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זָנָה H2181
H2181 is the Hebrew word זָנָה, transliterated zânâh and said zaw-naw'. The King James Version most often renders it harlot.
What it means
to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); figuratively, to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah).
Where it comes from
a primitive root (highly-fed and therefore wanton).
How the King James Version translates it
Across 50 tagged occurrences, counted from this edition's word index.
Strong's own list of renderings: (cause to) commit fornication, [idiom] continually, [idiom] great, (be an, play the) harlot, (cause to be, play the) whore, (commit, fall to) whoredom, (cause to) go a-whoring, whorish.
Verses using זָנָה
The first 40 of 73 verses, quoted in full.
Genesis 38:15 · KJV
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
Genesis 38:24 · KJV
And 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 34:15 · KJV
Lest 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 34:16 · KJV
And 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 17:7 · KJV
And 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 19:29 · KJV
Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
Leviticus 20:5 · KJV
Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
Leviticus 20:6 · KJV
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Leviticus 21:7 · KJV
They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
Leviticus 21:9 · KJV
And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
Leviticus 21:14 · KJV
A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
Numbers 25:1 · KJV
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Deuteronomy 22:21 · KJV
Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
Deuteronomy 23:18 · KJV
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 31:16 · KJV
And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Joshua 2:1 · KJV
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
Joshua 6:17 · KJV
And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Joshua 6:22 · KJV
But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
Joshua 6:25 · KJV
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Judges 2:17 · KJV
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.
Judges 8:27 · KJV
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
Judges 8:33 · KJV
And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
Judges 11:1 · KJV
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Judges 16:1 · KJV
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
Judges 19:2 · KJV
And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
1 Kings 3:16 · KJV
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
1 Chronicles 5:25 · KJV
And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.
2 Chronicles 21:11 · KJV
Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
2 Chronicles 21:13 · KJV
But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
Psalm 106:39 · KJV
Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
Proverbs 6:26 · KJV
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Proverbs 7:10 · KJV
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Proverbs 23:27 · KJV
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
Proverbs 29:3 · KJV
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
Isaiah 1:21 · KJV
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isaiah 23:16 · KJV
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isaiah 23:17 · KJV
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Jeremiah 3:1 · KJV
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 3:3 · KJV
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
Jeremiah 5:7 · KJV
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Common questions
What does Strong's H2181 mean?
H2181 is the Hebrew word זָנָה (zânâh), meaning to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); figuratively, to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah).
How is H2181 translated in the King James Version?
The King James translators rendered it harlot (12 times), go a whoring (8 times), commit whoredom (5 times), played the harlot (4 times), whore (4 times), among others.
How many times does H2181 appear in the Bible?
זָנָה (zânâh) is tagged in 73 verses of the King James Version in this edition's word index.
Where does H2181 come from?
Strong's gives its derivation as: a primitive root (highly-fed and therefore wanton).
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