What does קְדֵשָׁה (qĕdēšāh) mean in the Bible?
קְדֵשָׁה (qĕdēšāh): Sacred devotion corrupted: a woman consecrated to fertility cult prostitution, conflating religious and sexual transgression
Hebrew · H6948
קְדֵשָׁה
A female devotee (i.e. prostitute)
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קְדֵשָׁה H6948
Pronunciation qĕdēšāh
What does קְדֵשָׁה (qĕdēšāh) mean in the Bible?
קְדֵשָׁה (qĕdēšāh): Sacred devotion corrupted: a woman consecrated to fertility cult prostitution, conflating religious and sexual transgression
Full entry for קְדֵשָׁה (H6948) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6948?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include shrine prostitute (2), . . . (1), is the shrine prostitute (1), shrine prostitutes (1).
Where does קְדֵשָׁה (qĕdēšāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 38:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (3), Deuteronomy (1), Hosea (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It shrine prostitute 2× Genesis 38:21, Genesis 38:22
. . . 1× Deuteronomy 23:17
is the shrine prostitute 1× Genesis 38:21
shrine prostitutes 1× Hosea 4:14
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 38:21 הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛ה to is the shrine prostitute Article | Adjective - feminine singular Genesis 38:21 קְדֵשָֽׁה׃ to shrine prostitute Adjective - feminine singular Genesis 38:22 קְדֵשָֽׁה׃ to shrine prostitute Adjective - feminine singular Deuteronomy 23:17 קְדֵשָׁ֖ה to . . . Adjective - feminine singular Hosea 4:14 הַקְּדֵשׁ֖וֹת to shrine prostitutes Article | Adjective - feminine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 38:21
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 3
Genesis 3 Deuteronomy 1 Hosea 1
Source forms
קְדֵשָֽׁה׃ 2x qə·ḏê·šāh Genesis 38:21, Genesis 38:22
הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛ה 1x haq·qə·ḏê·šāh Genesis 38:21
הַקְּדֵשׁ֖וֹת 1x haq·qə·ḏê·šō·wṯ Hosea 4:14
קְדֵשָׁ֖ה 1x qə·ḏê·šāh Deuteronomy 23:17
Parsing patterns
Adjective - feminine singular 3x Genesis 38:21, Genesis 38:22, Deuteronomy 23:17
Article | Adjective - feminine plural 1x Hosea 4:14
Article | Adjective - feminine singular 1x Genesis 38:21
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Sacred devotion corrupted: a woman consecrated to fertility cult prostitution, conflating religious and sexual transgression
Source Gloss
a female devotee (i.e. prostitute)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Sacred devotion corrupted: a woman consecrated to fertility cult prostitution, conflating religious and sexual transgression
a female devotee (i.e. prostitute) BDB: temple-prostitute Usage: harlot, whore.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
קְדֵשָׁה is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain