Comentário sobre Deuteronômio 23:18

לא תהיה קדשה THERE SHALL BE NO קדשה [OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL] — i.e. a prostitute, — one who is devoted to and ever ready for illicit intercourse (cf. Rashi on Genesis 38:21 s. v. הקדשה; Rashi on Exodus 19:22 s. v. יתקדשו).

THERE SHALL BE NO ‘K’DEISHAH’ OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL — “one who is devoted to and always prepared for illicit intercourse. NOR SHALL THERE BE A ‘KADEISH’ OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL — one who is always prepared for pederasty.” This is Rashi’s language. Now, if this prohibition constitutes an admonition against the woman so engaged and warns her against being “devoted to and always prepared for illicit intercourse,” then an unmarried woman who has [illicit] intercourse with a man unpremeditatedly and secretly is not among those guilty of transgressing a negative commandment! So also in the matter of the kadeish, why did Rashi mention that he is devoted to “and always prepared” [for such sin] — even one who permits himself to be so abused in an innermost chamber is guilty of extirpation [if there are no witnesses] and death by the court [if there are witnesses]! Moreover, it would have been proper for Scripture to state, “There shall not be among you a k’deishah, nor shall there be among you a kadeish,” for the expressions of the daughters of Israel and of the sons of Israel make it appear that the verse discusses another nation!
It appears to me concerning this prohibition that it constitutes an admonition addressed to the members of the court that they should not permit one of the daughters of Israel to sit in public view at the crossroads for the purpose of illicit intercourse, or prepare herself a tent of prostitution as is customary in foreign lands where they sit at the door with timbrels and harps, similar to what is written, Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot long forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.²⁸⁸Isaiah 23:16. And similarly Scripture warns the court concerning a kadeish. And in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, even if he should lie with women in a tent which he prepared himself for such illicit relations or that he should sit in public view at the crossroads [on the lookout for such women], he warned the court [against permitting such activities].
It appears to me that such is the opinion of Onkelos [who rendered the verse: “A woman of the daughters of Israel shall not become the wife of a slave, and no man of Israel shall marry a bondwoman”].²⁸⁹Thus it is clear that Rashi’s interpretation: “a k’deishah is one who is devoted to, and always ready for illicit intercourse” is different from that of Onkelos. The same is with regard to a kadeish. But he [Onkelos] combined with this prohibition the matter of a slave and bondwoman who live with Israelites in [common law] marriage, because everyone knows concerning this slave who married the daughter of an Israelite that his betrothal of her is invalid and yet she remains with him like a wife with her husband, and if so she is a k’deishah in broad daylight.
Now, I have seen in the Sifre the following text:²⁹⁰Sifre, Ki Theitzei 260. “There shall be no ‘k’deishah’ of the daughters of Israel — you are not admonished against it with respect to the nations. Nor shall there be a ‘kadeish’ of the sons of Israel — you are not admonished against it with respect to the nations. Now, I could have reasoned: if the k’deishah [commits] a minor transgression [seeing that the punishment for violation of this prohibition is stripes] yet you are warned against it in Israel, is it not logical that [the crime of] the stringent kadeish [which is punished] by extirpation and death by the court, as explained above] be forbidden in Israel! [Why then was it necessary to state, nor shall there be a ‘kadeish’ of the sons of Israel?] Or vice versa: if the kadeish commits a stringent [crime, yet] you are not admonished against it among the nations, is it not logical that you should not be admonished against the minor k’deishah with respect to the nations etc.”