TR: zânâh → pórnē (Harlotry/Prostitution)

The Chain

Hebrew OT             LXX (Greek OT)         Greek NT
───────────           ───────────────         ────────
זָנָה (zânâh)      →  πόρνη (pórnē)       →  πόρνη (pórnē)
H2181, 81x in OT      23x as translation      12x in NT
"commit harlotry"      of zânâh                "harlot, whore"
                       PMI: 24.14

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H2181	זָנָה (zânâh)	81	commit harlotry, play the harlot; figuratively: commit idolatry

H2181 is a verb root meaning to commit fornication or play the harlot. In the OT it carries both a literal sense (prostitution: Gen 34:31, Josh 2:1) and a dominant figurative sense (Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness to God: Judg 2:17, Ezek 16, Hosea). The figurative "whoring after other gods" accounts for the bulk of OT usage.

Key OT passages: - Gen 34:31 — "Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" (first occurrence; literal) - Exod 34:15 — "they go a whoring after their gods" (figurative; idolatry as harlotry) - Judg 2:17 — "they went a whoring after other gods" (Israel's unfaithfulness cycle)

Library: H2181-zanah.md

LXX Bridge

H2181 zânâh → Greek (what Greek words translate this Hebrew word):

Greek	Word	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
G1608	ἐκπορνεύω (ekporneuō)	36	29.47	Primary LXX rendering; intensive compound — "utterly play the harlot"
G4204	πόρνη (pórnē)	23	24.14	Nominal form — the harlot as a person
G4203	πορνεύω (porneúō)	15	22.01	Simple verb — "to commit fornication"
G4202	πορνεία (porneía)	12	16.68	Abstract noun — "fornication, harlotry"
G3410	μίσθωμα (misthōma)	6	14.82	"hire" — harlot's wages specifically
G3431	μοιχεύω (moicheuō)	3	9.41	"commit adultery" — occasional rendering when context emphasizes marital violation

The LXX translators spread H2181 across the entire πόρν- word family, choosing the form that matched syntactic context: ἐκπορνεύω for the verbal "go whoring after," πόρνη for "as a harlot" (nominal), and πορνεία for abstract "harlotry."

G4204 pórnē ← Hebrew (what Hebrew words this Greek word translates):

Hebrew	Word	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
H2181	זָנָה (zânâh)	23	24.14	Primary source — root verb for harlotry
H6948	קְדֵשָׁה (qᵉdêshâh)	4	15.03	Cult prostitute — LXX does not distinguish secular from cultic
H7343	רָחָב (Râchâb)	4	14.51	Rahab proper name — always rendered with πόρνη in LXX
H5003	נָאַף (nâʼaph)	3	8.63	"Commit adultery" — minor overlap

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G4204	πόρνη (pórnē)	12	harlot, prostitute, whore
G4202	πορνεία (porneía)	25	fornication, sexual immorality
G4203	πορνεύω (porneúō)	7	to commit fornication
G4205	πόρνος (pórnos)	10	fornicator, whoremonger

Key NT passages: - Matt 21:31 — "the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you" (repentant harlots in the kingdom) - Heb 11:31 — "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not" (Rahab: πόρνη as faith exemplar) - Rev 17:1 — "the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters" (Babylon as symbolic πόρνη)

Library: G4204-porne.md

Direct OT-to-NT Quotations

NT Verse	Alludes to OT	Shared Concept	Significance
Heb 11:31	Josh 2:1 (ה זוֹנָה / πόρνη in LXX)	Rahab the harlot	NT identifies Rahab with same word πόρνη used in LXX of Josh 2:1
Jas 2:25	Josh 2:1	Rahab the harlot	Same LXX identification; James independently labels her πόρνη
Rev 17:1–5	Isa 1:21 ("the faithful city become an harlot"), Ezek 16, 23	City-as-harlot imagery	Revelation's Babylon draws on prophetic "harlot city" tradition rooted in zânâh vocabulary

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same across testaments: - The word retains both literal (actual prostitution: 1 Cor 6:15–16, Luke 15:30) and figurative (spiritual unfaithfulness: Rev 17–19) senses, mirroring the OT dual usage of zânâh. - Rahab's identification as πόρνη is stable from LXX Josh 2:1 through Heb 11:31 and Jas 2:25 — no softening of the label.

What shifts: - The OT "whoring after other gods" is almost always applied to Israel as a corporate metaphor. In the NT, the figurative harlot is no longer Israel but "Babylon the Great" — an external enemy of God's people rather than a wayward covenant partner. - The NT adds a positive dimension entirely absent from the OT verb: πόρνη becomes a category of person who can repent and enter the kingdom (Matt 21:31–32), and whose faith is commended (Heb 11:31, Jas 2:25). The OT uses zânâh almost entirely as condemnation.

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Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-04-08