Does Deuteronomy 23:18 mean that it is wrong for Christians to sell dogs and tithe on the income?

Many misunderstand the meaning of Deuteronomy 23:18, concluding that it would be a sin to engage in the sale of dogs: “You shall not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD your God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD your God.”

Revelation 22:15 states, “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.” This is plainly referring to the various types of people who will not enter God’s kingdom, because of their unwillingness to repent of their degenerate lifestyles. Galatians 5:19-21 also describes those who will not be part of God’s kingdom.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible shows that the meaning of the word dog (#3611), as used in this context in the Hebrew, is “a male prostitute,” or homosexual. Deut 23:17of Deuteronomy 23:1-25 makes the meaning plain: “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.” The two verses are clearly talking about sexual sins.

The subject of these verses is made clear in the Amplified Version: “There shall be no cult prostitute among the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a cult prostitute (a sodomite) among the sons of Israel. You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the price of a dog (a sodomite) into the house of the Lord your God as payment of a vow, for both of these (the gift and the giver) are an abomination to the Lord your God.”

The meaning is also made plain by the Moffatt Translation: “No woman of Israel shall be a temple-prostitute, and no man of Israel shall be a temple-prostitute. You must never pay a vow into the house of the Eternal your God with money that is the hire of a prostitute or the wages of a catamite: both are abominable to the Eternal your God.”

Dogs (canines) are a part of God’s animal creation, over which man was given dominion (Gen. 1:26). To sell a dog, or any other animal, and tithe on the income, is not a sin.

Back to Questions and Answers

Back to By David C. Pack