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.
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Deuteronomy 23:3-6 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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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.
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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.
Nevertheless 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.
Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.
Show all 3 translations
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(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.
(23-6) Nevertheless 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.
(23-7) Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (41)
- Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (v5) Yahweh didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples;…
- Romans 8:31 (v5) What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Numbers 24:9 (v5) He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is…
- Ephesians 2:4-5 (v5) But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive…
- 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…
Show all 41 cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 4:17 (v5) For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory,
- Numbers 23:5-12 (v5) Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” He returned to him, and behold, he was standing…
- Jeremiah 31:3 (v5) Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
- Micah 6:5 (v5) My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may…
- Romans 11:28 (v5) Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.
- Deuteronomy 33:3 (v5) Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words.
- Ezra 9:12 (v6) Now therefore don’t give your daughters to their sons. Don’t take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity…
- 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…
- Ezekiel 16:8 (v5) “ ‘ “Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your…
- Psalms 73:1 (v5) Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
- Proverbs 26:2 (v5) Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.
- 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;
- Numbers 22:35 (v5) Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with…
- Numbers 23:16-26 (v5) Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.” He came to him, and behold, he was standing by…
- 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…
- 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…
- Romans 9:13 (v5) Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
- 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…
- 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…
- 2 Samuel 8:2 (v6) He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one…
- 2 Samuel 12:31 (v6) He brought out the people who were in it, and put them under saws, under iron picks, under axes of iron, and made them pass through the…
- Nehemiah 13:23-25 (v6) In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their children spoke half in the speech of…
- 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…
- Malachi 1:2 (v5) “I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;
- 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?”
- 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…
- 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 (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Hereby he condemneth all that further not the children…
Hereby he condemneth all that further not the children of God in their vocation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–6 Deu 23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter…
Deu 23:3 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:
Ver. 3. For ever,] i.e., This law is perpetual and indispensable; so highly displeasing are many mere omissions of duty. Omission of diet breeds diseases, brings death; so here.
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 vv3–6 This may be understood either,
This may be understood either,
1. Of the males only, or the children of such fathers, as interpreters commonly take it. Or rather,
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2. Of females also, or of all that were born either of such fathers or mothers, as may be gathered from Ezr 10 Ne 13, where the children of strange wives were separated from Israel no less than the children of strange fathers. And it is an allowed maxim, that the birth follows the belly. And whereas the children of Rahab and Ruth are produced to the contrary, it may be said as it was before, that these were extraordinary instances, and that God when he pleased might exempt any particular person of them from this curse, though the Israelites might not do so.
For ever; so it seems to note the immutability and perpetuity of this law, that it should be inviolably observed in all succeeding ages, and not dispensed with for any merit in the persons, or any pretence whatsoever. But why then should this clause be added only here, seeing the foregoing laws are as inviolable as this? It seems therefore to extend the duration of this exclusion of them from the congregation of the Lord beyond what was said at first, and to be added by way of aggravation, even to their tenth generation shall they not enter—yea, even for ever, i.e. they shall never enter, as it is expressed, without any mention of the tenth generation, Neh 13:1, that they shall not come into the congregation of God for ever.
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 On vv3–6 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the…
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord,.... Or marry an Israelitish woman, as Jarchi, and so the Targum of Jonathan,"the male Ammonites and Moabites are not fit to take a wife of the congregation of the Lord;''for the Jews restrain this to men, because it is, as Aben Ezra observes, an Ammonite, not an Ammonitess, a Moabite, not a Moabitess; they allow that females of those nations might be married to Israelites, that is, provided they were proselytesses, as Ruth was (m):
even to their tenth generation, shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever; that is, not only to the tenth generation, but for ever; and this law was understood as in force in Nehemiah's time, which was more than ten generations from the making of it; though now, as these nations are no more a distinct people, they suppose it is no longer binding (n).
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(m) Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 3. (n) Misn. Yadaim, c. 4. sect. 4.
