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There were even male and female shrine prostitutes throughout the land. The people imitated the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.
1 Kings 14:24 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before the children of Israel.
  • KJV And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
  • BSB There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
  • NKJV And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
  • NASB There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the same abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Cult prostitutes are present in the land, and Judah imitates the abominations of the nations God had driven out. They repeat the very sins that brought judgment on the Canaanites.

Overview

The presence of ritual prostitution shows Judah adopting pagan worship practices God had condemned. By doing 'all the abominations of the nations,' Judah courts the same judgment those nations received. The verse warns that God's people are not exempt from accountability when they embrace the sins of the surrounding culture.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Deut 23:17There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
  • 1 Cor 6:9Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
  • 1 Kgs 15:12He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
  • 2 Kgs 23:7He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in Yahweh’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
  • Gen 19:5They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
  • 1 Kgs 22:46The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land.
  • Judg 19:22As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we can have sex with him!”
  • Rom 1:24–27Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Kings videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Kings 14:24YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 KingsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.

How 1 Kings 14:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.