Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There hath been no prostitute here.

asked the men of that place : Where is the woman that sat in the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in this place,

And he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute that was at Enaim, by the way-side? And they said, There was no prostitute here.

Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was at Enaim by the way side? And they said, There hath been no harlot here.

And he asketh the men of her place, saying, 'Where is the separated one, she in Enayim, by the way?' and they say, 'There hath not been in this place a separated one.'

And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there.

Then he asked the men of her place, saying: 'Where is the harlot, that was at Enaim by the wayside?' And they said: 'There hath been no harlot here.'

he questioned the men of that place: "Where is the woman who sat at the crossroad?" And they all responded, "There has been no harlot in this place."

Et interrogavit viros loci illius, dicendo, Ubi est meretrix illa in Henaim juxta viam? Et dixerunt, Non fuit hic meretrix. Illa in Henaim juxta viam? Et dixerunt, Non huit hic meretrix.

Where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside? - Our translators often render different Hebrew words by the same term in English, and thus many important shades of meaning, which involve traits of character, are lost. In Genesis 38:15, Tamar is called a harlot, זונה zonah, which, as we have already seen, signifies a person who prostitutes herself for money. In this verse she is called a harlot in our version; but the original is not זונה but קדשה kedeshah, a holy or consecrated person, from קדש kadash, to make holy, or to consecrate to religious purposes. And the word here must necessarily signify a person consecrated by prostitution to the worship of some impure goddess.
The public prostitutes in the temple of Venus are called ἱεροδουλοι γυναικες, holy or consecrated female servants, by Strabo; and it appears from the words zonah and kedeshah above, that impure rites and public prostitution prevailed in the worship of the Canaanites in the time of Judah. And among these people we have much reason to believe that Astarte and Asteroth occupied the same place in their theology as Venus did among the Greeks and Romans, and were worshipped with the same impure rites.

Then he asked the men of that place,.... Or "of her place" (d), of the woman's place, supposing that she dwelt somewhere thereabout:
saying, where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside? that sat there very publicly some little time ago: the word for "harlot" (e) comes from another, which signifies to sanctify or separate to holy uses; and harlots were so called, either by an antiphrasis, by way of contradiction, being unholy; or because, as Jarchi observes, they were separated and destined to whoredom; or because they were such as were devoted to Venus, and the worshippers of her, and prostitutes in her temple, and in the temples of other Heathen deities; but it is questionable whether such practices as yet were used:
and they said, there was no harlot in this place; they had not known any harlot to frequent that place lately, and Tamar sat there so small a time as not to have been observed by them.
(d) "viros loci ejus, scil mulieris", Piscator, Schimdt. (e)