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 vv3, 4, 6 For ever - This seems to note the perpetuity…
For ever - This seems to note the perpetuity of this law, that it should be inviolably observed in all succeeding ages.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v3 Verse 3. An Ammonite or Moabite] These nations were…
Verse 3. An Ammonite or Moabite] These nations were subjected for their impiety and wickedness, (see De 23:4; De 23:5), to peculiar disgrace, and on this account were not permitted to hold any office among the Israelites. But this did not disqualify them from being proselytes: Ruth, who was a Moabitess, was married to Boaz, and she became one of the progenitors of our Lord.
Even to their tenth generation] That is, for ever, as the next clause explains; see Ne 13:1.
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 vv3, 4, 6 Deu 23:3. An Ammonite or a Moabite — The…
Deu 23:3. An Ammonite or a Moabite — The Jews will have it, that the women of these two nations were not concerned in this law. And that though an Israelitish woman might not marry an Ammonite or Moabite, yet a man of Israel might marry one of their women, after she professed the Jewish religion. For ever — This seems to denote the perpetuity of this law, that it should be inviolably observed in all succeeding ages.
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 vv3, 6 This law forbids only the naturalization of those against…
This law forbids only the naturalization of those against whom it is directed. It does not forbid their dwelling in the land; and seems to refer rather to the nations than to individuals. It was not understood at any rate to interdict marriage with a Moabitess; compare Rth 1:4; Rth 4:13. Ruth however, and her sister were doubtless proselytes.
Deu 23:4
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Compare the marginal reference. The Moabites and the Ammonites are to be regarded as clans of the same stock rather than as two independent nations, and as acting together. Compare 2Ch 20:1.
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 vv3, 4, 6 Ever. This shews that the former verse only excludes…
Ever. This shews that the former verse only excludes bastards for a time. But why are these nations treated with more severity than the Edomite and Egyptian? Because their enmity seemed to proceed from pure malice, and they attempted to ruin the souls of the Hebrews by lust and by idolatry, without any prospect of interest to themselves. Their parents were also of very base origin, and Abraham had rescued their father, Lot, from destruction; so that for his children to oppose with such virulence the descendants of Abraham, manifested a degree of ingratitude and perversity. (Calmet) --- They had found their attempts to hurt Israel abortive, and yet ceased not to persecute their near relations, (Haydock) by drawing them into carnal sins. Those who are obstinate in their evil ways can never be rightly received into the Church of God. (Worthington) --- Achior and Ruth embraced the Jewish religion, but it does not appear they were admitted to places of trust, Judith xiv. 6. (Haydock) --- These regulations were observed till the Babylonian captivity, while the genealogies might be ascertained. (Calmet) --- In cases of extraordinary merit, as in that of Achior, the Ammonite, (Judith xiv.,) a dispensation might be granted. (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).
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 v3 3-6. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter —…
3-6. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter — Not as such. The case of Ruth shows they might on embracing Judaism. Knobel considers that the reason for the prohibition of the text was because Ammon and Moab were begotten in incest. Here Moses gives as reasons that they had failed to meet the Israelites with hospitality, and had hired Balaam to curse them.
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 vv3–5 (3) An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter. According…
(3) An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter. According to Rashi, “shall not marry an Israelitish woman.” It must be remembered that the children, according to Jewish law, follow the father, not the mother. The case of Ruth would not, therefore, be touched by this precept.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6 As Ammon and Moab had met the Israelites with…
As Ammon and Moab had met the Israelites with hostility, and had brought Balaam to curse them, a curse had thereby been brought upon themselves, and they also were to be forever excluded from the congregation of Israel.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v5 The Lord thy God turned the curse into a…
Deu_23:5
The Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing.
