Return to Sin
Richard Anthony
[Note: This article is not promoting the practice or non-practice of sleeping with unmarried whores or harlots. This article does not reflect the personal preferences of Richard Anthony, or any other writer on this website. This article is simply reflecting what scripture says on this topic, and attempts to answer the question, "Is it a sin to sleep with an unmarried whore?" Our position is that it is not a sin; however it is against God's Will. This article is very controversial, and is still being studied. We admit we may be in error, and welcome any feedback you can offer]
As strange as this may seem, God never condemns either men sleeping with whores, or unmarried women who are whores. According to scripture, if a man has sex with an unmarried woman, it was not considered adultery! God sentenced married men to death for adultery, married women to death for adultery, unmarried men to death for adultery, but never does He sentence unmarried women to death for adultery (See our article called Women And Sexual Sins for further study).
If something is a sin, there will be a penalty listed in scripture. Maybe this is why there are no penalties given to men for sleeping with a whore, and no penalty given to whores who sleep with men (as long as the whore was not married).
The difference between a married whore and an unmarried whore is the following. A married whore would be committing adultery each and every time she slept with a man who was not her husband, which is a sin worthy of death. An unmarried woman, on the other hand, would not, and can not, commit adultery if she sleeps with any man, whether he is married or unmarried. There is no death penalty mentioned in scripture for an unmarried woman who sleeps with a man, and scripture never says it is a sin for an unmarried woman to sleep with a man (except if he is near of kin...see Leviticus 18 and 20).
Now, it may be against God's Will to be an unmarried harlot/whore, yes, but just because an act is against God's Will, it does not mean that act is a sin.
Though adultery was reputed a very flagrant crime, public prostitution was not; for men whose characters were good had connections with them.
One:
The godly man Judah was not rebuked or punished for having sex with someone he thought was a whore, Tamar (Genesis 38:14-26). And neither was Tamar punished for sleeping with him.
[By the way, Judah was the founder of the tribe of Judah, thus of the line of David and Christ Jesus (Matthew 1:3-16). Judah is symbolizes as a lion (Genesis 49:9), which is why Christ is called the “lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).]
Two:
Two of God's chosen people were sent to spy out the land in Jericho. They went into a harlot's house and lodged there (Joshua 2:1). This harlot is called Rahab, and she is commended and praised in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. Many people have called her a “hostess” or a “tavern keeper, but scriptural usage (Leviticus 21:7-14, Deuteronomy 23:18, Judges 11:1, 1 Kings 3:16), the authority of the Septuagint, followed by the apostles, prove that a “harlot” is the correct term to use here.
[By the way, Rahab later married Salmon, through whom was born Boaz, Ruth's husband (Ruth 4:21), so that she thus became an ancestress of David (1 Chronicles 2:11-12), and hence of Christ himself (Matthew 1:5,6,17). Thus, a Canaanite harlot became part of the lineage from whom the Messiah descended. This demonstrates that God's grace and forgiveness is extended to all, and is not limited by nationality].
Three:
Samson, while he had the Spirit of the Lord in him (Judges 15:14), slept with a harlot (Judges 16:1), while he had God's Holy Spirit in him! He is not rebuked or punished for this act, and neither is she.
Some claim that Samson did not sleep with a harlot, but saw an inn-keeper, or one who keeps a house for the entertainment of travellers, and he simply slept there. But there is no scriptural basis for this interpretation. Firstly, the word "harlot" here is the same Hebrew word #02181 zanah used to describe whores throughout scripture. Secondly, the Septuagint confirms that "harlot" is the correct word in this verse. And thirdly, Samson could not have simply slept at an inn until morning, because scripture shows that he only stayed at this place until midnight (Judges 16:3).
Many question whether or not Samson was a godly man, but the apostle has determined he was in Hebrews 11:32.
In all three examples above, the harlot was a woman living outside Israel.
Four:
God commanded his prophet, Hosea, to take a wife who was a whore, so he did (Hosea 1:2-3). She was a whore living inside Israel.
