He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly. A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into Yahweh’s assembly. An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever, because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
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Deuteronomy 23:1-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly. A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into Yahweh’s assembly. An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever, because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
Parallel Translations
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He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever,
because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
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He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:
Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
Show all 3 translations
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(23-2) He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD.
(23-3) A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of the LORD.
(23-4) An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever;
(23-5) because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse thee.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (5)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (4)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (32)
- Nehemiah 13:1-2 (v3) On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite…
- Zechariah 9:6 (v2) Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
- Nehemiah 13:2 (v4) because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God…
- Galatians 3:28 (v1) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Isaiah 56:3-4 (v1) Let no foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh speak, saying, “Yahweh will surely separate me from his people.” Do not let the eunuch…
Show all 32 cross-references
- Isaiah 57:3 (v2) “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
- 2 Peter 2:15 (v4) forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
- Leviticus 21:17-21 (v1) “Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. For…
- Deuteronomy 2:28-29 (v4) You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink. Just let me pass through on my feet, as…
- Deuteronomy 23:2-3 (v1) A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into…
- 1 Kings 18:4 (v4) for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and…
- Nehemiah 13:1-3 (v1) On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite…
- Leviticus 22:22-24 (v1) You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering…
- Numbers 22:5-7 (v4) He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him,…
- Numbers 22:17 (v4) for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’ ”
- Numbers 23:7 (v4) He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for…
- Deuteronomy 23:8 (v1) The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
- 1 Samuel 25:11 (v4) Shall I then take my bread, my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don’t know where they come…
- Lamentations 1:10 (v1) The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things; for she has seen that the nations have entered into her sanctuary,…
- Zechariah 2:8 (v4) For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his…
- Matthew 25:40 (v4) “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
- Acts 9:4 (v4) He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
- Hebrews 12:8 (v2) But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children.
- Genesis 14:17-18 (v4) The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley…
- Ruth 4:6 (v3) The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I…
- Nehemiah 13:23 (v3) In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
- Isaiah 63:9 (v4) In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore…
- John 8:41 (v2) You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
- Ruth 4:10-22 (v3) Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that…
- Nehemiah 4:3 (v3) Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”
- Nehemiah 4:7 (v3) But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went…
- Isaiah 56:3 (v3) Let no foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh speak, saying, “Yahweh will surely separate me from his people.” Do not let the eunuch…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 Either to bear office, or to marry a wife.
Either to bear office, or to marry a wife.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Deu 23:1 He that is wounded in the stones,…
Deu 23:1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
Ver. 1. Or hath his privy member cut off.] As it is a barbarous custom at this day among the Turks, to deprive various Christian children of their privities, supplying the uses of nature with a silver quill. This was first brought in among them by Selymus II, out of jealousy lest his eunuchs were not so chaste as they should have been, in keeping their ladies’ beds. {a} Such are usually effeminate, and unfit to bear office.
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Shall not enter into the congregation,] i.e., Shall not go in and out before the people as a public officer. Since such should be drained from the dregs, and sifted from the brans of the vulgar: they should be eminent and eximious persons, higher than the rest, as Saul, by the head and shoulders.
{a} Turk. Hist.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Heb. wounded by compression, or attrition, or contusion, to…
Heb. wounded by compression, or attrition, or contusion, to wit, of the stones, which was the course the Gentiles took with infants to make them eunuchs. And these eunuchs and bastards, Deu 23:2, seem to be not only those of other nations, as some understand it, without any foundation for such restriction, but also of the Israelites; the reason of this law being the same in all, to wit, that God would bring into disgrace those heathenish practices of making eunuchs, and getting bastards, which doubtless he would especially do among his own people. Shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; which phrase cannot be understood so that they might not come into the church, or holy assemblies, to worship God, to pray, or hear, &c., because proselytes of any nation, being admitted to common church privileges, no less than the Jews, (as is evident from Exo 12:48; Lev 22:18; Num 9:14; 15:15) it were absurd to think that any of the Israelites, for such a natural or involuntary defect, should be shut out from all God’s ordinances; nor so that they were to be put out of the muster-roll of God’s people, or to lose the privileges common to all Israelites, to wit, the benefit of the year of release or jubilee, which it is not probable the Israelites were to forfeit merely for this unculpable imperfection; but either,
1. That they should not be incorporated into the body of Israel by marriage; for so this phrase may seem to have been understood by the whole congregation of Israel, Neh 13:1-3, 23-25; although at that time the government was in part in the hands of such persons as are here mentioned, Deu 23:3, or of their children, seeing it is apparent from Ezr 10 that many priests and Levites and other officers and rulers of Israel were married to strange women, whose issue are by this law excluded from all share in the government, and for that, among other reasons, Nehemiah separated them from Israel by virtue of the law here following. Or,
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2. That they should not be admitted to honours and offices either in the church or commonwealth of Israel; and so
the congregation of the Lord doth not here signify, as commonly it doth, the body of the people, but the society of the elders or rulers of the people, who, as they represent the whole congregation, and act in their name, and for their service and good, so they are sometimes called by the name of the congregation, as Num 35:12,24,25; Jos 20:6,9; 1Ki 8:5, compared with Deu 23:1-3; and 1Ch 13:1,2,4; 29:1,10,20, compared with 1Ch 28:1; 29:6; and of the congregation of God, as it is in the Hebrew of Psa 82:1. Howsoever, seeing they are oft called the congregation, they may very well be called in a special manner the congregation of the Lord, because they were appointed by God, and act in his name and stead, and for his work and service, and did also oft assemble near the tabernacle, where God was eminently present. Add to this, that the Hebrew word kahal generally signifies a congregation or company of men met together; and therefore this cannot so conveniently be meant of all the body of the people, which could never meet in one place, but of the chief rulers, which frequently did so. Nor is it strange that eunuchs are excluded from government, partly because such persons are commonly observed to want that courage which is necessary for a governor, Exo 18:21; and partly because as such persons ordinarily were despicable, so the office and authority in their hands was likely to be exposed to the same contempt.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Interpreters are not agreed what is here meant by…
Interpreters are not agreed what is here meant by entering into the congregation of the Lord, which is here forbidden to eunuchs and to bastards, Ammonites and Moabites, for ever, but to Edomites and Egyptians only till the third generation. 1. Some think they are hereby excluded from communicating with the people of God in their religious services. Though eunuchs and bastards were owned as members of the church, and the Ammonites and Moabites might be circumcised and proselyted to the Jewish religion, yet they and their families must lie for some time under marks of disgrace, remembering the rock whence they were hewn, and must not come so near the sanctuary as others might, nor have so free a communion with Israelites. 2. Others think they are hereby excluded from bearing office in the congregation: none of these must be elders or judges, lest the honour of the magistracy should thereby be stained. 3. Others think they are excluded only from marrying with Israelites. Thus the learned bishop Patrick inclines to understand it; yet we find that when this law was put in execution after the captivity they separated from Israel, not only the strange wives, but all the mixed multitude, see Neh 13:1-2. With the daughters of these nations (though out of the nations of Canaan), it should seem, the men of Israel might marry, if they were completely proselyted to the Jewish religion; but with the men of these nations the daughters of Israel might not marry, nor could the men be naturalized otherwise than as here provided.
It is plain, in general, that disgrace is here put,
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I. Upon bastards and eunuchs, Deu 23:1, Deu 23:2. By bastards here the Jewish writers understand, not all that were born of fornication, or out of marriage, but all the issue of those incestuous mixtures which are forbidden, Lev. 18. And, though it was not the fault of the issue, yet, to deter people from those unlawful marriages and unlawful lusts, it was very convenient that their posterity should thus be made infamous. By this rule Jephthah, though the son of a harlot, a strange woman (Jdg 11:1, Jdg 11:2), yet was not a bastard in the sense of this law. And as for the eunuchs, though by this law they seemed to be cast out of the vineyard as dry trees, which they complain of (Isa 56:3), yet it is here promised (Deu 23:5) that if they took care of their duty to God, as far as they were admitted, by keeping his sabbaths and choosing the things that pleased him, the want of this privilege should be made up to them with such spiritual blessings as would entitle them to an everlasting name.
II. Upon Ammonites and Moabites, the posterity of Lot, who, for his outward convenience, had separated himself from Abraham, Gen 13:11. And we do not find that he or his ever joined themselves again to the children of the covenant. They are here cut off to the tenth generation, that is, (as some think it is explained), for ever. Compare Neh 13:1. The reason of this quarrel which Israel must have with them, so as not to seek their peace (Deu 23:6), is because of the unkindness they had now lately done to the camp of Israel, notwithstanding the orders God had given not to distress or vex them, Deu 2:9, Deu 2:19. 1. It was bad enough that they did not meet them with bread and water in the way (Deu 23:4), that they did not as allies, or at least as neutral states, bring victuals into their camp, which they should have been duly paid for. It was well that God's Israel did not need their kindness, God himself following them with bread and water. However this omission of the Ammonites should be remembered against their nation in future ages. Note, God will certainly reckon, not only with those that oppose his people, but with those that do not help and further them, when it is in the power of their hand to do it. The charge at the great day is for an omission: I was hungry, and you gave me no meat. 2. The Moabites had done worse, they hired Balaam to curse Israel, Deu 23:4. It is true God turned the curse into a blessing (Deu 23:5), not only changing the word in Balaam's mouth, but making that really turn to the honour and advantage of Israel which was designed for their ruin. But though the design was defeated, and overruled for good, the Moabites' wickedness was not the less provoking. God will deal with sinners, but according to their endeavours, Psa 28:4.