²⁹¹In other words, the Sifre is stating that both admonitions were necessary. The minor transgression of k’deishah we could not have derived from the stricter kadeish, and the exclusion of the nations regarding the prohibition of kadeish we could not have derived from the same exclusion regarding the lighter prohibition of k’deishah. Hence both admonitions had to be stated. From this text of the Sifre it would appear that the interpretation of the Rabbis does not agree with that of Onkelos, for according to his rendition there is nothing stricter about the kadeish than the k’deishah [since the prohibition against a slave marrying a Jewish woman is of equal stringency to that of a Jewish man marrying a bondwoman]. Moreover, what does the Sifre mean by, “you are not admonished against it with respect to the nations” [according to Onkelos’ interpretation]? Similarly, if the interpretation [of the Sifre] of the term kadeish were to have been “the male who is the subject of pederasty” as in the interpretation of Rabbi Yishmael in Tractate Sanhedrin,²⁹²Sanhedrin 54b. then in that case too, the Sifre could not have said “you are not admonished against it with respect to the nations,” for he who permits himself to be so abused by a heathen is liable to stoning!
Rather, it appears that the opinion of the master of this Beraitha is as we have mentioned. Scripture warns the court that a woman may not stand at the crossroads for illicit intercourse, for there she will prostitute herself with those who are forbidden to her, relatives and strangers, for they cover their faces in order to have illicit relations even with their brothers and relatives, this being the sense of what Scripture states, When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she had covered her face²⁹³Genesis 38:15. Similarly he warns the court against him who is ready to be abused by males, similar to what is written, And there was also sodomy in the Land; they did according to all the abominations of the nations.²⁹⁴I Kings 14:24. Now, aside from the admonition against those who commit the sin, he warns the court here that they should not permit a sodomite to stand on the road [ready for such abuse], as is known of them in the land of Egypt that they stand on the road with covered faces like women to do this abominable act. Now the Rabbis interpreted in this Beraitha [i.e., the Sifre quoted above] that we are not admonished concerning others except for ourselves if they do so with one another, for only in matters of idolatry are we admonished with respect to the nations.
The terms kadeish and k’deishah, in the opinion of the commentators,²⁹⁵Ibn Ezra, here and R’dak, in Sefer Hasharashim, root kadeish. are an expression of readiness, for they found this usage in the verse, I have commanded ‘lim’kudashai’ (My devoted ones).²⁹⁶Isaiah 13:3. So also, ‘hikdish’ (He hath prepared) His guests;²⁹⁷Zephaniah 1:7. ‘kadshu’ (prepare ye) war against her.²⁹⁸Jeremiah 6:4. And in my opinion these are all expressions of “holiness” [consecration], for he who separates himself from illicit sexual relations is called “holy,” just as it is said, They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or profaned; neither shall they take a woman sent away from her husband, for he is ‘holy’ unto his G-d.²⁹⁹Leviticus 21:7. Thus the woman who guards herself from forbidden relations and lewdness is called k’doshah (holy), while she who separates herself from holiness and becomes defiled with illicit sexual relations is called k’deishah. This is comparable to the usage customary in the [Sacred] Language [to use the same root-letters to express the negative as well as the positive], as for example: and all mine increase ‘th’shareish’ (it would root out);³⁰⁰Job 31:12. Now, the word shoresh means “a root,” and here it means the opposite: “uproot.” ‘v’dishnu’ (and they shall take away the ashes) from the altar.³⁰¹Numbers 4:13. Here too the word deshen (ashes) is used to indicate the opposite: “to take away the ashes.” For the known harlot, the defiled one of name and full of tumult³⁰²Ezekiel 22:5. is separated from all holiness. This name [k’deishah] applies to her only because she is always ready for this abomination, for she has no moment for propriety and holiness at all. And the expression ‘hikdish’ His guests²⁹⁷Zephaniah 1:7. is a figurative expression, for he who makes a feast consecrates his guests and cleanses them so that they should not defile the table and the bread, as it is said, he is unclean; surely he is not clean.³⁰³I Samuel 20:26. So also ‘kadshu’ war against her²⁹⁸Jeremiah 6:4. means that they should cleanse themselves, like one who cleanses his guests in order that scholarly people [who are meticulous in observing the laws of purity] should not separate themselves from them.

