Sodomite
Sodomite
(, kadesh, i.e. consecrated; Vulg. scortator, effeminatus). This word does not denote an inhabitant of Sodom (except only in 2Es 7:36), nor one of their descendants; but is employed in the A.V. of the Old Test. for those who practiced as a religious rite the abominable and unnatural vice from which the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have derived their lasting infamy. It occurs in Deu 23:17; 1Ki 14:24; 1Ki 15:12; 1Ki 22:46; 2Ki 23:7; and Job 36:14 (margin). The Hebrew word kadesh is said to be derived from a root kadash, which (strange as it may appear) means pure, and thence holy. The words sacer in Latin, and devoted in our own language, have also a double meaning, though the subordinate signification is not so absolutely contrary to the principal one as it is in the case of kadesh. This dreadful consecration,’ or rather desecration, was spread in different forms over Phoenicia, Syria, Phrygia, Assyria, Babylonia. Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarte, was its chief object. It appears also to have been established at Rome, where its victims were called Galli (not from Gallia, but from the river Gallus in Bithynia). There is an instructive note on the subject in Jerome’s Comment. on Hos 4:14. SEE SODOMY. The translators of the Sept., with that anxiety to soften and conceal obnoxious expressions which has often been noticed as a characteristic of their version, have, in all cases but one, avoided rendering kadesh by its ostensible meaning. In the first of the passages cited above they give a double translation, and (initiated). In the second, (a conspiracy, perhaps reading ); in the third, (sacrifices); in the fourth the Vat. MS. omits it, and the Alex. has ; in the fifth, ; and in the sixth, . There is a feminine equivalent to kadesh, viz. kadeshdh. This is found in Gen 38:21-22; Deu 23:17; and Hos 4:14. In each of these cases it throws a new light on the passage to remember that these women were (if the expression may be allowed) the priestesses of a religion, not plying for hire, or merely instruments for gratifying passing lust. Such ordinary prostitutes are called by the name zonah. In 1Ki 22:38 the word zonoth is rendered armor. It should be harlots and the harlots washed themselves there (early in the morning, as was their custom, adds Procopius of Gaza). The Sept. has rendered this correctly. The strange women of Pro 2:16, etc., were foreigners, zaroth. SEE HARLOT.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Sodomite
sodom-t (, kadhesh, feminine , kedheshah): Kadhesh denotes properly a male temple prostitute, one of the class attached to certain sanctuaries of heathen deities, and consecrated to the impure rites of their worship. Such gross and degrading practices in Yahweh’s land could only be construed as a flagrant outrage; and any association of these with His pure worship was abhorrent (Deu 23:17 f): The presence of Sodomites is noted as a mark of degeneracy in Rehoboam’s time (1Ki 14:24). Asa endeavored to get rid of them (1Ki 15:12), and Jehoshaphat routed them out (1Ki 22:46). Subsequent corruptions opened the way for their return, and Josiah had to break down their houses which were actually in the house of the Lord (2Ki 23:7). The feminine kedheshah is translated prostitute in Gen 38:21, Gen 38:22; Hos 4:14; in Deu 23:17 prostitute (the King James Version margin sodomitess, the Revised Version margin transliterates). The English word is, of course, derived from Sodom, the inhabitants of which were in evil repute for unnatural vice.