III. The Edomites and Egyptians had not so deep a mark of displeasure put upon them as the Moabites and Ammonites had. If an Edomite or Egyptian turned proselyte, his grand-children should be looked upon as members of the congregation of the Lord to all intents and purposes, Deu 23:7, Deu 23:8. We should think that the Edomites had been more injurious to the Israelites than the Ammonites, and deserved as little favour from them (Num 20:20), and yet "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, as thou must an Ammonite, for he is thy brother." Note, The unkindness of near relations, though by many worst taken, yet should with us, for that reason, because of the relation, be first forgiven. And then, as to the Egyptians, here is a strange reason given why they must not be abhorred: "Thou wast a stranger in their land, and therefore, though hardly used there, be civil to them, for old acquaintance' sake." They must not remember their bondage in Egypt for the keeping up of any ill will to the Egyptians, but only for the magnifying of Gods power and goodness in their deliverance.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 He that is wounded in the stones,.... In any…
He that is wounded in the stones,.... In any of them, not accidentally, but purposely; which are crushed and bruised by the hands of men, with a design to make him unfit for generation, or to make an eunuch of him:
or that hath his privy member cut by himself or another, and is a thorough eunuch by the hands of men; for of such eunuchs that are made by men, and not born so, the law speaks; so Maimonides interprets it (f); See Gill on Mat 19:12.
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shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; which is to be understood not of the sanctuary of the Lord, or of being refused admittance into the church of God, and to join in religious rites, and partake of sacred ordinances, which all Israelites, and strangers that were proselytes, had a right unto; such might bring their offerings, keep the passover, &c. Exo 12:48 nor of the commonwealth of Israel, as if unfit to be members of civil society; it cannot be thought that such defects should abridge them of their civil rights and privileges: but by the congregation is to be understood the elders, judges, and representatives of the people, that met together in some one place to execute judgment; see Num 35:12, into which such persons were not to be admitted; either because disgraceful and dishonourable, or because of the influence such defects have on their minds, they thereby becoming effeminate, irresolute, and wanting courage, as well as in opposition to the customs and usages of the Heathens, with whom it was common to admit such persons to civil offices; hence the word eunuch is sometimes used for an officer, Gen 37:36 and elsewhere; the Jews (g) restrain this law to marriage, but unnecessarily.
(f) Hilchot lssure Biah, c. 16. sect. 8. (g) Targum Jon. in loc. Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 2, 4, 5, 6. Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 49.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Who are to be excluded the congregation of rulers,…
Who are to be excluded the congregation of rulers, ver. 1-6. An Edomite and an Egyptian not to be abhorred, ver. 7, 8. No uncleanness to be in the camp, ver. 9-14. Of servants, escaped from their masters, ver. 15, 16. Laws, against sodomy and whoredom, ver. 17, 18. Against usury, ver. 19, 20. Against the breach of vows, ver. 21-23. The liberty which might be taken in another's field or vineyard, ver. 24, 25.
He that is wounded - A phrase denoting an eunuch. Shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord - Shall not be admitted to honours and offices either in the church or commonwealth of Israel; and so the congregation of the Lord doth not here signify, the body of the people, but the society of the elders or rulers of the people. Add to this, that the Hebrew word, Kahal, generally signifies a congregation or company of men met together; and therefore this cannot so conveniently be meant of all the body of the people, which could never meet in one place, but of the chief rulers, which frequently did so. Nor is it strange that eunuchs are excluded from government, both because such persons are commonly observed to want that courage which is necessary for a governor, because as such persons ordinarily were despicable, so the authority in their hands was likely to be exposed to the same contempt.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Neither eunuchs, bastards, Ammonites, nor Moabites, shall be
CHAPTER XXIII
Neither eunuchs, bastards, Ammonites, nor Moabites, shall be
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incorporated with the genuine Israelites, 1-3.
The reason why the Ammonites and Moabites were excluded, 4-6.
Edomites and Egyptians to be respected, 7.
Their descendants in the third generation may be incorporated
with the Israelites, 8.
Cautions against wickedness when they go forth against their
enemies, 9.
To keep the camp free from every defilement, and the reason why,
10-14.
The slave who had taken refuge among them is not to be delivered
up to his former master, 15, 16.
There shall be no prostitutes nor sodomites in the land, 17.
The hire of a prostitute or the price of a dog is not to be
brought into the house of God, 18.
The Israelites shall not lend on usury to each other, 19;
but they may take usury from strangers, 20.
Vows must be diligently paid, 21-23.
In passing through a vine yard or field a man may eat of the
grapes or corn, but must carry away none with him, 24, 25.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII
Verse 1. Shall not enter into the congregation, c.] If by entering the congregation be meant the bearing a civil office among the people, such as magistrate, judge, &c., then the reason of the law is very plain no man with any such personal defect as might render him contemptible in the sight of others should bear rule among the people, lest the contempt felt for his personal defects might be transferred to his important office, and thus his authority be disregarded. The general meaning of these words is, simply, that the persons here designated should not be so incorporated with the Jews as to partake of their civil privileges.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Deu 23:1-2. He that is wounded — It is…
Deu 23:1-2. He that is wounded — It is generally agreed that Moses is here speaking of eunuchs. Shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord — The meaning is, not that they should be debarred from the public worship of the true God, as the phrase sometimes signifies, for that privilege was granted to all nations indiscriminately, provided they renounced idolatry, Exo 12:48; Lev 22:18; Num 9:14. But the sense seems to be, that such a one should not be deemed an Israelite, nor have his name entered in the public register; and especially that he should not be admitted to honours or offices, either in the church or commonwealth of Israel, or be allowed to be one of the society of elders, or rulers of the people, or to sit in council with them. The same privilege was denied to those here termed bastards, under which name the Jews comprehended not only those begotten in simple fornication, but also the offspring of all such incestuous marriages, as are prohibited Leviticus 18. One chief reason of this law, no doubt, was, to deter people from such unlawful connections as would both offend God, and leave an indelible blot upon their posterity.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Compare Lev 21:17-24. Such persons, exhibiting a mutilation of…
Compare Lev 21:17-24. Such persons, exhibiting a mutilation of that human nature which was made in God’s image, were rejected from the covenant entirely. However, they could be proselytes (compare Act 8:27). The Old Testament itself foretells Isa 56:3-5 the removal of this ban when under the kingdom of Messiah the outward and emblematic perfection and sanctity of Israel should be fulfilled in their inner meaning by the covenanted presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Eunuch. By these are meant, in the spiritual sense,…
Eunuch. By these are meant, in the spiritual sense, such as are barren in good works. (Challoner) (Theodoret, q. 25.) (Worthington) --- The Hebrew also specifies three sorts of eunuchs, though the Septuagint and Chaldean have only two. No mention is made of natural eunuchs, who are not excluded from the church of the Lord. (Calmet) --- This outrage of castration was first offered to nature by Semiramis. (Am. Marcellin. 14.) --- Church. That is, into the assembly or congregation of Israel, so as to have the privilege of an Israelite, or to be capable of any place or office among the people of God. (Challoner) --- Philo says, they were not to enter the court of the temple. See Lamentations i. 10. Others think they could not embrace the Jewish religion, Exodus xii. 48. But this privilege could not be refused. Most probably the custom of making eunuchs is forbidden, and if any were found among the Jews, they should not be admitted to any place of authority. Isaias (lvi. 5,) speaks of some faithful eunuchs, to whom God will give a place in his house; but he alludes to those of the new law, who embrace the state of celibacy, Matthew xix. 12. Eunuchs were rejected from the magistracy among the Romans; and when some were at last received, it was deemed unnatural, as their disposition is generally cruel and selfish. Omnia cesserunt Eunucho Consule monstra. (Claud. in Eutrop. i.) (Calmet) --- Those who had the misfortune among the Jews to be eunuchs, did not perhaps (Haydock) lose the right of citizenship. (Tirinus)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 The perfection of Israel
The perfection of Israel
Deu_23:1 to Deu_26:19
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The Commonwealth of Jehovah
(Deu_23:1-8)
1He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off [one through bruising injured or emasculated] shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. 2A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation 3[member] shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: 4Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they [he, the Moabite] hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. 5Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam: but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. 6Thou shalt not seek their peace, nor their prosperity [welfare, margin: good] all thy days for eDeut Deu_23:7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an 8Egyptian, because [for] thou wast a stranger in his land. The children [sons] that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
After the close of this exposition, application and completion of the decalogue, there is indicated now a delineation of Israel in the most varied aspects, especially as the Kahal Jehovah from the beginning to the close of the section. Deu_23:1. Wounded, sq., through crushing, (the pressing and rubbing of the testicles) designates the eunuch as the crushed όθλαδίας, (Septuagint). Cut off, the urethra, the completely castrated. The refusal to admit them into the communion of the covenant is explained by the congregation of the Lord, the community consecrated to Him. If of animals, Lev_22:24, how much more of men! Comp. Lev_22:18 sq. Israel is a priestly (Lev_21:17 sq.) community. Comp. Exo_20:22. Only the unmutilated image of God as in its creation can come before Jehovah, the Elohim, and the people who should be permanent must possess the fitting organs of generation (Num_16:3; Num_20:4); comp. Isa_56:3 sq.—[They could not be admitted to the full privileges of the congregation of Jehovah; but they were received as proselytes, Act_8:27; and the prophets show that this ban was to be removed when the reason for this restriction should be done away by the fuller presence and work of the Holy Spirit.—A. G.]—There was somewhere ever human guilt in the circumstances. So also with the מַמְזֵד, Deu_23:3 (only elsewhere in Zec_9:6). Meier: 1) a foreigner, 2) heterogeneous, i.e., bastard; Knobel (Keil) in the sense of corruption, foulness, filth, one stained in his conception and birth; Delitzsch: equivalent with mongrel; others: as contracted from מוּם and זָר, or from זָר מֵעָם Sept. and Vulg., as the child of fornication, which neither agrees with the connection here nor with the rest of the Old Testament; rather as the Syriac: the conception of adultery; still better: the child born of incest [so Keil, Wogue, the Bib. Com., and the Rabbins.—A. G.], (Gen_19:30 sq.), whence the religious and political application to the mingling of the Israelites and heathen may be more fully comprehended. Comp. Isa_56:3; Joh_8:41. (The Jew Salvador designates Jesus as a mamser)—To the tenth generation, the number 10 denoting the perfect, absolute exclusion from Israel, as also, Deu_23:3, the addition forever. If the ground in Deu_23:1 is found in the human deed upon the body, so now in the immorality through the human will. With the physical, the moral, there is now connected, Deu_23:3, the religio-political, with respect to the theocratically forever-excluded Ammonites and Moabites (Lam_1:10). Deu_23:4. The reason: the still freshly remembered hostility restrained only by fear on their side, as on the side of Israel by the respect enjoined upon them Deu_2:19 sq.; 9 sq. (4 sq.; 29). In violation of every custom of hospitality (even in savage tribes, Isa_21:13 sq.), not to speak of the natural affection of kindred, they did not meet Israel with the necessaries of life. This is the point which is made against both. As the Moabites only dwelt in Ar (chap. 2), so now the transaction with Balaam on the part of Moab in which the intense hostility against Israel appears, is viewed as common with both. Comp. upon Numbers 22, [See Smith’sBib. Dic. Art. Ammon.—A. G.] As the singular, שׂכר, is used of Moab, represented by its king, so also Israel is spoken of in the singular, thee. Person against person, God Himself must intervene, Deu_23:5; there is no failure in the will of Moab. The designed cursing of Israel, as the highest degree of hostility, God turns to blessing, and uses the service of the prophet in doing it. It is only the necessary line of Israel’s conduct, therefore, which, Deu_23:6 announces, since according to the promise of God resting upon Israel, Gen_12:3, which Balaam himself must repeat, Num_24:9, this could not cease at the present stand-point of this growing (werdens) and wrestling soldier of God. Comp. still Ezr_9:12. Mat_5:44; Luk_6:28; Rom_12:14, are possible first in Christ, in whom David reaches perfection in Solomon. It is not “malicious zeal” (Knobel), or even national hatred or revenge, which is spoken of here, comp. Deu_2:9, and also the immediately following direction. Comp. further Jer_29:7; Neh_13:1 sq. (In reference to Ruth, the Talmud limits the exclusion to males.) Comp. also 2 Samuel 10. for personal exceptions.—[Bib. Com.: “Such a law would certainly never have suggested itself to the mind of a writer after the time of David, whose great-grandmother was a Moabitess.”—A. G.]
