To fornicate
זָנָהStrong’s H2181zanah (za-nah)
Appears in 83 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Zanah is the Hebrew word usually translated “prostitute”, “acted as a prostitute” and “acted as prostitutes”. It appears in 83 verses of the Old Testament.
“And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?”
Meaning
- To commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot(Qal) · (Pual) to play the harlot · (Hiphil)
How it's translated
- a prostitute 18
- and you acted as a prostitute 5
- the prostitute 4
- and they acted as prostitutes 3
- prostitutes 3
- and they will prostitute themselves 2
- by acting as a prostitute 2
- acting as prostitutes 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Ezekiel 19
- Hosea 11
- Leviticus 7
- Judges 6
- Jeremiah 6
- Isaiah 5
20 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Genesis 38:15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
- Genesis 38:24And 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.
- Exodus 34:15Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
- Exodus 34:16And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
- Leviticus 17:7And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
- Leviticus 19:29Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
All 83 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
זָנָה zanah · to fornicate
1) to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be a harlot, act as a harlot, commit fornication 1a2) to commit adultery 1a3) to be a cult prostitute 1a4) to be unfaithful (to God) (fig.) 1b) (Pual) to play the harlot 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to cause to commit adultery 1c2) to force into prostitution 1c3) to commit fornication
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “fornicate” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
FORN'ICATE, verb intransitive
[Latin fornicor, from fornix, a brothel.]
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.