Editing Sacred prostitution (section)

===Ancient Israel===
The [[Hebrew Bible]] uses two different words for prostitute, ''zonah'' (זונה)&lrm;<ref name="zanah">Associated with the corresponding verb ''zanah''.{{cite web|title=Genesis 1:1 (KJV)|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h2181|website=[[Blue Letter Bible]]|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=17 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117060240/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h2181|url-status=live}} incorporating [[Strong's concordance]] (1890) and [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]]'s Lexicon (1857). Also transliterated ''qĕdeshah'', ''q<sup>e</sup>deshah'', ''qědēšā'' ,''qedashah'', ''kadeshah'', ''kadesha'', ''qedesha'', ''kdesha''. A modern liturgical pronunciation would be ''k'deysha''.</ref> and ''kedeshah'' (or ''qedesha'') (קדשה)&lrm;.<ref name="zanah" /> The word ''zonah'' simply meant an ordinary prostitute or ''loose woman''.<ref name="zanah" /> But the word ''kedeshah'' literally means ''set apart'' (in feminine form), from the Semitic root ''[[Q-D-Sh]]'' (קדש)&lrm; meaning ''holy'', ''consecrated'' or ''set apart''.<ref name="zanah" /> Nevertheless, ''zonah'' and ''qedeshah'' are not interchangeable terms: the former occurs 93 times in the Bible,<ref>{{cite web|title=Lexicon results for ''zanah'' (Strong's H2181)|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h2181|website=[[Blue Letter Bible]]|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=17 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117060240/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h2181|url-status=dead}}</ref> whereas the latter is only used in three places,<ref>{{cite web|title=Lexicon results for ''qĕdeshah'' (Strong's H6948)|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h6948|website=[[Blue Letter Bible]]|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=29 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829175407/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h6948|url-status=dead}} incorporating [[Strong's concordance]] (1890) and [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]]'s Lexicon (1857).</ref> conveying different connotations.

This double meaning has led to the belief that ''kedeshah'' were not ordinary prostitutes, but sacred harlots who worked out of fertility temples.<ref name="Oxfordqedeshah">{{harvnb|Grossman et al|2011|p=596}}</ref> However, the lack of solid evidence{{sfn|Yamauchi|1973|pp=213–222}}{{sfn|Kamionkowski|2003|pp=21–22}}{{sfn|Westenholz|1989|pp=245–265}} has indicated that the word might refer to prostitutes who offered their services in the vicinity of temples, where they could attract a larger number of clients.<ref name="Oxfordqedeshah" /> The term might have originated as consecrated maidens employed in Canaanite and Phoenician temples, which became synonymous with harlotry for Biblical writers.<ref name=Lipinski2013/>{{sfn|Bird|2020|pp=6, 13}}

In any case, the translation of sacred prostitute has continued, however, because it explains how the word can mean such disparate concepts as ''sacred'' and ''prostitute''.<ref name="DeGrado">{{harvnb|DeGrado|2018}}</ref> As put by DeGrado, "neither the interpretation of the קדשה as a 'priestess-not-prostitute' (according to Westenholz) nor as a 'prostitute-not-priestess' (according to Gruber) adequately represents the semantic range of Hebrew word in biblical and post-biblical Hebrew."<ref name="DeGrado"/>

Male prostitutes were called ''kadesh'' or ''qadesh'' (literally: male who is ''set apart'').{{sfn|Gruber|1986|pp=133–148}} The Hebrew word ''keleb'' (dog) may also signify a male dancer or prostitute.<ref>[https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h3611 Lexicon results for ''kelev'' (Strong's H3611)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142953/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h3611 |date=12 June 2018 }}, incorporating [[Strong's Concordance]] (1890) and [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]]'s Lexicon (1857).</ref>

The [[Mosaic Law]] as outlined in the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] was not universally observed in [[Israelite]] culture under the [[Davidic line]] in the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel]], as recorded in the [[Books of Kings]].  According to 2 Kings 22, the [[Kingdom of Judah]] had lost "the Book of the Law". During the reign of King [[Josiah]], [[Hilkiah]], the [[High Priest of Israel]], discovered it in "[[Solomon's Temple|the House of the Lord]]" and realized that the people have disobeyed, particularly regarding prostitution.<ref>2 Kings 22:8</ref>{{sfn|Sweeney|2001|p=137}}