Rabbinic JudaismSifrei Devarim 260HOLYMAP · SACRED TEXTS
Sifrei on DeuteronomySifrei Devarim 260

Sifrei on Deuteronomy

Sifrei Devarim 260

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English · Shraga Silverstein

(Devarim 23:18) "There shall be no harlot from the daughters of Israel": You (beth-din) are exhorted (to keep harlotry) from the daughters of Israel, but you are not thus exhorted vis-à-vis gentile women. "and there shall be no harlot form the sons of Israel": You are exhorted vis-à-vis the sons of Israel, but not vis-à-vis Canaanite men. Why mention both kadesh (a male harlot [homosexuality]) and kedeshah (a female harlot). If you (beth-din) are exhorted vis-à-vis a kedeshah — of lesser stringency — in Israel; how much more so are you thus exhorted vis-à-vis a kadesh, (who is subject to the death penalty)! Or, conversely, if you are not exhorted vis-à-vis a Canaanite kadesh — of greater stringency, then how much more so are you not thus exhorted vis-à-vis a Canaanite kedeshah! (Why, then, must both be mentioned?) Both are necessary. For if only kedeshah were mentioned and not kadesh, I would say: You are exhorted vis-à-vis a kadesh — of greater stringency — in Israel; but you are not thus exhorted vis-à-vis a kedeshah — of lesser stringency. Or, you are not exhorted vis-à-vis a kedeshah — of lesser stringency — among the Canaanites; but you are exhorted vis-à-vis a kadesh — of greater stringency among the Canaanites. It is, therefore, written "There shall be no harlots from the daughters of Israel, and there shall be no harlots from the sons of Israel" — and you are not thus exhorted vis-à-vis the Canaanites.

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Sifrei Devarim 260English
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Sifrei on Deuteronomy

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Public-domain Hebrew editions, digitized by Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

Mechilta, Sifra and Sifrei, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein. CC BY. Text from Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

English translation: Sifrei Devarim, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, via Sefaria (sefaria.org). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Changes: footnotes and HTML formatting removed.

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