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Balaams curse turned into a blessing by God
Here a difficult question meets us. Was there any reality whatever in Balaams curse! Or was it altogether a harmless thing--in fact, nothing at all? If there was nothing in it, why should it have been averted Why should it be said that God would not hearken unto Balaam? Why not let it be pronounced? The result would have shown that there was no power or reality in it. On the other hand, it is difficult to suppose that such power could reside in a curse, especially when spoken by such a man as Balaam. One thing is certain, that God Himself never did give false prophets power to curse. Could they, then, derive it from any other quarter? Why not from Satan? No creature is absolutely independent; all are instruments in the hands of another. If through grace we have been placed in the kingdom of light, then we are instruments in the hands of God. If we are in the kingdom of darkness, we can only he instruments in the hands of Satan; a curse and not a blessing to others. Now, heathenism is one great territory of Satans power--one chief part of his kingdom of darkness. He reigns supreme there. We believe, then, that within the sphere of his kingdom of darkness Satan has power to employ false prophets as his instruments--has power to enable them to curse, and to fulfil their curse when pronounced. The conflict here, then, was not merely one between the king of Moab and Israel, but between the kingdom of light in Israel and the kingdom of darkness in Moab and Midian. Balaams curse would have been the utterance of the power of darkness; but he was obliged, however reluctantly, to confess his impotency before God. It was an act of Divine power when God turned the curse into a blessing. It showed His watchful care and love towards His people. And what is it that God is accomplishing now by the gift of His son and the power of His grace, but turning the curse into a blessing? Oh, there is a widespread curse, which has long been resting upon this guilty world, the curse pronounced on mans disobedience; and what makes it so awful is, that it is a righteous curse. Wherever we look we see its tokens--man doomed to a life of weary labour, suffering from different kinds of sickness, and at last seized with the irresistible hand of death; so that St. Paul says, The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. But to the children of God this three-fold curse is changed by the grace of God into a blessing. Look at the lowest element of the curse, that of labour, according to the sentence, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. How wearisome is ceaseless toil in itself! But to the true Christian how different is toil and labour! He consecrates his powers to Him who has redeemed him with His precious blood! Or look at sickness. What is it but the visible reflection of a spiritual disease within? If the image of God had not been obliterated from the soul by sin there would have been no sickness or sorrow in the world. No miracle is exerted to exempt the Christian from this trial. But its nature is changed; there is no longer any curse in it. How many can bless God for it, painful as it may have been--can bless God for His sanctifying and sustaining power--for the near communion with Jesus which they then enjoyed--for the hallowed impressions made upon their souls; and, most of all, for the manifestations of Gods faithfulness and tenderness--of His power and gentleness. But of all the elements of the curse the most manifest and the most awful is death--so universal in its reign--so tremendous in its power--so mysterious in its nature. We can scarcely stand by a dying bed without the question pressing itself upon our thoughts--oh, why this convulsion? Why this distressing and humiliating close to our life here? One answer can only be given--It is because of sin. Death passed upon all men in that all have sinned. To the Christian its sting is drawn. It is but the rending of the veil which separates his soul from the visible presence of his Redeemer. (G. Wagner.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5 may not belong to the assembly of Yahweh
may not belong to the assembly of Yahweh
This is an idiom. AT: "may not be a full member of the Israelite community" (See: Idiom)
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as far as to the tenth generation of his descendants
This "tenth"is the ordinal number for ten. AT: "even after ten generations of his descendants" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
they did not meet you with bread and with water
The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "they did not welcome you by bringing you food and drink" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
against you ... curse you
Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the word "you" here is singular. (See: Forms of You)
translationWords
Ammon
Moab
assembly
Yahweh
generation
descend
bread
Egypt
Balaam
curse
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 vv3–4 23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite: These nations were Lot’s…
23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite: These nations were Lot’s descendants by his incestuous daughters (see study notes on 2:9, 19). In addition, they had forbidden Israel access to their lands during their desert wanderings (23:4). • Exclusion for ten generations means an indefinitely long period of time.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.