---
title: זְנוּת — fornication · The Tanakh dictionary
description: זְנוּת (2184), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 9 times: fornication. BDB 1906: n.f.abstr. fornication. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# זְנוּת

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«זְנוּת» in the Tanakh dictionary: **fornication** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 9 times · **Key:** 2184 · **BDB:** זְנוּת

### Glosses

prostitution (5); prostitution(s) (2); her.prostitution (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

fornication [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1494/2184/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.f.abstr. fornication [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1494/2184/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.f.abstr. fornication;—ז׳ Ho 4:11; 6:10; sf. זְנוּתֵךְ Je 13:27 Ez 23:27; זְנוּתָהּ Je 3:9; זְנוּתָם Ez 43:7, 9; זְנוּתַיִךְ Je 3:2; זְנוּתֵיכֶם Nu 14:33. sexual Ho 4:11. international Ez 23:27. religious Nu 14:33 (J) Je 3:2, 9; 13:27 Ez 43:7, 9 Ho 6:10 (where WeKl. Proph. suggests זָנִיתָ); cf. זָנָה 3.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 9 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (1 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «זְנוּת» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1494/2184/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Hosea 4:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/HOS.4.11/)

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זְנ֛וּת וְיַ֥יִן וְתִיר֖וֹשׁ יִֽקַּֽח־לֵֽב׃

*Word for word:* prostitution and wine and new.wine it.takes.away \[the\].heart

*JPS 1917:* Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the heart.

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[Hosea 6:10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/HOS.6.10/)

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בְּבֵית֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רָאִ֖יתִי שַׁעֲרֽוּרִיָּ֑ה שָׁ֚ם זְנ֣וּת לְאֶפְרַ֔יִם נִטְמָ֖א יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

*Word for word:* in the.house of.Israel I.have.seen a.horrible.\[thing\] there prostitution \[belongs\].to Ephraim it.has.made.itself.unclean Israel

*JPS 1917:* In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; there harlotry is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

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