Deu_23:7. תעב, the expression for the technical theocratic abhorrence, e.g.Deu_22:5. In the case of Edom the tie of brotherhood should prevail, notwithstanding all its acts of hostility; in Egypt, the hospitality they had received, although they had been oppressed by Pharaoh. Comp. Doct. and Eth. 6, upon Deu_1:6 to Deu_4:40, Hengstenberg, Moses and Egypt. “In a statement springing from a view of the living relations, the contrasts or opposition which actual life every where presents are suffered to appear; in a mythical statement they would be carefully obliterated.” Such motives as are here urged were only near and of force at the time of Moses. Deu_23:8 concerns the great-grandsons of those who had united with Israel by circumcision, or who had settled among them. Others: the grandchildren.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Circumcision, not concision, or the entire excision. Php_3:2 sq.
2. “How great the contrast between Jehovah and the heathen gods, in whose service the very mutilation in this respect availed as a peculiar consecration and holiness.” Baumgarten.
3. The moral blamelessness of the Lord’s people, and its sacred nobility of birth.
4. Ammon and Moab as they are one in their origin, so throughout in their relation to Israel. Leaving out of view their incestuous origin, with which they are not charged, they were still, as to their origin, much farther removed from Israel than Edom. Their opposition to Israel is not in their origin, but rather out of their origin, as it asserts itself immediately in the disposition, in conscious enmity. In Edom the injustice done to their tribe-father may humanly be regarded as an excuse. Still more love may hope for a solution of the conflict between natural revengefulness and the divine choice. The fear of Edom before the divine in Israel need not strengthen itself into hatred. In any case Israel must hold its privileges open to Edom, which is directly forbidden with reference to Moab and Ammon through their conscious enmity; they are by demonic reflection what Amalek was by demonic passion. As to what is warlike, Ammon gave the tone to the boastful and tragico-comical Moab. Its hostility to the Lord’s people continues to the end. Lust and cruelty characterize its religion. Comp. Schultz, p. 164 sq.
5. [“God shows here that He regards nations as having a corporate existence, and deals with them according to their national acts. Egypt was to be kindly dealt with for its past favors to Israel. Former kindnesses were to be remembered, and past injuries to be forgotten.” Wordsworth—A. G.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Deu_23:2. Richter: “Ideally no one can attain to heavenly citizenship who is not born of God in the true way,” John 3. Deu_23:3. Reichel: “The Moabites hated the priestly kingdom of God as such, and would have it cursed throughout. On the other hand, they were not so ignorant as the other heathen, but sinned against their better knowledge. Whoever wishes good to such enemies, he helps to condemn and persecute the people of God,” 2Jn_1:10. Deu_23:4. Richter: “Thus many a one still draws down upon himself the anger of God. Balaam, Balak, have their places in the Apocalypse.” Deu_23:5. Osiander: “God’s love, not ours, is the cause of all blessedness.” Deu_23:6. Schultz: “It is opposition to godlessness, indeed to enmity to God, which is not removed even by Rom_12:18, which is here fundamentally regarded.” Deu_23:7. The import of kinship. Theodoret: “He will teach us never to forget former kindnesses.” Osiander: “Early kindnesses should avail with us above later injuries.” Schultz: “Notwithstanding all hostility, we should recognize the good in our opponents.” Deu_23:8. Starke: “In the Old Testament even the door of grace stood open to the heathen; the partition wall is done away in Christ, Eph_2:12-14.” Berl. Bib.: “This also has its spiritual significance for the congregation of believers in the New Testament, Eph_5:27. Hence all must be put away who are unfruitful in good, who are of no use to their brother in bodily or spiritual things, all rough worldly men,” etc.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v3 even to the their tenth generation shall they not…
even to the their tenth generation shall they not enter--Many eminent writers think that this law of exclusion was applicable only to males; at all events that a definite is used for an indefinite number (Neh 13:1; Rut 4:10; Kg2 10:2). Many of the Israelites being established on the east side of Jordan in the immediate neighborhood of those people, God raised this partition wall between them to prevent the consequences of evil communications. More favor was to be shown to Edomites and Egyptians--to the former from their near relationship to Israel; and to the latter, from their early hospitalities to the family of Jacob, as well as the many acts of kindness rendered them by private Egyptians at the Exodus (Exo 12:36). The grandchildren of Edomite or Egyptian proselytes were declared admissible to the full rights of citizenship as native Israelites; and by this remarkable provision, God taught His people a practical lesson of generosity and gratitude for special deeds of kindness, to the forgetfulness of all the persecution and ill services sustained from those two nations.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–3 PERSONS WHO ARE NOT TO BE RECEIVED INTO THE…
PERSONS WHO ARE NOT TO BE RECEIVED INTO THE CONGREGATION, Deu_23:1-8.
1. Cut off — No doubt Moses aimed to keep the people of God free from those pernicious customs so prevalent among the Eastern nations. At an early date eunuchs were employed at the courts of the Egyptian and Assyrian kings. On the exclusion of these classes from the priesthood compare Lev_21:17-24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 (1) The rule that a eunuch should not enter…
(1) The rule that a eunuch should not enter into the congregation was doubtless intended to prevent the Israelitish rulers from making eunuchs of their brethren the children of Israel. As a set off to this apparent harshness towards the man who had been thus treated, we must read Isa_56:3-4, in which a special promise is given to the eunuchs that keep God’s Sabbaths and take hold of His covenant. God will give to them within His house and within His walls “a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters—an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” As a special calamity it was foretold to Hezekiah that some of his descendants should be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. But Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in whom this prophecy was fulfilled, have ennobled the “children that are of their sort” for evermore.
We have no means of knowing whether the eunuchs that were in the service of the kings of Israel or Judah (1Sa_8:15; 1Ki_22:9; 2Ki_8:6; 2Ki_9:32, &c.) were Israelites by birth or not. Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian, who received a special blessing from Jeremiah (Jer_39:15-18), was a foreigner, and so very possibly were most, if not all, of his kind in Israel.
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As to the second clause of this verse, it must be remembered that circumcision was the sign of the covenant of Jehovah; mutilation a form of heathen self-devotion. (See Gal. 5, 12, Revised New Testament, Margin, and Bishop Lightfoot’s comment on that place.) St. Paul’s words in Galatians receive a double meaning from this law. By doing what he refers to, they would cut themselves off from the congregation of the Lord. Rashi also gives another meaning, which would connect the precept with Lev_15:2.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Deuteronomy 22 - 25
Deuteronomy 22 - 25
The portion of our book on which we now enter, though not calling for elaborate exposition, yet teaches us two very important practical lessons In the first place, many of the institutions and ordinances here set forth prove and illustrate, in a most striking way, the terrible depravity of the human heart. They show us, with unmistakable distinctness, what man is capable of doing, if left to himself. We must ever remember, as we read some of the paragraphs of this section of Deuteronomy, that God the Holy Ghost has indicted them. We, in our fancied wisdom, may feel disposed to ask why such passages were ever penned? Can it be possible that they are actually inspired by the Holy Ghost? and of what possible value can they be to us? If they were written for our learning, then what are we to learn from them?
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Our reply to all these questions is, at once, simple and direct; and it is this, the very passages which we might least expect to and on the page of inspiration teach us, in their own peculiar way, the moral material of which we are made, and the moral depths into which we are capable of plunging. And is not this of great moment? Is it not well to have a faithful mirror held up before our eyes in which we may see every moral trait, feature and lineament perfectly reflected? Unquestionably. We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature, and very many find it exceedingly hard to admit that they are really capable of committing some of the sins prohibited in the section before us, and in other portions of the divine Volume. But we may rest assured that when God commands us not to commit this or that particular sin, we are verily capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never erect a dam if there was not a current to be resisted. There would be no necessity to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, and hence the command applies to him. And just so in reference to every other prohibited thing; the prohibition proves the tendency - proves it beyond all question. We must either admit this or imply the positive blasphemy that God has spoken in vain.
