"When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son." Hosea 1:2-3 NIV
Rather than quote the KJV which is difficult to understand because of the archaic & obsolete words, and difficult grsmmmar, particularly in these 2 verses, and see what they say in a modern Bible.
Gomer is a promiscuous and adulterous woman. Period. A prostitute.
"When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for the land commits flagrant infidelity, abandoning the Lord.” Hosea 1:2-3 NASB
So infidelity means unfaithfulness to her husband.
"
When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:
Go and marry a promiscuous wife
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord." Hosea 1:2-3 HCSB
"When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter." Hosea 1:2 ESV
Even the KJV clearly says the same thing:
"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 1:2
A wife of whoredoms is a whole.
No, while these two words may have meant the same thing in the past (Canon Law - 16th century), the words "promiscuous" and "prostitute" used today do not have the same meaning.
"Promiscuous" is an adjective that generally describes a person's behavior or lifestyle characterized by engaging in sexual activity with multiple partners without commitment or exclusivity. It is a more general term and doesn't specifically imply the exchange of money for sexual services.
"Prostitute," on the other hand, refers to a person who engages in sexual activity in exchange for money or goods. It specifically involves a commercial transaction for sexual services.
While both terms involve sexual activity, "promiscuous" is a broader term that doesn't necessarily involve any financial transaction, while "prostitute" is specifically linked to the exchange of money for sexual services.
Source:
ChatGPT (A database software program)
Just look at the CollinsDictionary, or current Dictionaries and the meanings are not interchangeable in definitions.
Generally in the Bible, we let the Bible interpret the meaning of a word when possible. In Genesis 38, we get a definition of both "harlot" and "whoredom" in the context that it can refer to prostitution.
Genesis 38:15-18
15 "When Judah saw her, he thought her
to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she
was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17 And he said, I will send
thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give
me a pledge, till thou send
it?
18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that
is in thine hand. And he gave
it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him."
But there are other cases where the word "whoredom" or "whore" is referred to as idolatry / spiritual idolatry (See: Ezekiel 16:17) (Revelation 17:1).
The problem with Modern Textual Critics, select Modern Bibles, and the majority of Christianity on this point is that they believe God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. Some may take that to mean as you say, and others take that to mean prostitute as we understand that word today. So many today believe that God was telling Hosea to marry a practicing prostitute who was engaging in sex for money.
Yet, the King James Bible says, "Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom,
departing from the LORD." (Hosea 1:2).
Obviously the land is referring to people here and thus the people have committed great whoredom departing from the LORD. This is idolatry. The word "idols" is mentioned in Hosea chapter 4. The context is spiritual idolatry with idols. The whole land was not engaged in selling their bodies for sex.
Yes, Gomer later became a prostitute (engaging in sex for money) but this was not before she was married to Hosea.
Anyway, this is the end of this conversation on the point involving Hosea and Gomer. If you disagree, you are free to believe as you wish. I am not going to debate this point because it is not the only link in the chain that defends the King James Bible as the Word of God.