'Cult' in the Bible
He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”“There has been no cult prostitute here,” they answered.
So the Adullamite returned to Judah, saying, “I couldn’t find her, and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”
The people joined the Baal-peor cult. As a result, the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel,
Then Moses ordered the judges of Israel, "Each one of you is to execute the men in his own tribe who joined the Baal-peor cult."
“No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute.
There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
He also removed the male cult prostitutes from the land and destroyed all the idols that his ancestors had made.
He also eliminated the male cult prostitutes who still remained from the time of his father Asa.
He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.
They die in their youth;their life ends among male cult prostitutes.
They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!
I will not punish your daughterswhen they act promiscuouslyor your daughters-in-lawwhen they commit adultery,for the men themselves go off with prostitutesand make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.People without discernment are doomed.
They consume their alcohol, then engage in cult prostitution; they dearly love their shameful behavior.
All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces; all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. I will make a waste heap of all her images. Since she gathered the metal as a prostitute collects her wages, the idols will become a prostitute's wages again."