But then it may be said; and is said by many, that while some very terrible samples of fallen humanity are capable of committing some of the abominable sins prohibited in scripture, yet all are not so. This is a most thorough mistake. Hear what the Holy Ghost says, in the seventeenth chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Whose heart is he speaking of? Is it the heart of some atrocious criminal, or of some untutored savage? Nay; it is the human heart, the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ says on this subject. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Out of what heart? Is it the heart of some hideously depraved and abominable wretch wholly unfit to appear in decent society? Nay; it is out of the human heart the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Let us never forget this; it is a wholesome truth for every one of us. We all need to bear in mind that if God were to withdraw His sustaining grace, for one moment, there is no depth of iniquity into which we are not capable of plunging; indeed, we may add - and we do it with deep thankfulness it is His own gracious hand that preserves us, each moment, from becoming a complete wreck, in every way, physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, and in our circumstances. May we keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, so that we may walk humbly and watchfully, and lean upon that arm which alone can sustain and preserve us!
But, we have said, there is another valuable lesson furnished by this section of our book which now lies open before us. It teaches us, in a manner peculiar to itself, the marvellous way in which God provided for everything connected with His people. Nothing escaped His gracious notice; nothing was too trivial for His tender care. No mother could be more careful of the habits and manners of her little child, than the Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe was of the most minute details connected with the daily history of His people. By day and by night, waking and sleeping at home and abroad, He looked after them. Their clothing, their food, their manners and ways toward one another, how they were to build their houses, how they were to plough and sow their ground, how they were to carry themselves in the deepest privacy of their personal life - all was attended to and provided for in a manner that fills us with wonder, love and praise. We may here see, in a most striking way, that there is nothing too small for our God to take notice of when His people are concerned. He takes a loving, tender, fatherly interest in their most minute concerns. We are amazed to find the Most High God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sustainer of the vast universe, condescending to legislate about the matter of a bird’s nest; and yet why should we be amazed when we know that it is just the same to Him to provide for a sparrow as to feed a thousand millions of people daily?
But there was one grand fact which was ever to be kept prominently before each member of the congregation of Israel, namely, the divine presence in their midst. This fact was to govern their most private habits, and give character to all their ways. "The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up, thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Deut. 23: 14.)
What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking in their midst! What a motive for purity of conduct, and refined delicacy in their persons and domestic habits! If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never, for one moment, to forget the august Person who walked up and down in their midst. Would the thought of this be irksome to any? Only to such as did not love holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having One dwelling in their midst who could not endure ought that was unholy, unseemly or impure.
The Christian reader will be at no loss to seize the moral force and application of this holy principle. It is our privilege to have God the Spirit dwelling in us, individually and collectively. Thus we read, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" This is individual. Each believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and this most glorious and precious truth is the ground of the exhortation given in Ephesians 4: 30, "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
How very important to keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts! What a mighty moral motive for the diligent cultivation of purity of heart, and holiness of life! When tempted to indulge in any wrong current of thought or feeling, any unworthy manner of speech, any unseemly line of conduct, what a powerful corrective would be found in the realisation of the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our body as in His temple! If only we could keep this ever before us it would preserve us from many a wandering thought, many an unguarded and foolish utterance, many an unbecoming act.
But, not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in each individual believer, He also dwells in the church collectively. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16.) It is upon this fact that the apostle grounds his exhortation in 1 Thess 5: 19 "Quench not the Spirit." How divinely perfect is scripture! How blessedly it hangs together! The Holy Ghost dwells in us individually; hence we are not to grieve Him. He dwells in the assembly, hence we are not to quench Him, but give Him His right place, and allow full scope for His blessed operations. May these great practical truths find a deep place in our hearts, and exerts more powerful influence over our ways both in private life and in the public assembly!
We shall now proceed to quote a few passages from the section of our book which now lies open before us strikingly illustrative of the wisdom, goodness, tenderness, holiness and righteousness which marked all the dealings of God with His people of old. Take, for example, the very opening paragraph. "Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found shalt thou do likewise; thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again" (Deut. 22: 1-4)
Here the two lessons of which we have spoken are, very distinctly, presented. What a deeply humbling picture of the human heart have we in that one sentence, "Thou mayest not hide thyself!" We are capable of the base and detestable selfishness of hiding ourselves from our brother’s claims upon our sympathy and succour - of shirking the holy duty of looking after his interests - of pretending not to see his real need of our aid. Such is man! Such is the writer!
But oh! how blessedly the character of our God shines out in this passage! The brother’s ox, or his sheep, or his ass was not - to use a modern phrase - to be thrust into pound, for trespass; it was to be brought home, cared for, and restored, safe and sound, to the owner without charge for damage. And so with the raiment. How lovely is all this! How it breathes upon us the very air of the divine presence, the fragrant atmosphere of divine goodness, tenderness and thoughtful love! What a high and holy privilege for any people to have their conduct governed and their character formed by such exquisite statutes and judgements!
Again, take the following passage so beautifully illustrative of divine thoughtfulness: "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence." The Lord would have His people thoughtful and considerate of others; and hence, in building their houses, they were not merely to think of themselves, and their convenience, but also of others and their safety.
Cannot Christians learn something from this? How prone we are to think only of ourselves, our own interests, our own comfort and convenience! How rarely it happens that, in the building or furnishing of our houses, we bestow a thought upon other people! We build and furnish for ourselves; alas! self is too much our object and motive spring in all our undertakings; nor can it be otherwise unless the heart be kept under the governing power of those motives and objects which belong to Christianity. We must live in the pure and heavenly atmosphere of the new creation, in order to get above and beyond the base selfishness which characterizes fallen humanity. Every unconverted man woman and child on the face of the earth is governed simply by self, in some shape or another. Self is the centre, the object, the motive-spring of every action.
True, some are more amiable, more affectionate, more benevolent, more unselfish, more disinterested, more agreeable than others; but it is utterly impossible that "the natural man" can be governed by spiritual motives, or an earthly man be animated by heavenly objects. Alas! We have to confess, with shame and sorrow, that we who profess to be heavenly and spiritual are so prone to live for ourselves, to seek our own things, to maintain our own interests, to consult our own ease and convenience. We are all alive and on the alert when self, in any shape or form, is concerned.
All this is most sad and deeply humbling. It really ought not to be, and it would not be if we were looking more simply and earnestly to Christ as our great Exemplar and model in all things. Earnest and constant occupation of heart with Christ is the true secret of all practical Christianity. It is not rules and regulations that will ever make us Christ-like in our spirit, manner and ways. We must drink into His spirit, walk in His footsteps, dwell more profoundly upon His moral glories, and then we shall, of blessed necessity, be conformed to His image. "We all with open face beholding as in a glass [or mirror katoptrizomenoi.] the glory, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the, Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3.)
We must now ask the reader to turn, for a moment, to the following very important practical instructions - full of suggestive power for all Christian workers "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled." (Deut. 22: 9.)
What a weighty principle is here! Do we really understand it? Do we see its true spiritual application? It is to be feared there is a terrible amount of "mingled seed" used in the so-called spiritual husbandry of the present day. How much of "philosophy and vain deceit.," how much of "science falsely so called," how much of "the rudiments of the world" do we find mixed up in the teaching and preaching throughout the length and breadth of the professing church! How little of the pure, unadulterated seed of the word of God, the "incorruptible seed" of the precious gospel of Christ, is scattered broadcast over the field of Christendom, in this our day! How few, comparatively, are content to confine themselves within the covers of the Bible for the material of their ministry! Those who are, by the grace of God faithful enough to do so, are looked upon as men of one idea, men of the old school, narrow and behind the times.
Well, we can only say, with a full and glowing heart, God bless the men of one idea, men of the precious old school of apostolic preaching! Most heartily do we congratulate them on their blessed narrowness, and their being behind these dark and infidel times. We are fully aware of what we expose ourselves to in thus writing; but this does not move us. We are persuaded that every true servant of Christ must be a man of one idea, and that idea is Christ; he must belong to the very oldest school, the school of Christ; he must be as narrow as the truth of God; and he must, with stern decision, refuse to move one hair’s breadth in the direction of this infidel age. We cannot shake off the conviction that the effort on the part of the preachers and teachers of Christendom to keep abreast of the literature of the day must, to a very large extent, account for the rapid advance of rationalism and infidelity. They have got away from the holy scriptures, and sought to adorn their ministry by the resources of philosophy, science and literature. They have catered more for the intellect than for the heart and conscience. The pure and precious doctrines of holy scripture, the sincere milk of the word, the gospel of the grace of God and of the glory of Christ, were found insufficient to attract and keep together large congregations. As Israel of old despised the manna, got tired of it, and pronounced it light food, so the professing church grew weary of the pure doctrines of that glorious Christianity unfolded in the pages of the New Testament, and sighed for something to gratify the intellect, and feed the imagination. The doctrines of the cross, in which the blessed apostle gloried, have lost their charm for the professing church, and any who would be faithful enough to adhere and confine themselves in their ministry to those doctrines might abandon all thought of popularity.
But let all the true and faithful ministers of Christ, all true workers in His vineyard apply their hearts to the spiritual principle set forth in Deuteronomy 22: 9; let them, with unflinching decision, refuse to make use of "divers seeds" in their spiritual husbandry; let them confine themselves in their ministry to "the form of sound words," and ever seek "rightly to divide the word of truth," that so: they may not be ashamed of their work, but receive a full reward in that day when every man’s work shall be tried of what sort it is. We may depend upon it, the word of God - the pure seed - is the only proper material for the spiritual workman to use. We do not despise learning; far from it, we consider it most valuable in its right place. The facts of science, too, and the resources of sound philosophy may all be turned to profitable account in unfolding and illustrating the truth of holy scripture. We find the blessed Master Himself and His inspired apostles making use of the facts of history and of nature in their public teaching; and who in his sober senses, would think of calling in question the value and importance of a competent knowledge of the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, in the private study and public exposition of the word of God?
But admitting all this, as we most fully do, it leaves wholly untouched the great practical principle before us-a principle to which all the Lord’s people and His servants are bound to adhere, namely, that the Holy Ghost is the only power, and holy scripture the only material for all true ministry in the gospel and the church of God. If this were more fully understood and faithfully acted upon, we should witness a very different condition of things throughout the length and breadth of the vineyard of Christ.
