Deuteronomy 23

1 “If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the LORD .

2 “If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the LORD .

3 “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the LORD .

4 These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you.

5 But the LORD your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the LORD your God loves you.

6 As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.

7 “Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians.

8 The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the assembly of the LORD .

9 “When you go to war against your enemies, be sure to stay away from anything that is impure.

10 “Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day.

11 Toward evening he must bathe himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.

12 “You must have a designated area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself.

13 Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement.

14 The camp must be holy, for the LORD your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he will turn away from you.

15 “If slaves should escape from their masters and take refuge with you, you must not hand them over to their masters.

16 Let them live among you in any town they choose, and do not oppress them.

17 “No Israelite, whether man or woman, may become a temple prostitute.

18 When you are bringing an offering to fulfill a vow, you must not bring to the house of the LORD your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man or a woman, for both are detestable to the LORD your God.

19 “Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether you loan money, or food, or anything else.

20 You may charge interest to foreigners, but you may not charge interest to Israelites, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

21 “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the LORD your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin.

22 However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow.

23 But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the LORD your God.

24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not carry any away in a basket.

25 And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle.

Deuteronomy 23 Commentary

Chapter 23

Who are shut out from the congregation. (1-8) Cleanliness enjoined. (15-25) Of fugitive servants, Usury, and other precepts. (9-14)

Verses 1-8 We ought to value the privileges of God's people, both for ourselves and for our children, above all other advantages. No personal blemishes, no crimes of our forefathers, no difference of nation, shuts us out under the Christian dispensation. But an unsound heart will deprive us of blessings; and a bad example, or an unsuitable marriage, may shut our children from them.

Verses 9-14 The camp of the Lord must have nothing offensive in it. If there must be this care taken to preserve the body clean, much more should we be careful to keep the mind pure.

Verses 15-25 It is honourable to shelter and protect the weak, provided they are not wicked. Proselytes and converts to the truth, should be treated with particular tenderness, that they may have no temptation to return to the world. We cannot honour God with our substance, unless it be honestly and honourably come by. It must not only be considered what we give, but how we got it. Where the borrower gets, or hopes to get, it is just that the lender should share the gain; but to him that borrows for necessary food, pity must be showed. That which is gone out of thy lips, as a solemn and deliberate vow, must not be recalled, but thou shalt keep and perform it punctually and fully. They were allowed to pluck and eat of the corn or grapes that grew by the road side; only they must not carry any away. This law intimated what great plenty of corn and wine they should have in Canaan. It provided for the support of poor travellers, and teaches us to be kind to such, teaches us to be ready to distribute, and not to think every thing lost that is given away. Yet it forbids us to abuse the kindness of friends, or to take advantage of what is allowed. Faithfulness to their engagements should mark the people of God; and they should never encroach upon others.

Footnotes

• [a]. Verses 23:1-25 are numbered 23:2-26 in Hebrew text.
• [b]. Hebrew a dog.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 23

Orders are here given to restrain certain persons from entering into the congregation of the Lord, De 23:1-8, and to take care that there be no unclean person in the camp, or any indecent thing done in it, De 23:9-14, to protect fugitive servants, and not deliver them up to their masters, De 23:15,16 not to suffer a filthy person to be among them, or any filthy thing to be brought into the house of God for a vow, De 23:17,18, then follow some laws against usury, and for the payment of vows, De 23:19-23, and the chapter is concluded with some directions how to behave in a neighbour's vineyard, or standing corn, De 23:24,25.