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Strong's Concordance
Hebrew Word Study

Strong's H2181 זָנָה (zanah)

Zanah means “whorish” — full meaning, definition, and every linked Bible usage across the indexed canon.

Same number, other testament: Strong's G2181 — ephesos (“Ephesus”) in the Greek Bible.

Strong's Number H2181
Language Hebrew
Linked Usages 82
Books 20

Strong's H2181 Quick Answer

Strong's H2181 הַכְזוֹנָ֕ה is a Hebrew Strong's word-study entry. zanah (zaw-naw') v. 1. to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment) 2. (figuratively) to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being It has 82 linked Bible usages across 20 books. Visible English usage signals include commit, adultery, she, fornications, and fornication. Indexed coverage on this page includes Old Testament.

Meaning
zanah (zaw-naw') v. 1. to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment) 2. (figuratively) to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being
Usage
82 linked usages
Books
20 indexed books
Corpus
Old Testament
Usage Words
commit, adultery, she, fornications, and fornication

Meaning and Definition

zanah (zaw-naw') v. 1. to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment) 2. (figuratively) to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being

Original Word
הַכְזוֹנָ֕ה
Morphology
TH8802

Across Lexicons

How independent scholarly lexicons define Strong's H2181. Each definition is shown with its source so you can compare and cite the original reference works.

Extended Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (Brown-Driver-Briggs based)

to fornicate

Usage: 1) to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be a harlot, act as a harlot, commit fornication 1a2) to commit adultery 1a3) to be a cult prostitute 1a4) to be unfaithful (to God) (fig.) 1b) (Pual) to play the harlot 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to cause to commit adultery 1c2) to force into prostitution 1c3) to commit fornication

STEPBible · Tyndale House, Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

How Strong's H2181 Is Translated

The English word each shown verse actually uses to render Strong's H2181, taken from the interlinear word alignment (the same word underlined in the excerpts below). Where a rendering is used more than once, the count is shown.

commit Leviticus 20:5 11× adultery Jeremiah 3:8 fornication Ezekiel 16:26 fornications Ezekiel 16:15 she Genesis 38:24

How Strong's H2181 Usage Compares

Indexed coverage includes Old Testament. Each section below keeps corpus counts and sample passages visible so readers can compare the word across contexts instead of reading one flat concordance list.

  • The largest indexed corpus on this page is Old Testament with 82 linked usages.
  • The linked rows are Old Testament Hebrew usage, grouped by book for fast canonical scanning.

Strong's H2181 by Corpus

Indexed usage grouped by testament and extended corpus so readers can compare this word across the Bible, Septuagint, deuterocanonical books, and 1 Enoch where present.

Strong's H2181 in the Old Testament

82 indexed usages in Old Testament.

Genesis 34:31 KJV

And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

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.

Usage Excerpts

First 82 linked usage excerpts for Strong's H2181.

Genesis 34:31 Old Testament, KJV
And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
Genesis 38:15 Old Testament, KJV
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
Genesis 38:24 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 15:39 Old Testament, KJV
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
Numbers 25:1 Old Testament, KJV
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Deuteronomy 22:21 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, KJV
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
Judges 19:2 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, KJV
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
1 Chronicles 5:25 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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:
Psalms 73:27 Old Testament, KJV
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
Psalms 106:39 Old Testament, KJV
Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
Proverbs 6:26 Old Testament, KJV
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.
Proverbs 7:10 Old Testament, KJV
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Proverbs 23:27 Old Testament, KJV
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
Proverbs 29:3 Old Testament, KJV
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
Isaiah 1:21 Old Testament, KJV
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isaiah 23:15 Old Testament, KJV
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isaiah 23:16 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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.
Isaiah 57:3 Old Testament, KJV
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
Jeremiah 2:20 Old Testament, KJV
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
Jeremiah 3:1 Old Testament, 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 Old Testament, 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 3:6 Old Testament, KJV
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
Jeremiah 3:8 Old Testament, KJV
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jeremiah 5:7 Old Testament, 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.
Ezekiel 6:9 Old Testament, KJV
And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
Ezekiel 16:15 Old Testament, KJV
But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Ezekiel 16:16 Old Testament, KJV
And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Ezekiel 16:17 Old Testament, KJV
Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
Ezekiel 16:26 Old Testament, KJV
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
Ezekiel 16:28 Old Testament, KJV
Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
Ezekiel 16:30 Old Testament, KJV
How weak is thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
Ezekiel 16:31 Old Testament, KJV
In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
Ezekiel 16:33 Old Testament, KJV
They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.
Ezekiel 16:34 Old Testament, KJV
And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
Ezekiel 16:35 Old Testament, KJV
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
Ezekiel 16:41 Old Testament, KJV
And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.
Ezekiel 20:30 Old Testament, KJV
Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
Ezekiel 23:3 Old Testament, KJV
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Ezekiel 23:5 Old Testament, KJV
And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
Ezekiel 23:19 Old Testament, KJV
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:30 Old Testament, KJV
I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
Ezekiel 23:43 Old Testament, KJV
Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
Ezekiel 23:44 Old Testament, KJV
Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.
Hosea 1:2 Old Testament, KJV
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Hosea 2:5 Old Testament, KJV
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
Hosea 3:3 Old Testament, KJV
And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
Hosea 4:10 Old Testament, KJV
For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
Hosea 4:12 Old Testament, KJV
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
Hosea 4:13 Old Testament, KJV
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
Hosea 4:14 Old Testament, KJV
I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
Hosea 4:15 Old Testament, KJV
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
Hosea 4:18 Old Testament, KJV
Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
Hosea 5:3 Old Testament, KJV
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
Hosea 9:1 Old Testament, KJV
Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
Joel 3:3 Old Testament, KJV
And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
Amos 7:17 Old Testament, KJV
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
Micah 1:7 Old Testament, KJV
And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
Nahum 3:4 Old Testament, KJV
Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

All Indexed Usage Links

Every indexed verse link for Strong's H2181, grouped by book.

Genesis 3 usages, Old Testament
Exodus 2 usages, Old Testament
Leviticus 7 usages, Old Testament
Numbers 2 usages, Old Testament
Deuteronomy 3 usages, Old Testament
Joshua 4 usages, Old Testament
Judges 6 usages, Old Testament
1 Kings 1 usage, Old Testament
1 Chronicles 1 usage, Old Testament
2 Chronicles 2 usages, Old Testament
Psalms 2 usages, Old Testament
Proverbs 4 usages, Old Testament
Isaiah 5 usages, Old Testament
Jeremiah 6 usages, Old Testament
Ezekiel 19 usages, Old Testament
Hosea 11 usages, Old Testament
Joel 1 usage, Old Testament
Amos 1 usage, Old Testament
Micah 1 usage, Old Testament
Nahum 1 usage, Old Testament

Strong's H2181 FAQ

What does zanah (זָנָה) mean?

Zanah (Strong's H2181) is a Hebrew word most simply glossed "whorish". zanah (zaw-naw') v. 1. to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment) 2. (figuratively) to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being

How many times is zanah (זָנָה) used in the Bible?

This page currently indexes 82 linked usages for Strong's H2181 across 20 books.

Where can I study zanah (זָנָה) in context?

Use the linked verse references on this page to study Strong's H2181 in context. The indexed coverage includes Old Testament.

What English words translate zanah (זָנָה)?

The visible usage excerpts most often surface English words such as commit, adultery, she, fornications, and fornication. These are scanning signals from the displayed verses, not replacements for the original-language definition.