There are only a total of three passages in the entire Old Testament which specifically prohibit whoredoms. Let us examine each one to determine the context.
First Passage:
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”
God commanded this to Israel. However, three things must be noticed about this passage.
One, the women themselves were not commanded this, but the prohibition was upon the parents to not cause (or force) their daughters to be a whore. I repeat, women were not prohibited from prostituting themselves in this verse, the parents were prohibited from prostituting their daughters. This was a very frequent custom, and with examples of it writers of antiquity abound. The Cyprian women, according to Justin, gained that portion which their husbands received with them at marriage by previous public prostitution. And the Phoenicians, according to Augustine, made a gift to Venus of the gain acquired by the public prostitution of their daughters, previously to their marriage.
Two, notice that being a whore is not called “wickedness,” but causing a daughter to be a whore may cause the land to become full of wickedness. Why? Because if parents cause their children to do these acts against their will, this is the same as one man forcing his will upon another for selfish reasons, for mammon, for money, which is a form of wickedness. They would be making merchandise out of their daughters, which is condemned in scripture (2 Peter 2:3).
Three, there is no penalty imposed upon women who are whores. You may ask, “But does this mean God will not punish the daughters of Israel if they commit whoredom?” Well, God answers this question when speaking to Israel in Hosea 4:14, "I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom…” and then explains that it is the men who will be punished, because the men "themselves" have set the bad example. It is the fathers and husbands who caused them to be a whore, and God prohibited the men from to do this in Leviticus 19:29. Which proves that the prohibition upon whoredom was not given to women, but upon men forcing them to become whores, against their will.
Second Passage:
Deuteronomy 23:17-18, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God."
Let's first look at verse 17. Verse 17 forbids the daughters of Israel from becoming whores, and the sons from becoming sodomites. The word "sodomite" is from Hebrew word #06945 qadesh and means "male temple prostitute." The word “whore” in verse 17 does not mean a common prostitute (as it does in the first passage above, in Leviticus 19:29), it comes from Hebrew word #06948 kedeshah and is the feminine form of word #06945 (sodomite) and means a “female temple prostitute.” This is a whore who is doing this for religious purposes only, as can be verified by reading verse 17 and 18 together.
In verse 18, the Lord is saying that the hire of these two, if brought into the Lord's temple for any vow, would be an abomination to the Lord. The word "dog" is Hebrew word # 03611 keleb and figuratively means "of male cult prostitute." This is another word to describe the sodomite from verse 17. The word "whore" in verse 18 is Hebrew word 02181 zanah and has many different meanings, depending on what the context is. One of its definitions is "to be a cult prostitute," and this fits the context of these two verses.
Therefore, this passage prohibits men and women from becoming temple prostitutes (not common prostitutes).
This is opposed to the practice of the Gentiles, who allowed both female prostitutes, and the money they made, inside their temples. Some of them prostituted themselves in the temples, to the honour of their false Gods, and offered part of their profit to them. Some of these prostitutes were publicly kept in the temple of Venus Melytta, whose gains were applied to the support of her worship.
Are there any examples of temple prostitutes being punished? Yes. By looking at all the occurances of sodomites (1 Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7), these whores were using these pagan temples to prostitute themselves and serve other gods. They were all punished.
But, even assuming that Deuteronomy 23:17-18 does prohibit the daughters of Israel from becoming a common whore, if it is a sin then there must be the shedding of blood for this sin. But there are no penalties listed in scripture for an unmarried Israelite woman who commits whoredoms (except for the following verse, which pertains only to a select few).
Third Passage:
The only passage in the entire scripture that mentions any penalty for specifically being a whore is the following.
Leviticus 21:9, "And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire."
The penalty of death mentioned in Leviticus 21:9 limits it to only the daughters of a priest. Only these specific whores were to be “burnt with fire,” and no other whore. Also, this law pertained only to “the sons of Aaron” (Leviticus 21:1), and it did not pertain to the children of Israel in general. Why? Because the priest was a representative of our blessed Lord, therefore he was required to be especially holy; and he is represented as God's king among the people. By prostituting herself, she exposes his person and office, and consequently religion, to contempt. And, in effect, she is a temple prostitute since her father is a priest in the temple!