קדשה, a harlot; an unmarried woman engaging in adultery (with a married man)

לא תהיה קדשה מבני ישראל, “There shall not be a promiscuous woman among the daughters of Israel.” Rashi interprets the reason for Moses choosing the word קדשה, related to קדוש, holy, for such a woman as being that among the Israelites there must not be people who dedicate, “sanctify” their lives by practicing promiscuity.

לא תהיה קדש, “there must not be a harlot amongst the daughters of Israel.” This is the prohibition for women not to be sleeping around, and the second half of the verse applies equally to men and is an instruction to the court not to allow men or women to offer their sexual services on the streets.

For she, too, engages promiscuously, etc. Rashi is saying: Do not regard this translation of Onkelos as a difficulty against me [that I said קדשה means promiscuous], as I can answer that [Targum] Onkelos agrees with me for “she, too, engages promiscuously, etc.” And Rashi explains similarly afterwards [regarding the maidservant].

V. 18. לא תהיה וגו׳. Wie קדוש die gänzliche Hingebung an das sittlich Gute bedeutet, so קדש die Hingebung an das sittlich Schlechte. Einige Analogie bietet die Wurzel כבד, die als כבוד so den Eindruck eines geistig sittlichen Gehaltes bezeichnet, wie כבד den Eindruck eines materiell sinnlichen Gehaltes. Unzucht ist jeder geschlechtliche Umgang, dem die קידושין-Weihe fehlt, daher auch die vermeintliche Ehe von קידושין unfähigen Personen, שאין קידושין תופסין בהם, wie denn אונקלום den Begriff קדשה und קדש durch solche konkrete Beispiele wiedergibt, אתתא מבנת ישראל לגבר עבד und לא יסב גברא מבני ישראל אתתא אמתא. Der Wortlaut unseres Textes fordert von Israels Söhnen dieselbe keusche Züchtigkeit, wie von Israels Töchtern und erkennt in Wahrung keuscher Züchtigkeit die Bewährung des jüdischen Namens. בנות ישראל und בני ישראל, "Töchter Israels" und "Söhne Israels", diese Namen sollen für ewige Zeiten jeden unzüchtigen Anhauch ausschließen. — So Sanhedrin 82 a: כי חלל (מלאכי ב׳ יא׳) זו יהודה קודש ד׳ זונה וכן הוא אומר לא יהיה קדש ופירשי׳ וז׳׳ל קדש מפקיר קדושתו והולך לרדוף זונות קדשה מחללת קדושתה וכן קדש מחלל קדושתו ע׳׳ש.

לא תהיה קדשה, “there must not be Jewish harlots;” the verse is appended here on account of the previous verse having dealt with escaped gentile slaves, many of whom might have been forced to be harlots.

AND THERE SHALL BE NO קדש (OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL] — one ever ready for pederasty (Sanhedrin 54b). Onkelos, however, rendered the verse by לא תהא אתתא מבני ישראל לגבר עבר, “A woman of the daughters of Israel shall not become the wife of a slave”. Such a woman may also be termed a קדשה. because she, too, becomes a prostitute to illicit intercourse, since no marriage ceremony with her (קידושין) can for him have a hold on her (can be a valid ceremony), — for you see, they (the slaves) are compared to asses, as it is said, (Genesis 22:5), “Abide ye here עם החמור”, which is taken to mean (Kiddushin 68a), “[Abide ye here] עם החמור", “O ye peop1e who are like asses”. And the second half of the verse Onkelos renders by ולא יסב גברא מבני ישראל אתתא אמה “and no man of Israel shall marry a bondwoman”, which is also an adequate translation, since he, too, becomes a קדש, “one devoted to illicit intercourse” through her, since every intercourse with her is an illicit intercourse, since his marriage to her is not binding (cf. Rashi on Kiddushin 69a s. v. או דיעבד קאמר‎).

קדש, a male sleeping promiscuously with women without bothering to marry them. Since the women in question do not sleep with him exclusively they are not even concubines.

ולא יהיה קדש, “neither shall their be a male dedicating his life to promiscuity, making sexuality his aim in life.” This is a warning against practicing homosexuality. Nachmanides writes that if that were so, i.e. forbidding public promiscuity as a negative commandment were meant to apply only to married women who had sinned by indulging in illicit sex, not to devote their lives to harlotry, one would conclude that an unmarried woman indulging in such activity in the privacy of her home had not transgressed the commandment legislated in verse 18. One would arrive at a similar conclusion concerning the males of whom the Torah speaks in verse 19. He cannot understand what made Rashi use the expression מזומן, dedicated to, oriented in that direction, seeing that even an occasional indulgence in homosexual relations is punishable by the harsh penalty karet or execution, as we know from Leviticus Furthermore, turning to the text itself, why does the Torah (Moses) not write: “there shall not be amongst you, etc.,” and writes instead בבנות ישראל, “among the daughters of Israel.” Nachmanides continues writing that in view of the points he raised he believes that the entire legislation in these two verses is addressed to the court dealing with such offenders. The courts must not allow any Jewish woman/girl to publicly offer her services as a prostitute, or for such a person to rent or own a dwelling devoted to the pursuit of such activities. The court is similarly warned to enforce parallel legislation making it difficult for males to do something similar. Looking at the plain meaning of the text, the Torah appears to prohibit even normal sexual relations between a man and a woman married to one another if such activity takes place in a house that is known to serve as a brothel. The court must see to it that women offering their services as sex objects are apprehended and prevented from doing so in public.