Here, however, we must close this section. We have elsewhere sought to handle the subject of "The Unequal Yoke," and shall not therefore dwell upon it here.* The Israelite was not to plow with an ox and an ass together; neither was he to wear a, garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen. The spiritual application of both these things is as simple as it is important. The Christian is not to link himself with an unbeliever, for any object whatsoever, be it domestic, religious, philanthropic, or commercial, neither must he allow himself to be governed by mixed principles. His character must be formed and his conduct ruled by the pure and lofty principles of the word of God. Thus may it be with all who profess and call themselves Christians.
{*See a pamphlet entitled, "The Unequal Yoke."}
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Vers. 1-8. Five classes of persons are here excluded…
CIVIL RIGHTS. WHO MAY AND WHO MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION. UNCLEANNESS IN THE CAMP TO BE AVOIDED. RECEPTION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES. LICENTIOUS PERSONS TO BE REMOVED, AND GIFTS THE PRICE OF IMPURITY TO BE REFUSED. LAWS REGARDING USURY, VOWS, AND CERTAIN DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP.
Vers. 1-8. Five classes of persons are here excluded from the congregation of the Lord.
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Mutilation was performed by the two methods here specified crushing and excision. The exclusion of persons who had suffered this from the congregation, i.e. from the covenant fellowship of Israel, the politeia tou Israhl, (Eph_2:12) was due to the priestly character of the nation. Israel was a kingdom of priests, (Exo_19:6) and the admission into it of one in whom the nature of man, as made by God, had been degraded and marred, would have been unfitting; just as all bodily blemish unfitted a man for being a priest, though otherwise qualified. (Lev_21:16-24) This law, however, was one of the ordinances intended for the period of nonage; it had reference to the outward typical aspect of the Israelitish constitution; and it ceased to have any significance when the spiritual kingdom of God came to be established. Even under the theocracy, eunuchs were not excluded from religious privileges; they could keep God"s Sabbaths, and take hold of his covenant, and choose the things pleasing to him, and so be part of the spiritual Israel, though shut out from the fellowship of that which was outward and national (cf. Isa_56:4)
Vers. 1-8. Stern safeguards sometimes needed.
It was no small part of the education of the Hebrew people at once to stamp as disreputable the practices of bodily mutilation which were common enough among heathen nations. The honor of the congregation of the Lord was bound up in its freedom from complicity therewith. Eunuchs and illegitimate offspring were excluded from the congregation of the Lord, lest the moral virus connected with the associations of their life should be as poison in the comp. Hence this shield against its poisonous influence is to be preserved down "to the tenth generation," both as a brand on former sin and as a guard against future evil. Sentence of exclusion is also passed on the Ammonites and Moabites. (see Gen_19:36-38) The stain on the origin of these races is grievous. And the new generations had, by their hostility to the people of God, and because of their superstitious arts, shown that naught but peril could attend their admission, for a long time to come. To seek "their peace and prosperity" would have been an increase of peril, as well as a connivance at wrong. Hence it was forbidden (ver. 6). That this, and not the cultivation of needless hostility or revenge, was intended by these prohibitions is clear from vers. 7, 8. Two extremes are to be avoided. No rancor or grudge is to be cherished over past ills inflicted, and yet kindliness of feeling is not to be allowed to degenerate into even apparent friendship with ungodliness and sin. In these facts and precepts the following teachings are included or suggested.
I The perfection of social life can only be secured when the several members of any society are holy unto the Lord.
II The outside world presents very much that is the reverse of this, even all kinds of spiritual and sensual wickedness.
III While it behooves us to cherish a spirit of true benevolence towards all, yet we may never wink at sin.
IV It may be necessary for us to adopt stern measures towards ethers, even that of banishment, (1Co_5:6, 1Co_5:13) in order to avoid contamination.
V We may well cherish, and teach others to cherish, a special hatred of sins of the flesh, since it may not be for many, many generations that blood-poisoning thereby ceases to corrupt or taint the life. Surely men would more frequently check themselves in sin if they would remember for how long they may enfeeble the constitutions and embitter the lives of those who may hereafter owe their existence to them.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 1-8. The excluded from the congregation.
Certain principles underlie these exclusions which it is worth our while to note. It will be seen that, though bars of this kind are done away in Christ, there was a fitness, under the theocracy, in the exclusion of the classes specified from full participation in covenant privilege, such exclusion being in harmony with the idea of "a holy nation type in earthly mold of the ideal kingdom of God.
I THE EXCLUSION OF THE MUTILATED. (Ver. 1.) The idea here is that the preservation of the body in its vigor, and in the entirety of its functions, is a duty which we owe to God; that mutilation of it or dishonor done to it is dishonor done to him a species of profanity. Those in whom this work of dishonor had been wrought, unfitting them for the discharge of the distinctive functions of their manhood, were barred from entrance to the congregation. The ban is removed under the gospel. (Isa_56:3-5)
II THE EXCLUSION OF THE CHILDREN OF INCEST. (Vers. 2, 3.) "To the tenth generation" seems to be a periphrasis for "forever". (Neh_13:1) The rabbins take the term "bastard" to refer to children born of incest or adultery. These were to be excluded through all their generations. This principle, irrespective of the ground stated in ver. 4, would have sufficed to exclude Moab and Ammon. The truth conveyed is that the impure are unalterably debarred from membership in God"s kingdom. God"s kingdom is a kingdom of purity. In its final form nothing of an impure nature will be found in it. Impurity of heart and life exclude from inward membership in it now, and will do so forever. Known impurity should exclude from Church fellowship on earth. (1Co_5:1, 1Co_5:2) The outward bar no longer exists, and the offspring of impure connection, if children of faith, are welcomed to the spiritual fold. But the tendency of sins of parents still is, as of old, to exclude children from the fellowship of believers. The unchurched little ones grow up outside the pale of ordinances, and tend, in course of generations, to become increasingly estranged from the means of grace. Parents who sin themselves out of Church fellowship thus do their children, as well as their own souls, an irreparable injury.
III THE EXCLUSION OF THE UNMERCIFUL AND OF THOSE WHO SHOWED HATRED TO GOD"S PEOPLE. (Vers. 4-6.) The principle here is obvious. Christ expressly excludes the unmerciful from all participation in his kingdom. (Mat_25:41-46) And there can be no "peace" and no "prosperity" to those who are actuated by hostility to God"s kingdom. So long as they retain this character, we cannot wish it for them. Hostility to Christ"s people is hostility to Christ himself, (Act_9:4, Act_9:5) and reacts fatally on the soul. (Mat_21:44) It draws upon it God s indignation, and ends in final exclusion from heaven.
IV THE ADMISSION OF THOSE WHO SHOW KINDNESS TO GOD"S PEOPLE. (Vers. 7, 8.) The Edomite and the Egyptian were not to be abhorred; their children might be admitted in the third generation. The Edomites had not been as friendly as they might have been, but they had at least furnished the Israelites with victuals in their march, while the Egyptians had for a long time shown them kindness and hospitality. For these things they "had their reward." Acts of kindness to God"s people do not entitle to admission into God"s kingdom, but they show a "nighness" of spirit to it, and are remembered in God"s dealings with the doers of them, and may issue in their final salvation. (Mat_10:42) Note: Past kindnesses are not to be forgotten because of a late change of disposition. The Egyptians were kindly remembered, though their treatment of the Israelites had latterly been very cruel. It is to be remarked also that the tone in which Edom is uniformly referred to in this book does not in the least harmonize with the late date assigned to it by many critics. Edom, in the time of the prophets, had become Israel"s implacable foe. J.O.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-8. The congregation of the Lord jealously guarded.
There has been considerable controversy about what the term" entering into the congregation of the Lord signifies. It cannot be the Old Testament equivalent for our communicants," or "Church members;" for it would seem from Exo_12:48, Exo_12:49, that Jewish privileges were open to strangers on condition of their circumcision. Nor need we interpret it as merely indicating the marriage connections which Israelites were to avoid. We are satisfied with the interpretation, received by many, that the congregation (lh) does not always signify the sum total of the people, but the great assembly of elders. The prohibitions in this passage would, therefore, mean prohibitions from holding office in the theocracy; in fact, they show those who were ineligible to the Jewish eldership. The ineligible parties are
1. Eunuchs. For physical perfection was indispensable in a kingdom typically and ideally to be perfect. Besides, it has been said that this excluded class are deficient in courage, which the elders required.
2. Those whose family had the bar sinister" within ten generations. This was a great penalty against concubinage, and must have made the Jews most particular about the legality of their marriages.
3. Amorites and Moabites. They are treated like those with the bar sinister," as a judgment on their inhuman treatment of Israel. So that there was caution to be exercised in the admission of outsiders to the honors of the Jewish commonwealth.
4. Edomites and Egyptians. They could not enter themselves, but their grandchildren were eligible. They were not kept waiting so long at the door as those previously mentioned. This jealous guarding of the gate is surely instructive.
I IT SHOWS US THE DUTY OF LAYING HANDS SUDDENLY UPON NO MAN. This was Paul"s direction to Timothy regarding the ordination of elders. (1Ti_5:22) Their selection was so important, that it should not be hastily or carelessly done. They should get time to prove themselves as worthy. And our ideal of Church officers should be so high as to allow of the introduction of no ill-qualified person through our haste or careless selection.
II A CHURCH SHOULD MAINLY PRODUCE ITS OWN OFFICERS. Just as breeding is so important physically, so is Church training spiritually. It is the children in the tenth generation of the bastard who are, so to speak, by their ecclesiastical development through nine previous generations in ecclesiastical connection, to wipe out the ill effects of the "bar sinister." The grandchildren of the Edomite and Egyptian are to be eligible, because for three generations connected with the Church. That Church will be strong who can train up from among her own children the officers she needs.