The laws in this chapter (Leviticus 21) applied only to the sons of Aaron who were priests, and nobody else. For example, none of the priests could touch a dead body (verse 1), or assist at his funeral, or eat of the funeral feast. Except in the case of members of their own family, within the nearest degrees of kindred (verses 2-3); and the high priest could not do it even for them (verses 10-12).
The priests were not to make baldness upon their heads nor cuttings in their flesh (verse 5). They cannot take a wife who is a whore, or a divorced woman (Verse 7-9).
The high priest could not uncover his head nor rent his clothes, which are both expressions of mourning (verse 10). All mourners were debarred from the tabernacle for a week. And his absence from the sanctuary during that period would have been too inconvenient. Neither could he have acted as intercessor for the people, unless ceremonially clean.
The priest was only permitted to marry a virgin (verses 13-14). If their offspring have any defect or excess of parts, any notorious deformity or imperfection in their body, those offspring were unfit for the ministry (verse 17-21).
As we can see, those things that pertained to the priests only did not pertain to anyone else. Therefore, we cannot take any one of these laws that were meant for a specific group of people, and apply it to everyone in general. If we did, we would have to say it is against the law for everyone to touch a dead body, go to a funeral, mourn a death, marry anyone who is not a virgin, etc. And just like these laws do not apply to all believers, neither does the law that commanded their daughter to be killed if she played the whore.
Proverbs 7 speaks of a woman who "looks from a window out of her house into the streets" (verse 6) and she had "the appearance of a harlot" (verse 10) and "she lies in wait in the streets, at every corner" (verse 12) "Then she caught him, and kissed him" (verse 13) and she says "I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt. I have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon. Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love" (verses 16-18).
It continues by saying "she prevailed on him to go astray" (verse 21) and continues to warn of the dangers of a man going to a whore. It finally ends with "for she has wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable. Her house is the way of hell, leading down to the chambers of death" (verses 26-27).
Is not this saying it is a sin to sleep with this kind of woman?
Yes, it is. But notice that this woman is married! "For my husband is not at home, but is gone on a long journey" (verse 19). The man would be committing adultery if he slept with her. And scripture is clear that adultery is a sin. We cannot put an unmarried woman in the same category as a married woman.
God has punished Israel for their whoredoms.
The Old Covenant was actually referred to by God as a marriage agreement! In Ezekiel 16:8, God said: "Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.". “Spread my skirt”, is an expression that is a sign of marriage (see Ruth 3:8-11).
God further said in Jeremiah 31:32: “I was an husband unto them.” By agreeing to the Covenant, Israel was bound to God as His wife and was forbidden to commit adultery by worshipping the gods of other nations. In Jeremiah 3:8-14 and Isaiah 50:1, God states that he was married to Israel, and gave Israel a bill of divorcement, because Israel committed adultery.
Let us examine two chapters in the book of Ezekiel that speak of Israel committing whoredoms, and the reasons why their whoredoms were
condemned by God.
Ezekiel 16:
Speaking to Israel, God said:
Ezekiel 16:35, "Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:" and proceeds to expose her whoredoms, abominations, nakedness, and lovers.”
But how will God judge this harlot? Let us find out.
Ezekiel 16:38, "And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock…"
In other words, Israel broke wedlock and committed adultery! She played the whore while married! Israel had a marriage covenant with God, and it is clearly a sin to commit adultery and break a covenant:
Ezekiel 16:8, "...yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine."
Notice when God says someone is "mine," it means that someone has a marriage covenant with Him. However, scripture does not say it is a sin for a woman to be a harlot who has no covenant of marriage.
Ezekiel 23:
Ezekiel 23:2-3, "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: And they committed whoredoms in Egypt;"
This is still speaking about Samaria and Jerusalem (verse 4). This chapter explains how they have sinned because of their harlotry. But it must be remembered that it was because they were married to God!
