PROSTITUTION
Forbidden in Israel (Lev. 19:29; 21:9; Deut. 23:17), it was nevertheless practiced due to the relaxation of customs and the corrupting influence of paganism around (Gen. 38:21; Josh. 2:1; Judges 11:1; 16:1).
The cult of the high places and the Canaanite, Babylonian, Greek, etc. temples, involved a class of “sacred prostitutes” (Gr. “hierodules”).
There was also “sacred” male prostitution (Gr.: “hierodules”): the cults of Baal, Astarte and Dionysus of Byblos were licentious in the extreme (1 Kings 14:23-24; Hos. 4:13-14).
In the time of Solomon and his successors, prostitution spread among the Israelites themselves, mainly through foreign women (1 Kings 3:16; 11:1; 22:38; Pr. 5:3-8, 20 ; 6:24-26; 7:5-27; 23:27).
“Houses of pleasure” came into existence (Ez. 16:24, 31; 2 Kings 23:7). It was also said that someone “became a prostitute” when they had illicit relations, even if it was with only one person (Gen. 38:24; Deut. 22:21). The prophets and faithful kings reacted strongly against this state of affairs.
The apostles faced a great relaxation of customs in the Greco-Roman world. Paul gives a vivid description of the situation in Rom. 1:23-28, among other passages, and in his epistles he never ceases to exhort Christians to purity and self-control (1 Cor. 6:9-20; Gal. 5:19, 23; Eph. 4: 17-24; 5:3-5; Col. 3-5; 1 Thes. 4:3-7; 1 Pet. 4:3; Rev. 2:20, etc.).
Figuratively, the terms prostitution and adultery express his people’s abandonment of Jehovah and his spiritual unfaithfulness. Jerusalem, the city that should have been holy, is compared to a harlot (Is. 1:21; Jer. 2:20; cf. 3:1; Ez. 16:15, 17, 20; 23:1-21; Rev. 17:1, 5, 15; 19:2).
However, God is willing to forgive his people in their repentance, and to make the nation, once purified, a chaste and faithful wife (Hos. 2-3).