III OFFICE IN GOD"S CHURCH SHOULD BE THE HIGHEST AMBITION. For people are not in a wholesome state when they place offices in the world before those in the Church. God"s service is highest service, whatever current opinion may be. Let the thought of holding office in the Church of God be held before Church members as the very noblest ambition for themselves or their children, and then shall the Church he placed upon the pinnacle it deserves. R.M.E.
HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES Vers. 1-6. Loss of sacred privilege a grievous penalty.
In such passages as this, very much more is intended than is expressed. We have to read between the lines, for only they who lived in those days of Jewish life could comprehend the shadowy hints, the pregnant suggestions, which are here reduced to words.
I THE ABUSE OF REPRODUCTIVE VITALISM IS A GIGANTIC SIN. The law of the natural kingdom, with regard to every species of life, that its "seed should be in itself," obtains in man its highest form. But here human inclination, passion, will come into play. It is an honor which God has conferred upon us, in that he has made us agents co-operating with him in the perpetuation of the human race. And the abuse of this function is followed forthwith by the Divine censure. In many cases, judgment swiftly follows upon the heels of the sin. As at Bethpeor, sudden and overwhelming penalty fell upon the Jewish culprits who yielded to the seductive snares of the Moabite women, so that there fell of the Hebrews four and twenty thousand men; so summary vengeance falls upon such transgressors still. Adultery and incest are stamped with the red brand of God"s hottest wrath. One feels in reading the shameful narrative of Lot"s incest at Zoar, as if the historian had not left on it the burning stigma of indignation; but we may draw no such conclusion from his silence. In this chapter we perceive how the blank is filled. The issue of that incestuous intercourse are branded with perpetual shame.
II THIS GIGANTIC SIN BEGETS A SERIES OF GIGANTIC EVILS.
1. It begets callous selfishness in posterity. God did not forget that the Moabites and Ammonites refused the common necessaries of life to the Hebrews, who sought nothing more than a friendly passage through their territory. Although this sin was a branch and offspring from the first, it was something new, and demanded fresh chastisement. For every offence in God"s kingdom there is prepared a just measure of retribution.
2. It begets malicious opposition. They hired, in their blindness, the services of Balaam, the sorcerer, in the hope that he would blast and ruin them with his witchery and curse. The end was frustrated. The purchased curse was changed into blessing. Nevertheless, the intention was criminal. The hearts of the Moabites burned with hate for their kinsmen; and base intentions shall be scourged.
3. It begets idolatry and blind fanaticism.
III SUCH EVILS CULMINATE IN JUSTEST PUNISHMENTS. Suitable penalties begin to appear in this life.
1. There is the loss of external privilege. Such "shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord." What? Not when the present generation has passed away? No; not to the tenth generation! No; not forever. Possibly the culprits despised the privilege, mocked at the loss. But none the less was it an immeasurable loss, a terrible privation. It is not said that a penitent Moabite should not be forgiven should not obtain eternal life. Yet the loss of external instruction and help lessened the probability that penitence would visit the soul. We do ourselves wrong when we contemn religious privilege.
2. There is the loss of friendly intercession. "Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity forever." Prayer for such is interdicted. Brotherly sympathy is denied. The Hebrews were ordained to be a nation of priests. The intention was that, by virtue of their growing piety, they should be, as an entire nation, the priests of the Lord, while foreigners should immigrate to be their husbandmen and vine-dressers. By reason of the Jew"s superior knowledge of God, they might be successful intercessors for other nations. But from this gracious privilege the Moabites and Ammonites were permanently excluded. Despise not the prayers of the devout. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL NOTES.—From the sanctification of domestic relations, to which…
CRITICAL NOTES.—From the sanctification of domestic relations, to which laws of marriage and chastity in the previous chapter pointed, Moses now proceeds to legislate for the purity of the congregation and the camp.
Deu_23:1-8. Rights of Citizenship in Israel. Forbidden to the mutilated in his sexual member (Deu_23:1). Mutilation practised among Gentiles, but unnatural in those made in God’s image and chosen to be God’s people (Lev_22:24). Bastard (Deu_23:2). Offspring of incest and adultery, yen.—collective bodies of contemporaries (cf. Gen_15:16; Exo_1:6); tenth complete number used in highest sense, and signifies an indefinite period. Ammonites and Moabites excluded. Perhaps reference to their incestuous origin (Gen_19:30-38). But they both combined against Israel without provocation; hired Balaam to curse, and brought upon themselves perpetual rejection (cf. Num_24:9; Num_22:5-6). Seek (Deu_23:6). Invite them to friendship, nor care for their welfare (Ezr_9:12; Jer_29:7). Edomites and Egyptians had opposed (Num_20:18; Exo_20:5), but Israel were to be friendly with them and not forget former hospitality. Third gen. (Deu_23:8), i.e. the great grandchildren who had lived strangers in Israel might be incorporated.
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Deu_23:9-14. Parity of the camp must be preserved in war. Wicked thing states in Deu_23:10-13 uncleanness of body; theft, violence, and sins common to life in camps (Jos_6:10; Jos_6:18). Then follow sanitary regulations to secure cleanliness of person and habits. The necessities of nature provided for outside the camp (Deu_23:12-13). Walk. Fit for God’s presence. Unclean thing. “Nakedness of anything”—nothing to be ashamed of; no want of reverence in not removing evil must be displayed.
Deu_23:15-18. Toleration and non-toleration. A slave running away from the tyranny of his master, not to be given up, but to dwell in the land (Deu_23:15-16). Prostitutes, male and female, descended from Israel not to be tolerated, i.e., not allowed to give themselves up to prostitution as religious worship (Deu_23:17-18). Dog is figurative (cf. Rev_22:15) and equivalent to the “Sodomite” of the verse preceding (cf. Mic_1:7; Bar_6:43). Speak. Com.
Deu_23:19-25. Theocratic rights of citizenship. Of a brother (i.e., countryman) an Israelite was not to take interest for money, food, or any goods lent to him. Stranger, not Israelites (cf. Exo_22:25; Lev_25:36-37). Vows fulfilled without delay (cf. Exo_22:29; Num_30:2; Ecc_5:4-5.) For general law of vows (cf. Leviticus 27). Hanger might be satisfied in vineyards and cornfields of a neighbour, bat nothing to be carried away in a vessel. Pluck (Deu_23:25 cf. Mat_12:1; Luk_6:1). Bight to pluck still recognised among Arabs.
EXCLUDED FROM THE CONGREGATION.—Deu_23:1-5
Everyone belonging to God’s people or devoted to God’s service should be as perfect as possible. “Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God” (Lev_21:16-21). Five classes are mentioned as unfit to enter the congregation of the Lord.
I. Mutilated persons are excluded (Deu_23:1). Two kinds are specified.
1. Eunuchs. An ancient practice for priests of many heathen gods, especially of the Syrian goddess, to be eunuchs, and for parents in various ways to mutilate their children and train them for the service of the great. God’s service requires soundness and purity. Sacrifices must be free from defect and blemish. Individuals in whom the Divine image was wilfully defaced were not qualified for office and association with God’s people.
2. Bastards. Such spring from an order not natural and divine. Whether heathens or strangers, often styled harlots (Isa_23:17-18); or born before wedlock a stigma is attached to discourage disgraceful habits. These prohibitions literally and symbolically were suited for the Jewish Church—had reference only to its outward constitution, and passed away when the kingdom of God was established.
II Special nations are excluded (Deu_23:3). Ammon and Moab were for ever excluded.
1. They neglected duty. As allies or neighbouring states they brought no victuals into the camp, for which Israel would have paid them.
2. They were hostile in proceedings. Without provocation they opposed Israel and hired Balaam to curse them. The unmerciful will be excluded from the kingdom (Mat_21:41-46). There can never be any “peace” or “prosperity” to enemies of God. A curse falls upon all who injure God’s people, and they will forfeit His favour for ever. Balaam had to confess, “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee” (Num_24:9).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_23:1; Deu_2:1. The privilege of intercourse with God and His people. “Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee.”
2. The purity required for enjoyment of this privilege. The wrath of man is made to praise God (Psa_36:10) All that are sinful and impure are excluded from heaven. There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth (Rev_21:27).
Deu_23:4. Neglect. Its guilt and danger.
Deu_23:4-6. Benevolence towards God’s ancient people. I. The duty of benevolence is general.
1. It is a duty.
2. It is a duty absolutely indispensable to our acceptance with God. II. Our special obligation to exercise it towards God’s ancient people.
1. We are more indebted to them than to any other people under heaven.
2. The very blessings which we enjoy were taken from them that they might be transferred to us.
3. This very transfer of their blessings has been made to us for the express purpose that He might dispense them to that bereaved people in the hour of their necessity. III. The more particular obligations which we have to exercise towards them at this time. Observe—
1. The interest now felt in the Christian world for their restoration to God.
2. The stir which prevails among the Jews themselves.
3. The earnests which God has given us in the actual commission of some.
4. The general voice of prophecy.—
C. Simeon, M. A.
Deu_23:6. As God takes notice of the least courtesy showed to His people, even to a cup of water, to requite it, so He doth of the least discourtesy, even to a frown or a frump, to revenge it.—Trapp.
THE CURSE TURNED INTO A BLESSING.—Deu_23:5
A divine law governs events which can never be changed. God can “curse the blessings of the wicked” (Mal_2:2), or turn their curse into blessings as here. Apply to other things—
1. In persecution. Often overruled for the triumph of God’s people and the spread of God’s cause. “The more I seek to blot out the name of Christ, the more legible it becomes; and whatever of Christ I thought to eradicate takes deeper root, and rises the higher in the hearts and lives of men.—Diocletian.
2. In labour. What this would have been without sin we know not. The ground is “cursed” and we toil in the “sweat of the face” (Gen_3:17-19.) But the curse is blessed to physical health in the vigour and development of the body, to intellectual enjoyment, in the rest and recreation of mind, to the good of society, by promoting its interests and satisfying its wants. “Labour is the salt of life.”
3. In affliction, which checks sin, weans from the world, brings to God, prepares and disciplines for future life. As fire refines gold, so affliction purifies men. Many can say, “chastisements are blessings in disguise; it is good for me that I have been afflicted.”