Ezekiel 23:4, "And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine,"
Remember, when God says they were "mine," it means they were married to God.
Ezekiel 23:5, "And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine;"
God is condemning her for playing the harlot while she was married!
Ezekiel 23:10, "These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters,"
Not only was Aholah married, she had a family. Now, speaking about her sister, Aholibah:
Ezekiel 23:25, "...they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; "
She had a family also. And God says why he is going to punish her:
Ezekiel 23:35, "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back…”
Because she has forgotten her husband; because she has committed adultery. If anyone doubts that these two were married to God and committed adultery, listen to God:
Ezekiel 23:37, "That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery,"
Ezekiel 23:43, "Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?"
Now, here is a final passage which gives the reason why their harlotry will be judged:
Ezekiel 23:45, "And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands."
You see, it is only when a woman has a covenant of marriage that she is condemned for playing the harlot, because this is adultery, which is punishable by death.
Ezekiel 23:47, "And the company shall stone them with stones..."
But nowhere in scripture is it forbidden for an unmarried woman to play the harlot.
A "yoke" is something fixed together on the neck of oxen for the purpose of binding them so that they might draw the plow. The reason God forbids an ox and an ass to be yoked together is because they would plow in different directions, and the farmer would not get much work done! But, not getting any work done because of this is not a penalty, it is a consequence.
This is also the reason why God commanded His people to be separate from unbelievers, and why Jesus commanded us to be yoked to Him (Matthew 11:29-30). If we do His will, He will guide our steps. If we do our own will, we will pull in different directions.
The One who created us knows what's best for us. He tells us what is best for us in His Word. But if we don't do what is best for us, it does not necessarily mean it is a sin to do so.
Another example; God's Law says, "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof" (Deuteronomy 22:8). If you had a flat roof with access from the inside to the roof, and people will be spending time on the roof, God commanded that we put a railing around the roof. What is the penalty for failing to do this? Well, there is no penalty mentioned, which means there is no blood shed, which means it is not a sin. However, there are consequences. One of which may be that someone may fall off and be killed, in which case the one who failed to put the railing on the roof would suffer the consequences of manslaughter.
The command to put a railing on the roof is designed to prevent a wrong from happening, but it is not a sin if one disobeys this command. If somebody fell off a roof with no railing, the one in the wrong would be penalized, not for failing to put a railing around the roof, but for manslaughter. Likewise, the command to not lust after a married women is designed to prevent physical adultery from happening, but it is not a sin if one disobeys this command, at most it is only a temptation. If somebody slept with a neighbor's wife, he would be penalized, not for lusting after her, but for physical adultery.
There is a difference between a punishment and a consequence. For example, when my brother was 3 years old, he moved a chair over to an oven and stood on the chair. One of the burners were on and it was hot. His father was watching him, and had told him several times not to touch the burner, but my brother's curiosity was too strong. My brother stretched out his hand to touch the burner, but his father did not try to stop him this time. After he touched the burner, he withdrew his hand very rapidly because of the pain. His father looked at him and said, very slowly, "hot." My brother looked at him and repeated, "hot." From that moment on, my brother knew that if his father said, "hot," then he would get hurt. This was a learning experience for him.
Now, let me ask you this. Was it his father's will that he touch that burner? No, his father did not want his son to get burned. Did my brother sin by disobeying his father's will? No. When my brother got burned, was that a punishment for his disobedience? No. Was it a consequence? Yes.
Therefore, if we disobey our Father's Will, there will be consequences. But these consequences are not necessarily a punishment for sinning against him. Being an unmarried whore may be against God's Will and may have negative consequences attached to those acts, but it is not a sin. On the other hand, being a married whore is a sin against God, and there are penalties listed in scripture for this act.
Answer: Please notice that Tamar was betrothed to Shelah, Judah's son. She was his wife! Tamar was Judah's “daughter-in-law” (verse 11), and Judah was her “father-in-law” (verses 13 and 25) and is also considered her “father” (verse 11). The reason she was going to be burned at the stake was because she played the harlot while married! Because her act was considered adultery. It was not because she was a “whore,” but because of adultery.
