
height of sexual excitement was
six inches.
Some
feel Ezekiel could have made his
point without going into details
about penis size. But not only
did he state that Aholibah had
found lovers with big penises -
"as the 'flesh' of
asses" - he also talked
about how much semen they
ejaculated. "...whose issue
is like that issue of
horses" (Ezekiel 23:20).
The word translated issue here
means: "a gushing of fluid
(semen)" (Strong's
Concordance, 2213). Oligospermia,
scantiness of semen, was not the
case - these men ejaculated like
horses! They were young and
lusty, for more semen is emitted
by young men than older men, as
a comparison table in the Kinsey
report shows.
Apparently
those who listened to Ezekiel's
messages were not offended by
his sexually explicit metaphors.
Surprisingly, he was "unto
them as a very lovely song of
one that hash a pleasant voice,
and can play well on an
instrument"! (Ezekiel
33:32).
In
language very similar to
Ezekiel's, Jeremiah described
Judah's unfaithfulness in these
words (Jeremiah 3:1-3):
Thou
hast played the harlot with many
lovers .... Lift up thine eyes
unto the high places, and see
where thou hast not been lien
with. In the ways hast thou sat
for them, as the Arabian in the
wilderness; and thou hast
polluted the land with thy
whoredoms and with thy
wickedness ...thou hast a
whore's forehead.
The
idea here, as pointed out by The
Anchor Bible, is that Judah was
so anxious for
"lovers," she was like
a band of Arabs waiting to
waylay a caravan. Prophets such
as Ezekiel and Jeremiah
illustrated their message with
TALK about whores. Hosea went a
step further: he MARRIED a whore
to illustrate his message! The
book that bears his name opens
with these words: "The
beginning of the word of the
Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said
to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a
wife of whoredoms and children
of whoredoms ... so he went and
took Gomer the daughter of
Diblaim" (Hosea 1:2,3).
"Daughter
of Diblaim" could mean
Diblaim was her father or she
was from a town by this name.
But since Diblaim means two
cakes of pressed figs (Strong's
Concordance, 1691), it has been
suggested (and not without some
plausibility) that this was but
another way of saying she was a
two fig cake whore. One writer
compares her to a prostitute
being obtained for a couple
packs of cigarettes during World
War II?
A
few years ago a man told me
about a husband and wife team
that made extra money on
weekends. They would take their
pickup and camper to labor
camps. Men would have
intercourse with the woman in
the camper, while the husband
collected the money from the men
who formed a line, each waiting
his turn. Being a prostitute in
such labor camps would be
especially low and debased. And
this, as Hosea preached, was the
level to which Israel had
fallen. "Israel ... bast
gone a whoring from God, thou
hast loved a reward upon every
cornfloor" (Hosea 9:1). She
had become such a low class
harlot, as Clarke points out,
she would go to the common
thrashing places, have
intercourse with the lowest
class of men, and accept payment
even of grain.
Like
unfaithful Israel, Hosea's wife
had again and again practiced
whoredom--"a woman of
whoredoms." Her children
were "children of whoredoms"
- the identity of their real
fathers being unknown. During
her marriage to Hosea, he
fathered three children by her,
but she fell back into her old
ways. In one scene, Hosea sends
the children to plead with her.
"Plead with your mother,
plead," he instructed them.
"Let her put away her
whoredoms out of her sight and
her adulteries from between her
breasts." Finally he
threatened to divorce her and,
as was the custom in those days,
to publicly "strip her
naked, and set her as in the day
she was born"! (Hosea
2:2,3).
Links
to the chapters from K. J.
Aaron's "Sexuality and the
Bible"
Biblical
Euphemisms for Sexual Activities
Prostitutes
and Prophets
Nude
and Lewd: The Bare Facts
The
Sin of Onan: Birth Control and
More!
Baal
in the Bathroom
Rape,
Mutilation and Perversion
The
Price of a Dog: Temple
Prostitution
The
Fertility Parade
The
Phallic Covenant
Marriage,
Morals and Manners
The
Intimate Garden: The Song of
Solomon
