On the long bus ride back from the Mexican pyramids, I got to think about a
long standing problem. If Israel's laws forbade prostitution, why didn't
Israel's greatest judge enforce those laws?
We've all heard the story of King Solomon and the two harlot's, where he finds
the real mother by threatening to chop the baby in two. Since the laws of
Israel carried a death penalty for adultery, why didn't Solomon enforce it?
People today equate prostitution with adultery, but the Bible does not. Not
always. As the wisest man who ever lived, a walking embodiment of true
justice, Solomons judgement deserves a deeper look. Here is the text of the
whole incident:
1 Kings 3:16-28 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the
king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this
woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman
was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the
house, save we two in the house. And this woman's child died in the night;
because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from
beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her
dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck,
behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it
was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay; but the
living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is
thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. Then said
the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead:
and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one,
and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto
the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give
her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be
neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give
her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. And
all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the
king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
Whoredom, harlotry, prostitution; they defile the land. When Judah thought his
daughter-in-law Tamar had become a harlot, he ordered her to be burnt. The
problem was not with the sex for pay, but with violation of Judah's property
rights. Tamar had been bought and paid for, and belonged to his family for the
purpose of increasing their manpower. Biblically, sex for pay is fine. A
ketubah (marriage contract) guarantees a woman a certain financial allowance in
return for performing her sexual duties. The problem is that prostitution
lowers the birthrate of the population, thus reducing its manpower, thus
reducing its brainpower, thus reducing its ability to protect and defend
itself. The connection between prostitution and lower birth rates isn't
obvious to the layman, so just take it for granted right now.
Leviticus 18:20,28 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy
neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her. That the land spue not you out
also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
Leviticus 19:29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a
whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
Prostitution can fall into two categories; the woman is still the property of
her father, or she belongs to a husband. Widows, divorced, and single women
fall into the category of belonging to their fathers; they have a right to
return to the family home and be supported there. How would a father
prostitute his daughter? If he treats her harshly, refuses to marry her off to
a suitable husband, does not feed or clothe her, train her or discipline her,
she may well turn to whoredom to support herself.
Look closely at the story of the two harlots. They say they have no man. They
fall into the category of single women. Sex with a single woman is not
adultery. Adultery carries the death penalty, but as single women, their
prostitution was to be regulated by different laws.
If a girl took up the prostitution trade, and then got married under false
pretenses, pretending to be a virgin, the penalty was death. However no death
penalty is indicated for the circumstance where the woman and her family were
up front about her past. A man taking a wife needs to be able to accurately
assess the risks of disease and future infidelity.
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and
hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name
upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a
maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth
the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this
man to wife, and he hateth her; And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech
against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the
tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the
elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and
chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and
give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil
name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her
away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be
not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of
her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that
she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her
father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
Suppose a single woman was to work as a whore. What is the penalty? For the
girl, no penalty at all. If she is a virgin turning her first trick, the man
has to pay a hefty fine of fifty shekels to her father, who has the choice of
giving her in marriage or not.
Exodus 22:16,17 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and
lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly
refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of
virgins.
Deuteronomy 22:28,29 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is
not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then
the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of
silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put
her away all his days.
When she is no longer a virgin, her father either allows her to be a
prostitute, violating the law at Leviticus 19:29, or he doesn't allow her. If
her father allows her, then he becomes liable for her behavior and she is not
punished, as described in Hosea 4:13,14 quoted below. If her father doesn't
allow her, she is again subject to the death penalty, as set forth in the next
set of verses:
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will
not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when
they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and
his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and
unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city,
This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a
glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with
stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel
shall hear, and fear.
In the case of Solomon's two harlots, there is no evidence at all that their
father disciplined or otherwise acted to prevent them from their trade.
Perhaps their father was dead, but in that case his responsibility to his
daughters would have fallen on his next of kin. It really is a matter of
family responsibility, not of persecuting individuals.
There is one remaining corner case; what of the married woman who becomes a
prostitute? What if the two harlots had been married after all? It is a
principle of the Torah that it must be applied equally. You cannot hit one party
with the full penalty then let another get off free for the same crime. It is
better to err on the side of mercy, so if you do not convict one, you should
not convict another. This is violated daily by un-Godly governments who
selectively enforce their laws to "make examples" of people. Such selective
enforcement is neither fair or just. In Solomon's case, assuming the women
were married, the other parties to the crime of adultery were missing. Without
them, there was no way to proceed. This is why Jesus was able to say "Let he
who is without sin cast the first stone." The two witnesses rule also comes
into it; before a person can be put to death two witnesses to the crime are
required. Solomon's two harlots had no witnesses against them.
When people engage in false worship, and use the services of whores, God will
not punish the women who turn to adultery and infidelity. He will punish those
who are responsible; the men, who failed to take their patriarchal prerogative
in setting a good example of just, fair, respectful, and temperate behavior.
Hosea 4:13,14 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn
incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow
thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your
spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they
commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are
separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people
that doth not understand shall fall.
If you have any Torah questions, feel free to write in to ted AT reactor-core
DOT org.
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