Genesis 38:24, "And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."
Our translators often render different Hebrew words by the same term in English, and thus many important shades of meaning, which involve traits of character, are lost. In Genesis 38:15,24, Tamar is called a "harlot" (word #2181, zonah), which signifies a woman who prostitutes herself for money. In verses 21-22 she is called a "harlot," but the original word is not “zonah” but word #6948, “kedeshah,” which signifies a holy or consecrated person (from kadash - to make holy, or to consecrate to religious purposes). And the word here must necessarily signify a person consecrated by prostitution to the worship of some impure goddess. Tamar was acting like a Canaanite temple prostitute.
Also, notice that Tamar was never burned at the stake, nor was she punished in any way. Judah threatened to do so because she "played the harlot" while married, but circumstances showed that she was not to blame for her adultery, so she was not punished.
Answer: This passage is comparing one who is joined in the flesh, to one who is joined in spirit (verse 17). This shows how the spirit cannot be one with another body of flesh, and it also shows how the body of flesh cannot be one in spirit with the Lord. The things of the body are flesh, and the things of God are spirit. In other words, God does not become one with the natural body (flesh), but with the spiritual body (John 17:21-23).
In the case of union with a harlot, the man becomes one "body" with her, not one "spirit." That union is, for the harlot, the same as with the wife.
John 3:6, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
When 1 Corinthians 6:16 says, "...for two, saith he, shall be one flesh," Paul was referring to Moses. Moses speaks these words about marriage: but both marriage, and sleeping with a whore, are a carnal and fleshly copulation. Scripture usually speaks of "one flesh" when a man marries a woman, but Paul says it also includes sleeping with a whore. The term "one flesh" in every other passage of scripture is always used in a positive sense.
To understand if the word "harlot" is used in a negative sense or a positive sense, we should look at all the occurances of this word in the New Testament books. This word for "harlot" is translated from Greek word #4204, and is used 12 times (8 times as "harlot," 4 times as "whore"). Here are all the verses containing this word (except for 1 Corinthians 6:15-16).
Answer: No, not necessarily. For example, it is against God's Law for a believer to eat an animal that dies by itself (Leviticus 17:15; 22:8), but at the same time, believers are commanded to give it or sell it to an unbeliever (Deuteronomy 14:21). Another example is usury. Believers are forbidden to charge usury to another believer (Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:36-37, Deuteronomy 23:19), but at the same time, God commands believers to charge usury to unbelievers!
Deuteronomy 23:20, "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury:"
At this point, you may say, “But usury is not an abomination to God; and neither is eating an animal that dies by itself. Only abominations are a sin for both believers and unbelievers.” Well, actually, they are both considered an abomination to God:
Ezekiel 18:13, "Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him."
Leviticus 17:15-16, "And every soul that eateth that which died of itself…shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity."
Leviticus 22:8-9, "That which dieth of itself…he shall not eat to defile himself therewith…lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it.”
Ezekiel 4:14, "…my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth."
As we can see, both usury and eating an animal that dies of itself is considered an abomination to God, but he permitted, and even commanded, that believers may do these acts to the heathen.
A final example is that of being a bondmen (meaning a lifelong slave). Believers were forbidden from buying, selling or having bondservants that were also believers (Leviticus 25:42). However, believers were commanded to buy, sell, and have bondservants who were unbelievers (Leviticus 25:44).
Therefore, just because something is a sin if a believer does an act to a fellow believer (i.e., eat an animal that dies of itself, charge usury, have a bondmen), it does not mean it is a sin for a believer to do these same acts with an unbeliever (i.e., sleep with a whore). This would explain why godly men were never rebuked for sleeping with whores outside the faith (Genesis 38:14-26, Joshua 2:1, Judges 16:1).
Going by the examples and commands in scripture, we have discovered the following concerning whores:
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