קְדֵשָֽׁה
𐤒𐤃𐤔𐤄
qᵉdêshâh
prostitute
A woman set apart or dedicated for cultic or ritual purposes, particularly a woman participating in sacred or temple-associated sexual activity, which in some contexts functioned as ritual prostitution. The term identifies such women specifically in connection with non-Israelite religious practices but can hold the broader sense of a temple-associated woman or cultic devotee. In later periods, the word increasingly refers generically to a woman engaged in ritual or commercial sexual activity connected to places of worship.
Genesis 38:21 · Word #16
Lexicon H6948
| Lemma | קְדֵשָׁה |
| Lemma (Paleo) | 𐤒𐤃𐤔𐤄 |
| Transliteration | qᵉdêshâh |
| Strong's | H6948 |
| Definition | A woman set apart or dedicated for cultic or ritual purposes, particularly a woman participating in sacred or temple-associated sexual activity, which in some contexts functioned as ritual prostitution. The term identifies such women specifically in connection with non-Israelite religious practices but can hold the broader sense of a temple-associated woman or cultic devotee. In later periods, the word increasingly refers generically to a woman engaged in ritual or commercial sexual activity connected to places of worship. |
Morphology HAafsa
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | A — Adjective — Describes a noun |
| Subtype | a — Adjective — Adjective |
| Gender | f — Feminine — Feminine |
| Number | s — Singular — Singular |
| State | a — Absolute — The noun stands independently |
Common Translation
| Phrase | prostitute |
SIBI-P1 Translation H6948-03
consecrated woman
| Morphological Notes | Feminine singular absolute form functioning substantivally (a feminine form derived from קדש, "set apart"). |
| Rendering Rationale | The rendering preserves the core root idea of being set apart or consecrated (קדש) while marking the feminine singular form with "woman." It avoids flattening the term to "prostitute" and retains the cultic dedication inherent in the lexeme. |
View full lexicon entry for H6948 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
temple prostitute woman
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | Standardized from "consecrated woman". |