You shall have a trowel among your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover your excrement;
Parallel Translations
-
You shall have a trowel among your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover your excrement;
-
And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
-
(23-14) And thou shalt have a paddle among thy weapons; and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 23:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 24:6-8 “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust hasn’t gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece. No lot is fallen on it. “ ‘ “For her blood is in the middle of her. She set it on the bare rock. She didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust. That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning hereby that his people should be pure both…
Meaning hereby that his people should be pure both in body and soul.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 23:13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon…
Deu 23:13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
Ver. 13. Thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp.] Where he is both van and rear. {Isa 52:12}
Read full note →
And to give up thine enemies.] Hence the Philistines were so frighted at the sight of the ark. "Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them," said those Egyptians. {Exo 14:25}
That he see no unclean thing.] Hereby God taught his people holy conversation, that they should keep themselves from their 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.
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 A paddle; the nature of which may be known…
A paddle; the nature of which may be known from the use, which here follows.
Cover that which cometh from thee; partly, to prevent the annoyance of ourselves or others; partly, to preserve and exercise modesty and natural honesty; and principally, that by such outward rites they might be inured to the greater reverence of the Divine Majesty, and the greater caution to avoid all real and moral uncleanness, especially now when it was most necessary so to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon,....…
And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon,.... A nail or spike, some kind of instrument to make a hole in the ground with, which was fastened to the sword upon their loins; which was to be instead of a spade or mattock to dig with:
and it shall be, when thou shall ease thyself abroad; without the camp, in the place appointed for that use, whenever nature required such an action to be performed:
Read full note →
thou shall dig therewith; with, the paddle, an hole in the earth: the Essenes used, according to Josephus, to make it a foot deep with a spade or mattock, and to everyone that was newly admitted among them, a little pickaxe was given for that purpose (r):
and shalt turn back; having eased nature:
and cover that which cometh from thee; their dung, with the earth they dug out of the hole they made. This law was made to preserve modesty and decency becoming men, and not act like brute beasts, as well as cleanliness in the camp, and, the health of themselves and their fellow soldiers; and that, they might not be offensive to the smell, as well as pernicious to the health of one another; and especially for a reason that follows in Deu 23:14; so Maimonides (s) says, the intention of this law is especially cleanliness, and to avoid nastiness, filthiness, and impurities of every kind, that men might not be like the brute animals.
(r) De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 8. sect. 9. (s) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 41.
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 Cover - To prevent the annoyance of ourselves or…
Cover - To prevent the annoyance of ourselves or others; to preserve and exercise modesty and natural honesty; and principally that by such outward rites they might be innured to the greater reverence of the Divine Majesty, and the greater caution to avoid all real and moral uncleanness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 23:13. Cover — To prevent the annoyance of…
Deu 23:13. Cover — To prevent the annoyance of ourselves or others; to preserve and exercise modesty; and principally that by such outward rites they might be inured to the greater reverence of the Divine Majesty, and the greater caution to avoid all real and moral uncleanness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Girdle. Hebrew azon, means "a balance," as the Hebrews…
Girdle. Hebrew azon, means "a balance," as the Hebrews generally carried weights, &c., about them, chap. xxv. 13. Moderns translate, "a paddle upon thy weapon," But the Septuagint seem to have read ezor, "a girdle," (Calmet) which is more intelligible, as the Jews were accustomed to carry the necessary utensils, money, &c., not in their pockets, as we do, but in a bag, which they fixed to their girdles, or belts. All the Jews who dwelt in the camp, were bound to have a paddle, for the purpose here mentioned. (Haydock) --- Josephus (Jewish Wars ii. 7,) observes, that the Essenians always made use of one, with which they made a hole a foot deep, and covered it with their robes, that nothing indecent might be exposed to view. (Haydock) --- The Turks still follow the same custom, when they are encamped. (Busbec, ep. iii.) (Calmet)
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).
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A paddle upon thy weapon; rather, a small spade…
A paddle upon thy weapon; rather, a small spade (the word properly means a pin or nail) among thy furniture, or, according to another reading among thy implements or accoutrements; they were to carry with them along with their implements of war a tool for digging in the earth.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 23:13 It would be disgusting and shameful to have…
23:13 It would be disgusting and shameful to have an open latrine outside the camp, let alone within it.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.