4. In sin. This greatest curse, which brought death into both worlds, is made the occasion of the greatest blessing. God, in his infinite wisdom, redeems from sin and death; in Jesus Christ displays His love and magnifies His grace in the salvation of the sinner. “This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.”
THE EDOMITE AND THE EGYPTIAN.—Deu_23:7-8
Edomites refused permission for Israel to pass through the land, yet they were related to them by kindred, and must not be abhorred. “He is thy brother.” In Egypt Israel were oppressed, yet in that land they had received benefits, and descendants in the third generation of both peoples might be naturalised. Learn—
I. That the tie of kindred must be respected. God has bound men in different social ties, and such ties should ever be held most sacred. “If there be not a religious element in the relations of men,” says Carlyle, “such relations are miserable and doomed to ruin.”
1. In the family. Husbands and wives, sisters and brothers must love another.
2. In the neighbourhood he must feel the claims of others. Nothing can destroy this relationship. “There is a law of neighbourhood which does not leave a man perfectly master on his own ground.”—Burke.
3. In the country. Our native country makes its impress on our character as its accent on our tongue. We must love and pray for our country.
II. That hospitality must not be forgotten. Israel had found a home in Egypt and received many gifts in coming out. Edom was not very friendly, but they had furnished Israel with victuals in their march. For these things they must be rewarded.
1. Time must not obliterate remembrance of kindness. Years had passed, but Israel must not forget their obligation. Gratitude must prompt generosity for special favours. “One good turn deserves another.”
2. Circumstances must not obliterate remembrance of kindness. Israel had grown more prosperous and more powerful, but they were forbidden to revenge or “pay back an old grudge.” No changes of time or place must alter disposition to do right. Our ill treatment in the past must “provoke to love,” not to rancour, resentment and wrath. “See that none render evil for evil unto any map, but ever follow that which is good.”
The shade by which my life was crossed,
Which makes a desert in the mind,
Has made me kindly with my kind.
—Tennyson.
THE SANCTITY OF THE CAMP.—Deu_23:9-14
Sanitary rules of great importance are given here. Simple, well adapted to the climate, and enforced by the highest motives.
I. Cleanliness must be enforced. This part of the ceremonial law was constantly enforced. In private and in public it is a religious duty; in war or in the camp special evils result from its neglect. “In thy fìlthiness is lewdness” (Eze_24:13).
II. Wickedness must be avoided. “Keep thee from every wicked thing.” Theft and violence are incident to camp life. Morals and religion are often relaxed in time of war. Outward cleanliness was only symbolic of that holiness for which God was training His people. “Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
III. Purity is essential to success. “To deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee” (Deu_23:14). Sin paralyses, frustrates and hinders all effort. In spiritual warfare, conquests are won by prayer and purity. Holiness is invincible “when the host goeth forth against the enemy.”
GOD’S PRESENCE AN ARGUMENT FOR MORAL PURITY.—Deu_23:12-14
If the presence of some earthly prince would put us on our guard and make us careful not to offend, how earnest should we be to put away every “unclean thing when” God walketh in the midst of the camp.”
I. In daily life. Outwardly “wash and be clean” in person and habits; inwardly in heart, character and conduct. “Outward cleanliness is inward purity,” says the Talmud.
II. In the domestic circle. This was no mere typical cleanliness, but such as pertained to the person and dwelling of every Israelite, and which the Creator’s laws of health require from all classes and ranks. It is a part of the system of the God of law, order and beauty. Dirty homes are repulsive and unhealthy—injurious to morals and social life. “Cleanse your persons and dwellings, else I shall never believe that you have cleansed your souls,” said John Wesley.
III. In the Christian Church. God is specially in “the camp” of believers to work for deliverance and progress. The standard of piety must not be lowered. Every soldier must be holy and consistent, and the interests of the church constantly guarded. The Great King demands a clean camp and a purified army, that he may dwell there. “Thy camp shall be holy, that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_23:9. Keep thee. Walk accurately, as carrying thy life in thy hand; for “the sword devoureth one as well as another” (2Sa_2:25); it spares neither lord nor losel. Every soldier, therefore, should be a saint, ready pressed to meet the Lord, Who hath said, “I will be sanctified in all them that draw near unto Me” (Lev_10:3).—Trapp.
The soldier’s bearing.
1. The nature of this injunction. The true soldier of Israel to be honourable, self-controlled, chivalrous.
2. The reason of it. That Israel might be respected for character as well as courage. That by their virtues and successes God, their Lawgiver, might be honoured.
3. The application of it. Character of soldiers of Christ. Right methods for lawful ends.—Bio. Museum.
Deu_23:13. Unclean thing. The charge to be clean.
1. From moral pollution (Deu_23:9).
2. From ceremonial pollution.
3. From natural pollution (Deu_23:12-14).—Mt. Henry. Hereby God taught His people holy conversation, that they should keep themselves from iniquity as David did (Psa_18:23)—that is, from such sins as either by their constitution, calling, company or custom, they are most prone to.—Trapp.
Deu_23:14. Conditions of victory.
1. Purity of character.
2. The presence of God.
3. Rectitude of purpose. Then the enemy will be like the Egyptians. “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them” (Exo_14:25).
SPECIAL LAWS.—Deu_23:15-18
Israel were to be a terror to tyrants, a refuge for afflicted people and a representative of God. They were to protect the oppressed, but to sanction no whoredom.
I. Fugitive slaves were allowed asylum. The reference is not to idolaters, but to slaves who fled from a foreign country and from harsh treatment from an unjust master.
1. They were protected from oppression. “Thou shalt not deliver him unto his master.” In Greece and Rome slaves were pursued by their masters, and if caught were branded with a red-hot iron. But a refugee was free, as in Britain now, the moment he sets his foot upon the soil. They were permitted to settle at pleasure. Not merely protected but encouraged to reside where it was best for him, or where he might choose. Lawless power must be checked. The interests of men must be felt when their fortunes are committed to our care.
II. Prostitutes were prohibited from their calling. Males and females were devoted to the service of Ashtaroth, visited cities, wandered as mendicants in country villages and enticed the people to abominable crimes.
1. Persons were forbidden to profess. “There shall be no whore (sodomitess) of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel,” attachés to the worship of God and reproaches to the people of God.
2. Their sinful gains were rejected at the altar. The profits of prostitution must not be given into the treasury. They were scandalous hire, the price of a dog, an “abomination to the Lord,” and must not be “brought into the house of the Lord.” We cannot honour God with our substance unless secured by righteous means.” God not only looks at what we give, but how we got it.” “I hate robbery for burnt-offering.”
“He will be found impartially severe,
Too just to wink, or speak the guilty clear.”
—Cowper.
CIVIL RIGHTS.—Deu_23:19-25
Here is not only a plea for liberty and a check to lewdness, but a law of usury and of vows, and a right to appease hunger.
I. A right to borrow without interest. From a stranger interest might be allowed. Commerce must be carried on and capital invested. It is a legal act, and often a mutual benefit, to borrow and pay favour for the loan. But from an Israelite no interest must be taken. Kindly feeling must be cherished. “He is thy brother” (Deu_23:20.) They might lend money, seed, or food among themselves; but covetousness be checked, separation from other nations must be preserved, and God must be acknowledged. “That the Lord thy God may bless thee.”
II. A right of discretion in making a vow. None were compelled to vow. “If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.” But having made a vow, it must be faithfully performed. “Thou shalt not slack to pay it.” It is sacred in character, binding in force, and ought always to be made with timely caution (Num_30:2). “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Ecc_5:5).
III. A right to refresh themselves in cornfields or vineyards. Labourers in the vintage, or travellers in the cornfield, had an interest in the fruit of the land.
1. Hunger might be appeased. Provision was thus made for the poor. Nature’s products are given to satisfy human wants. Jewish “poor laws” permitted neighbours to pluck the fruit of the proprietor’s fields. “Thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand” (Deu_23:25).
2. Dishonesty must not be practised. The sickle must not be put into the standing corn, nor a grape carried away in a vessel. “Thou mayest take for necessity, not for superfluity,” says Trapp. Kindness must not be abused. We must not censure men, nor insist upon compensation for trifles. Be generous. Remember “the kindness and philanthropy of God our Saviour towards man” (Tit_3:4).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_23:17-18. Dedication of unholy gains. Many public prostitutes dedicated to their gods a part of their impure earnings, or were kept in the temple to support abominable worship. Such offerings—
1. A reproach to their dignity. They were Israelites, the people of God. “No such thing ought to be done in Israel.”
2. An offence to their God. Holiness becomes the house of worship of God. The wages of licentiousness pollute the altar. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord” (Pro_15:8; Pro_15:21; Pro_15:27).
Deu_23:19-20. Usury.
1. Lend cheerfully, without extortion or oppression.
2. Lend with a view to please God, whose favour will rest upon them in domestic, social and national life. “That the Lord thy God may bless thee in all thou settest thine hand to in the land” (Deu_23:20).
Deu_23:21-23. Vows.
1. Rule in making them. a. Voluntary. A self imposed obligation. b. Cautiously. “Be not rash with thy mouth, to cause thy flesh to sin” (Ecc_5:6).
2. Rule in paying them. a. Instantly. As the best proof of sincerity. “Defer not to pay it.” b. Cheerfully. “God loveth a cheerful giver.” That which is gone out of the lips cannot be recalled, but performed solemnly, punctually, and fully.
Deu_23:24-25. Varied Rights.
1. The rights of travellers to eat.
2. The rights of property which must not be infringed.
3. The rights of God to claim possessions and legislate for their use. “The world is mine and the fulness thereof.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 23
Deu_23:1-6. Defects. Deplorable is the degradation of our nature.—South.
“Trait not yourself; but, your defects to know,
Make use of every friend and every foe.”—
Pope.
Deu_23:5. Curse. Human curses are ofttimes more an honour than a disgrace.—Dr. Thomas.
Deu_23:7-8. Not abhor. Let former kindnesses be remembered, and past injuries be forgotten.—Wordsworth.
“Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods!
