Deuteronomy 23:1-25
1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
2 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.
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:
4 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
5 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.
6 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperitya all thy days for ever.
7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
8 The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.
10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:
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:
14 For 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 uncleanb thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:
16 He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.
17 There shall be no whorec of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury
20 Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee
22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.
23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
24 When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
25 When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn.
Deuteronomy 23:1. Shall not enter the congregation. Eunuchs might worship there, as appears from the viiith of Acts; but they could not hold any office. In regard to devotion, God has promised the pious Eunuch a place in his house, and a name better than that of sons and of daughters. Isaiah 56:5.
Deuteronomy 23:3. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation. The crime of Baal-peor was a very awful breach; and to this day we find certain crimes of ancestors deeply to affect posterity. Yet they often became proselytes. Judith 14. A woman proselyted to Judaism might marry a Jew, as appears from the case of Ruth, and of others.
Deuteronomy 23:15. The servant escaped from his master. The Jews restrict this precept to the slaves of neighbouring nations; but it obviously tends to discourage slavery, and it exempts a slave from blame in case of making his escape.
Deuteronomy 23:17. No whore no sodomite. These must be put to death. In the apostate ages of Judea, we find characters of this kind very numerous, which hastened the destruction of the country. If a woman cannot take care of herself, the magistrate ought to do it for her till she can find sureties. It is far cheaper for a nation to keep them in a house of industry, than to allow them to spread their nets in the streets. The Hebrew word rendered “whore,” signifies devoted; as the Babylonian women brought their hire to Venus. Herodotus, Clio.The LXX read, no “whoremonger,” which seems correct, being joined with the sodomite.
Deuteronomy 23:19. Usury. See Leviticus 25:37.
Deuteronomy 23:25. Thou mayest pluck the ears. This was a humane law towards the afflicted and aged poor; but in our country children should be early apprized, that the like liberties may subject them to penalties.
REFLECTIONS.
If fornicators, idolaters, and all the unclean were thus excluded from the camp of Israel, how much more should all such wicked people be expelled from the church of God. We should never degrade the divine glory, by accounting christian society less holy than the commonwealth of Israel. No man who has committed any known and studied wickedness, is fit to enter the Lord's house, till he has wept for his sins. The church has most assuredly a right to expel from her communion every one who shall relapse into gross and scandalous sins, and to suspend those who shall be guilty of habitual negligence, and of associating improperly with the carnal world.
The kindness here enjoined to be showed to the Egyptians, notwithstanding the subsequent oppression; and to the Edomites, being the descendants of Esau, in memory of former kindness, shows that gratitude is of everlasting obligation; and happy is the constitution and government of a nation, when strangers prefer it to their native land. Happy also is England to have been so long the asylum of strangers, and the refuge of the distressed. May thy prosperity, oh highly favoured land, be lasting as the heavens and the earth.
The paddle which could easily be unscrewed from the spear, is no small indication of the cleanliness and decency preserved in the camp of Israel; for God was among the people; and we may consequently infer how clean and decent every christian should be in his house, garden, and dress. Our bodies, our families, and our dwellings are the Lord's: and outward decencies should be but emblems of the greater purity of our desires, and the sincerity of our hearts.
The abhorrence which is testified against bringing the hire of a prostitute into the sanctuary of God, shows that all such characters are under his wrath and indignation; nor can they approach the extremity of his courts, unless it be with the deepest repentance. A wicked man who has the effrontery to appear among the saints with an undaunted countenance, is adding hypocrisy to crime, and preparing for himself the greater condemnation. When a man is not sincere in his approaches to God, he becomes the worst character of humankind.