Question #14: The word "fornication" is a poor translation of any word in the Hebrew or the Greek, because there isn't any Scriptural contextual example that supports condemnation of premarital sex. It's my position that zanah, harlot and whore/whoredom are consistent, in the literal sense, as being prostitution. It's also my position that "fornication" is a completely erroneous, and inaccurate translation of the Hebrew word zanah. It seems to me that your belief is that "zanah" primarily means "prostitution" (ie. paying for sex), at least in the physical sense. I believe I can demonstrate conclusively that "zanah" does NOT mean "prostitution" specifically, but rather "fornication" in general. We will need to agree on the correct definition of "zanah" before we can look to the Scriptures to see what they say about committing "zanah". Now, just as with any other word in a foreign language, we need a translation from the source language to the destination language. In our case, we need a Hebrew-to-English dictionary: According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, "zanah" means:       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) (figuratively)            1b) (Pual) to play the harlot            1c) (hiphil)                 1c1) to cause to commit adultery                 1c2) to force into prostitution                 1c3) to commit fornication According to the Strong's Concordance, "zanah" (H2181) means: "a prim. root [highly fed and therefore wanton; to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); fig. to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah): -(cause to) commit fornication, X continually, X great, (be an, play the) harlot, (cease to be, play the) whore, (commit, fall to) whoredom, (cause to) go-a-whoring, whorish." According to the Complete Word Study Old Testament, "zanah" means: "To fornicate, commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot, commit adultery; to apostatize, have intercourse with false g-ds or foreigners; to seduce. The main idea is to commit illicit sexual intercourse, particularly with women. However, this strong image is used in a figurative sense to describe illegal contact between Israel and other nations and their g-ds..." According to Davies' Hebrew Lexicon, "zanah" means: "fornication - used of a married woman, of an unmarried woman, of religious apostasy or unfaithfulness to God, regarded as whoredom or adultery since the covenant between the Eternal and His people Israel was compared to a marriage union." According to the Gesenius's Lexicon, "zanah" means: "To commit fornication; attributed properly and chiefly to a woman; whether married (when it may be rendered, to commit adultery) or unmarried, and it is construed with an accusative following of the fornicator or adulterer; it is very often used figuratively - of idolatry" Translations of "zanah" into languages other than English also convey the same concept of what we call "fornication", or "sex between a man and woman not married to each other". You can easily check this yourself with any non-English translation of the Bible. Now I realize that the English word "fornication" is not a perfect match for the Hebrew word "zanah", but EVERY SINGLE Hebrew-to-English reference I can find has "fornication" as one of its primary meanings. In order to translate the concept of "zanah" over from Hebrew to English, the best word that translators can find in English is "fornication". I personally prefer translating "zanah" as "whoring", because it is more gender specific and I think it better captures the essence of the original text. When I use the word "whoring", I mean it in the sense of a sexually promiscuous person, not in the exclusive sense of a prostitute selling sex for money. Prostitution is certainly a form of whoring (zanah), just as adultery (na'aph) is a form of whoring (zanah), but neither prostitution nor adultery DEFINES "zanah". The Hebrew word "zanah" encompasses fornication, prostitution, adultery and idolatry, as demonstrated in the above definitions. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "whoring" as: 1. A prostitute. 2. A person considered sexually promiscuous. 3. A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain. The web site dictionary.com gave the following definition for "whoring": "a woman who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse, usually for money; prostitute; harlot; strumpet." The very phrase "usually for money" demonstrates that it is also possible to commit whoring without money. But whether we prefer to translate "zanah" as "whoring" or "fornication", we still need to understand the contextual meaning of "fornication" if we're to have any hope of understanding why the translators chose to use this English word to convey the meaning of "zanah" over into English. American Heritage Dictionary: "Sexual intercourse between partners who are not married to each other." Online Etymology Dictionary: "Strictly, voluntary sex between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman." WordNet Dictionary: "Voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other." Merriam-Webster's Dictionary: "Consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other." American Heritge Dictionary: "Sexual intercourse between a man and woman not married to each other." Notice that nowhere in any English definition of fornication is the concept of "paying or charging for sex". It is simply sexual relations between a man and a woman who are not married to each other. That is how I have meant the word "whoring" to be understood in our articles. If you exclusively think of prostitution when you see the word "whoring", feel free to translate the word in your mind as "fornication" if you prefer. In the Old Testament Scriptures, if the primary meaning of the Hebrew text is specifically "sex for money", the actual Hebrew word used is "qadeshah" (Strong's #6948), which is translated into English as "prostitute". Likewise, if the primary meaning of the Hebrew text is specifically "woman that breaks wedlock", the actual Hebrew word used is "na'aph" (Strong's #5003), which is translated into English as "adultery". However, a "qadeshah/prostitute" and a "na'aph/adulteress" also, by definition, fall under the general category of "zanah/fornication". Every "qadeshah" and "na'aph" is also "zanah", but not every "zanah" is necessarily "qadeshah" or "na'aph". I hope you can see the distinction. Finally, consider Ezekiel 16:30-35: "How weak is your heart!" declares the Master Yahweh, "seeing you do all this, the deeds of a shameless whore (zanah). You built your arched place at the head of every way, and built your high place in every street. Yet you were unlike a whore (zanah), you scorned payment! The wife who commits adultery who takes strangers instead of her husband! To all whores they give gifts, but you gave gifts to all your lovers, and bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings. Thus you are different from other women in your whorings, because no one whores after you, and in you giving a gift, while a gift was not given to you. Thus you are different. Therefore, O whore (zanah), hear the word of Yahweh!" This is about as clear as it can be stated. The woman here is identified by God Himself as a whore/zanah (verse 35). Yet this whore/zanah refused payment (verses 31 and 34). She still committed the deeds of a whore/zanah (verse 30). In some modern cultures (other than here in the United States), most whoring probably still is performed for money, but regardless of anything else, this woman was a whore/zanah who refused payment. She was like a wife who commits adultery who takes men other than her husband (verse 32). Wives commit adultery all the time and it doesn't become a lesser form of adultery simply because they don't charge for sex. God says the woman in Ezekiel 16 is a different kind of a whore (one who does not receive payment), but a whore nonetheless. Let God's Word be true and every man a liar.

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