Bible and Temple Prostitutes

[Trassin]

Does anyone know where I can find an actual research paper that supports the idea that the hebrew word qadesh should be translated to mean "male temple prostitute" and to’ebah should be translated to mean "condemned foreign Pagan religious cult practice"

I'm not trying to get into a debate about homosexuallity and the bible in this thread. If you want to talk about that with me then go to this [URL="http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51832"]thread[/URL].

I'm simply trying to understand how people have come to the conclusion that the aboved mentioned words are commonly mistranslated.

 

[Smoke]

Does anyone know where I can find an actual research paper that supports the idea that the hebrew word qadesh should be translated to mean "male temple prostitute" and to’ebah should be translated to mean "condemned foreign Pagan religious cult practice"

Qadesh means "holy one." Sodomite and male temple prostitute are both interpretations, rather than strict translations, but the latter seems the more likely.

As far as I know, abomination is a pretty good translation for to'ebah, but "condemned foreign pagan religious cult practice," while it's an interpretation rather than a translation, and cumbersome to boot, is a reasonable interpretation.

 

[Trassin]

Qadesh means "holy one." Sodomite and male temple prostitute are both interpretations, rather than strict translations, but the latter seems the more likely.

As far as I know, abomination is a pretty good translation for to'ebah, but "condemned foreign pagan religious cult practice," while it's an interpretation rather than a translation, and cumbersome to boot, is a reasonable interpretation.

Thanks Midnight, I figured I would have butched the usage of the word pretty badly, having no background in hebrew.

That being said, any idea where I can find a scientific discussion of how it came to be that the words were aparently so poorly interpreted in the bible?

 

[Smoke]

That being said, any idea where I can find a scientific discussion of how it came to be that the words were aparently so poorly interpreted in the bible?

Well, there's not that much to argue about where qadesh is concerned. With to'ebah, almost everybody who writes about it is tendentious: either pro-gay or anti-gay, and grinding axes like mad. I've only dabbled in Hebrew a tiny bit, and wouldn't know where to go for really serious scholarship. I only even own one Hebrew dictionary, and that's for modern Hebrew. Angellous would know, though.

One thing I'd quibble with, on historical-critical grounds, is "foreign." I don't find any evidence that the religious practices of the Israelites were different in any significant respect from the practices of their neighbors. But Christian homosexuals and Christian homophobes alike prefer to think that they were.

 

[Trassin]

I don't find any evidence that the religious practices of the Israelites were different in any significant respect from the practices of their neighbors.

Yeah, foreign is a bit of a strange distiction to make. I would think that any pagan religions found amongst the neighbors of Israelite controlled territory would also be found within Israelite territory.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I don't find any evidence that the religious practices of the Israelites were different in any significant respect from the practices of their neighbors.

That's interesting. Where have you looked?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

..., any idea where I can find a scientific discussion of how it came to be that the words were aparently so poorly interpreted in the bible?

Out of curiosity, given your ignorance of any relevant "scientific discussion", how did you arrive at the judgment that "the words were aparently so poorly interpreted in the bible?"

 

[Trassin]

Out of curiosity, given your ignorance of any relevant "scientific discussion", how did you arrive at the judgment that "the words were apparently so poorly interpreted in the bible?"

Based on second and third hand writings and testimony I have seen. I'm not certain that the words were poorly interpreted but based on some of the writings I've seen in the "homosexuality and the bible" debate it is clear that one side of the argument is falsifying its claims or at a minimum exagurating them. I would like to know which and the only way to even begin to do that is to look at the references (scientific discussions) they are using to form their opinions.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Which verses are these words used? I can probably find a paper for you if I know where to look...

 

[Smoke]

That's interesting. Where have you looked?

Mainly in the Bible. If you read attentively, there's an obvious attempt to backdate monotheism and the levitical law; it's very plain that neither was dominant in Israelite religion for most (if not all) of the time before the Exile.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Mainly in the Bible.

That explains it. Thanks.

 

[Trassin]

Which verses are these words used? I can probably find a paper for you if I know where to look...

I don't have an "alternative" bible with the words actually used but here is a link that talks at length about it.