Sifrei Devarim 261

לא תביא אתנן זונה. אין לי אלא אתנן זונה. אתנן כל העריות מנין? ת"ל (אתנן) [כי תועבת], מכל מקום. ואיזו אתנן זונה? האומר לזונה "הילך זה בשכרך", אפילו מאה - כולם אסורים. האומר לחברו, "הילך טלה זה, ותלין שפחתך אצל עבדי" - ר' אומר אינו אתנן, וחכ"א הרי זה אתנן.

(Devarim 23:19) "You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute and the exchange of a dog into the house of the L-rd your G-d for every vow": "You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute": This tells me of the hire of a prostitute. Whence do we derive (the same for) the hire of all of the arayoth (illicit relations)? From "for the abomination" — in any event. And which is "the hire of a prostitute"? Saying to a prostitute "Take this (lamb) for your hire" — even (if he sent her) one hundred, they are all forbidden. If one says to his neighbor: Take this lamb and let your (Canaanite) maidservant lie with my (unmarried Hebrew) manservant — Rebbi says: This is not hire; the sages say: It is hire.

ומחיר כלב. איזהו מחיר כלב? האומר לחברו "הילך טלה זה תחת כלב זה". (מחיר) יכול אפילו העבירו ברגלו לעזרה, יהיה חייב? ת"ל "כי תועבת". נאמר כאן "תועבה" ונאמר להלן "תועבה", מה "תועבה" האומר להלן - (בשם זובח) [בזובח], אף "תועבה" האמורה כאן - (בשם זובח) [בזובח].

"and the exchange of a dog": What is "the exchange of a dog"? Saying to one's neighbor: Take this lamb for this dog, (in which instance the lamb may not be dedicated to the Temple). I might think that if he walked it (i.e., the beast given as a harlot's hire) into the azarah (the Temple court), he is liable, it is, therefore written "for the abomination of the L-rd." It is written here "abomination," and elsewhere (relative to the interdict against sacrificing blemished animals) (Ibid. 17:1) "abomination." Just as there, sacrifice (is interdicted), so, here, sacrifice (and not merely entry is interdicted).

(נדר. פרט לדבר הנדור. כשהוא אומר "לכל נדר", לרבות במה).

"for every vow": to exclude what has already been vowed. "for every vow": to include (the harlot's hire as interdicted even for) a bamah (a temporary altar).

בית ה' א-להיך. פרט לפרת חטאת, שאינה באה לבית, דברי ר' אליעזר. וחכ"א, לרבות את הריקועים. [כשהוא אומר "לכל", לרבות את הבמה. "נדר", פרט לדבר הנדור].

"into the house of the L-rd your G-d" to exclude (from the interdict) the bullock of the sin-offering, (i.e., the red heifer, which is not brought into the Temple, but is slaughtered outside the encampment [viz. Bamidbar 19:3]). These are the words of R. Eliezer. The sages say: to include (as interdicted) gold-foil (for the Temple).

לכל נדר. לרבות את העוף. [שהיה בדין,] ומה מוקדשים שהמום פוסל בהם, אין אתנן ומחיר חל עליהם; עוף שאין המום פוסל בו, אינו דין שלא יהיה אתנן ומחיר חל עליהם! ת"ל "לכל נדר", להביא את העוף. יכול אפילו שכר פקיעתה יהיה אסור? ת"ל כי תועבת ד'.

"for every vow": to include (as interdicted) (even) a bird. For I would think: If sacrificial offerings, which are invalidated by blemishes, are not subject to "hire" and "exchange," then birds, which are not invalidated by blemishes — how much more so should they not be subject to "hire" and "exchange." It is, therefore, written "for every vow," to include birds. I might think that (also interdicted is) the hire (that he gives the harlot) for abstention (from remunerative labor for the time period required for the act); it is, therefore, written "for the abomination of the L-rd" (i.e., the hire forbidden is that for the act itself).

גם שניהם. שנים ולא ד'. הם. ולא ולדותיהם.

"the very two (the hire of a prostitute and the exchange of a dog)": two and not four (i.e., the hire of a dog and the exchange of a prostitute are permitted) "the very two of them" — they (are interdicted) and not their offspring.