Deuteronomy 23:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Deuteronomy 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:
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Nehemiah 13:1-2 On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite s…
Ruth 4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem i…
Ruth 4:10-22 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that…
Nehemiah 13:23 In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
Isaiah 56:3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people…
Nehemiah 4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
Nehemiah 4:7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerus…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 23:1-8
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 fre…
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…
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 f…
The Church Fathers
The Ammonite and the Moabitess will not enter the assembly of the Lord; they will not enter the assembly of the Lord even to the tenth generation or ever. The problem lies in how Ruth entered, who was a Moabite (Cf Rt 1,22), from whom the Lord even proceeds by natural means (Cf Mt 1,5). Perhaps it is necessary to understand that mystically prophesied that it would enter, in saying the text: until the tenth generation. Because the generations are counted from Abraham, when Lot also lived, who fathered the Moabites and the Ammonites of their own daughters (Cf Gn 19,37.38), and it is discovered that, counting Abraham himself, there are ten generations until Solomon, who fathered Boaz, husband second of Ruth. The generations are these: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Phares, Esrom, Aram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz (Cf 1Cro 1.2), who married Ruth, who was a widow. That is why it is seen that after the tenth generation he left offspring in the Lord's assembly, giving Boaz children. But we can still ask with reason why it is added: never. Is it because after the prophecy was fulfilled with this tenth generation did not any other person of the Ammonites and Moabites enter the assembly of the Hebrew people? Or were these words rather said: not until the tenth generation, to mean, through a certain universality of the number ten, that they would never enter, in such a way that the author came to say this same, adding the following words: not ever? And if this is true, then it seems that Ruth was admitted against this prohibition. Or was it forbidden to admit the Ammonites and not the Ammonites, that is, men and not women? This solution would be understood above all because, when the Israelites defeated those people, they were ordered to kill all the males and not the women, except those who had had sexual relations with the men, (Cf Nm 31,17.18) since these women had dragged the people to fornication. But they wanted to spare the lives of the virgins, not imputing to them the guilt for which those people deserved defeat. And these people are also remembered here, as if they were wondering why the Lord would not have wanted to admit the Moabites and the Ammonites into the assembly of the Lord. To explain it, it is added: Because they did not come to meet you with bread and water when you were on the way out of Egypt, and because they brought…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Alien — A foreigner, or person born in another country, and therefore not entitled to the rights and privileges of the country where he resides. Among the Hebrews there were two classes of aliens. (1.) Those…
Ammonite — The usual name of the descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). From the very beginning (Deut. 2:16-20) of their history till they are lost sight of (Judg. 5:2), this tribe is closely…
Citizenship — The rights and privileges of a citizen in distinction from a foreigner (Luke 15:15; 19:14; Acts 21:39). Under the Mosaic law non-Israelites, with the exception of the Moabites and the Ammonites and…
Congregation — (Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the…
Stranger — This word generally denotes a person from a foreign land residing in Palestine. Such persons enjoyed many privileges in common with the Jews, but still were separate from them. The relation of the…
Ammonites · Exc — Exc
Ammonites, The · Jewish laws respecting: Perpetual exclusion from the congregation — Jewish laws respecting: Perpetual exclusion from the congregation
Church Of Israel · Persons excluded from — Persons excluded from
Congregation · Those who were exc — Those who were exc
Inhospitableness · Ammonites and Moabites — Ammonites and Moabites
Moabites · Excluded from the congregation of Israel forever — Excluded from the congregation of Israel forever
Deuteronomy 23:3-8
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:
3. Non ingredietur Ammonita et Moabita congregationem Jehovae: etiam generatione decima non ingredietur congregationem Jehovae usque in saeculum.
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.
4. Eo quod non exceperint vos cum pane et aqua in via, posteaquam egressi estis ex Aegypto, et quod mercede conduxerit adversum te Bileam filium Beor de Petho…
The Right of Citizenship in the Congregation of the Lord. - Deu 23:1. Into the congregation of the Lord there was not to come, i.e., not to be received, any person who was mutilated in his sexual member. פּצוּע־דּכּה, literally wounded by crushing, i.e., mutilated in this way; Vulg. eunuchus attritis vel amputatis testiculis. Not only animals (see at Lev 22:24), but men also, were castrated in this way. שׁפכה כּרוּת was one whose sexual member was cut off; Vulg. abscisso veretro. According to Mishnah Jebam. vi. 2, "contusus דּכּה est omnis, cujus testiculi vulnerati sunt, vel certe unus eorum; exsectus (כּרוּת), cujus membrum virile praecisum est." In the modern East, emasculation is general…
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.
Rashi on Deuteronomy 23:3
לא יבא ממזר בקהל ה׳ ONE BORN IN INCEST OR ADULTERY SHALL NOT COME INTO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD — i.e. he shall not marry an Israelite woman (Yevamot 78b).
Proselytes · From the Ammonites and Moabites restricted for ever from holding office in the congregation — From the Ammonites and Moabites restricted for ever from holding office in the congregation
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