Draw near them then in being merciful:
Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.”—
Shakespeare.
Deu_23:10-14. Clean. I have more than once expressed my conviction—that the humanizing influence of habits of cleanliness has never been sufficiently acted on. A clean, fresh, and well-ordered house exercises a moral, no less than a physical influence. Nor is it difficult to trace a connection between cleanliness and the formation of habits of respect for property, for the laws in general, and even for those higher duties and obligations the obserservance of which no laws can enforce.—Dr. S. Smith.
Deu_23:15-16. Servant. St. Baron, before his conversion to Christianity, caused one of his slaves to be severely beaten and then sold. After his conversion, he could not rest till he had induced this slave to cause his imprisonment, where he deplored constantly his crime against his human and Christian brother.—ILL. Paul and Onesimus.
Deu_23:17-18. Price. Religious profession was, at first, a conflict—a sacrifice: now it is become a trade.—R. Cecil.
“Look to thy actions well:
For churches either are oar heaven or hell.”—
G. Herbert.
Deu_23:19-20. Usury. Commerce flourishes by circumstances, precarious, contingent, transitory, almost as liable to change as the winds and waves that waft it to our shores.—Cotton.
Deu_23:21-23. Vows. When you have promised to do any good office, the right of the thing promised hath, before the God of Truth, passed over from you to another; consequently, you will esteem yourself obliged to stand to the performance of your word, though it may be to your own prejudice.—Venn.
Deu_23:24-25.—A lady on her journey in India rested on her palanquin beneath the shade of some banyan trees, while her bearers kindled a fire, and her servant began his cooking preparations. Close by was a garden of gourds and other Indian vegetables, and the lady was surprised to see her servant coolly walk into this garden, gather first one kind of vegetable after another, till his hands were full, when he went to the fire and began cutting them up. His mistress called him, told him not to forget to pay for all he had taken, for the owners would come and water the plants. The man smiled and said they would not require payment. The lady tried to explain that it was stealing to take away the property of another without paying for it. He smiled again and with truthful expression replied in broken English, “That no stealing, ma’am: that one custom in my country. Travelling this way take what we want, but no carry away.” The owners of the garden soon afterwards appeared, the servant told them in his native tongue, how his mistress accused him of stealing, on which they were all amused. This had evidently been the habit of their country from time immemorial, and they had no desire to change, but were contented to do as their fathers had done before them.—Biblical Treasury.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Laws regarding admittance to the Congregation, cleanliness in the…
Laws regarding admittance to the Congregation, cleanliness in the Camp, Unchastity, Usury, and Vows
1. Shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord] i.e. not merely as priests (see Lev_21:16-24) but as ordinary members of the nation of Israel, all of whom are 'holy unto the Lord.' The reference in this v. is probably to the self-mutilation practised by the devotees of certain heathen gods, and alluded to by St. Paul in Gal_5:12 : cp. Deu_14:1.
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2. A bastard is understood by the Jewish commentators to mean here, not one born out of wedlock (Jephthah was such, Jdg_11:1), but the child of adultery or incest. Even to his tenth generation] i.e. not at all. Similarly in Deu_23:3 : see Neh_13:1.
11. Evening cometh on] Anew day begins with the evening.
12-14. Sanitation and morality are both of the utmost importance for an army in camp. Cleanliness is next unto godliness: cp. 2Co_6:16 to 2Co_7:1.
15. A foreign slave is probably meant; see Deu_23:16.
18. From its connexion here the word dog seems to denote a person who practised immoral conduct as an idolatrous rite: see on Lev_19:29, and cp. Rev_22:15.
19. Thy brother] i.e. a fellow Israelite. In Deu_23:20 stranger means foreigner. The Jews have always been noted as money lenders: see on Exo_22:25.
21-23. On vows see Numbers 30, and cp. Ecc_5:4, Ecc_5:5.
24, 25. Jewish commentators limit the application of this rule to harvest labourers, thus making it analogous to that prohibiting the muzzling of the ox 'when he treadeth out the corn' (Deu_25:4). But there seems no reason for limiting the natural interpretation of the precept, which like the law of the gleaner (Deu_24:19-22) is prompted by a spirit of generosity towards wayfarers and poor persons. The restrictions at the end of Deu_23:24-25 would protect the law from abuse. The Pharisees did not accuse our Lord's disciples of the sin of theft but of working on the sabbath day, rubbing the ears of corn being equivalent in their opinion to harvesting: see Mat_12:1.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 19. The Congregation of Jehovah and Its Constitution and…
19. The Congregation of Jehovah and Its Constitution and Holiness
CHAPTER 23
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1. The constitution of the congregation of Jehovah (Deu 23:1-8)
2. The cleanness of the camp in time of war (Deu 23:9-14)
3. Concerning the escaped slave and the harlot (Deu 23:15-18)
4. Usury forbidden (Deu 23:19-20)
5. Concerning vows (Deu 23:21-23)
6. The neighbor’s vineyard and field (Deu 23:24-25)
The congregation of Israel is called in this chapter “the congregation of Jehovah.” And because it was the congregation of Jehovah, all that is unclean and which defiles had to be kept out of it. The same principle applies to the New Testament assembly, which is called the Church of God. Only those who are born again and therefore clean have a right to belong to the church.
The following interesting typical meaning of verses 1-8 is a paragraph taken from the Numerical Bible:
First, then, we have the assembly in its refusal of all discordant elements; and here the exclusion of the unsexed male is based on the need of maintaining the integrity of the creature. Mutilation was a reproach to God; and thus the whole spirit of asceticism is condemned and excluded both for Israel and for us today. The word of “bastard,” “one born of corruption,” only occurs once beside in Zec 9:6, is explained by the Rabbins, and received by commentators in general as meaning “one born of incest or adultery.” Typically, one corruptly born is not the mere child of nature; but rather one corruptly introduced among the people of God. “Baptismal regeneration,” as the ritualist holds it, is such a birth; and the Moabite and the Ammonite following here emphasizes this thought, though it be true that they are not distinctly reprobated for their birth, but for their enmity to the true people of God, and their employment of Balaam to curse. But even thus does the false professor, like an Ammonite or a Moabite, show his birth today. The Edomite is the simple natural man, and for him there is more hope, and the Egyptian is classed with him, though only in the third generation (dead and risen with Christ) could they enter the congregation of the Lord.
Cleanness and purity had to be preserved in Israel’s camp. They were constantly to remember “Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp ... therefore shall thy camp be holy; that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.” All uncleanness and uncleanliness of the body was considered for this reason an evil thing. The Lord gave even such instructions as these, because He wanted His people to be clean and separated unto Himself. And how it behooves us to take heed to all these things. Jehovah is not alone with us, in the midst of His people, but God the Holy Spirit has made our bodies His temples. “What! Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom ye have from God, and ye are not your own? For ye were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:19-20).
And how beautiful it is that the poor, escaped slave found in the congregation of Jehovah a refuge! He was not to be oppressed. But the Israelites, who practised the abominable things of the flesh under a religious garb (verse 17) were an abomination unto the Lord.
Verses 24 and 25 prove that Jehovah is the owner of the land and He invited the hungry one to satisfy his hunger, to be His guest, so to speak. But the right of the tenant of the land was also respected. See on plucking the ears of corn (Mat 12:1; Luk 6:1).
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Some Rules Concerning Membership
Some Rules Concerning Membership
v. 1. He that is wounded in the stones, a man whose testicles are crushed, or hath his privy member cut off, the urethra severed, thus being castrated, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. Because the children of Israel were consecrated to Him, the Lord wanted them to possess also bodily perfection. For that reason, men that were thus injured or were eunuchs were not admitted to the full privileges of the congregation of Jehovah, though they were received as proselytes, Act 8:27.
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v. 2. A bastard, one born as the result of adultery or incest, one upon whom rests this evil stain of his conception and birth, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. This rule cut him and all his descendants off forever, since the stain resting upon him would be transmitted to the entire congregation, whom the Lord, above all, desired to be holy.
v. 3. An Ammonite or Moabite, who, as the descendants of Lot, were related to Israel, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever,
v. 4. because they met you not with bread and time water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt, thus violating every custom of hospitality, as it was practiced even by savage tribes, Deu 2:19-20, not to speak of the natural affection of kindred, and because they hired against thee Balaam, the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee, Num 22:5-6.
v. 5. Nevertheless the Lord, thy God, would not hearken unto Balaam, would not permit him to carry out his intention of cursing Israel; but the Lord, thy God, turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord, thy God, loved thee, as Balaam himself was obliged to admit to Balak, Num 24:9.
v. 6. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity, not be concerned about advancing their good fortune, their welfare, all thy days forever. Their treatment of Israel had cut them off from all considerations of kindness, all this being done without the slightest motives of personal revenge, as the following section shows.
v. 7. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother, and the obligations of brotherhood had not been ignored by them to the extent practiced by the Ammonites and Moabites, Deu 2:6; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian because thou wast a stranger in his land; they had received hospitality in Egypt, though they had been oppressed by Pharaoh.
v. 8. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation, that is, the great-grandsons of those who had become proselytes to the religion of Israel. In all these cases, the Lord Himself permitted individual exceptions, as in that of Ruth, Rth 1:4, who became an ancestress of Jesus. Cf also 2 Samuel 10.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 man injured by crushing or cutting off
man injured by crushing or cutting off
"man whose private body parts someone has crushed or cut off"
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may enter the assembly of Yahweh
This is an idiom. AT: "may be a full member of the Israelite community" (See: Idiom)
illegitimate child
Possible meanings are 1) a child born to parents who committed incest or adultery or 2) a child born to a prostitute.
as far as to the tenth generation of his descendants
This "tenth" is the ordinal number for ten. AT: "even after ten generations of the illegitimate child's descendants" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
none of them
"none of these descendants"
translationWords
cut off
assembly
Yahweh
generation
descend
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 4 23:1 Emasculation, associated with certain pagan rituals and customs,…
23:1 Emasculation, associated with certain pagan rituals and customs, was abhorrent to the Lord (cp. Isa 56:3-4).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.