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Deuteronomy 23
New English Translation

Purity in Public Worship

23 A man with crushed[a] or severed genitals[b] may not enter the assembly of the Lord.[c] 2 A person of illegitimate birth[d] may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so.[e]

3 No Ammonite or Moabite[f] may enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever[g] do so,[h] 4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired[i] Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed[j] the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves[k] you. 6 You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come. 7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative;[l] you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner[m] in his land. 8 Children of the third generation born to them[n] may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Purity in Personal Hygiene

9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure.[o] 10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission,[p] he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately. 11 When evening arrives he must wash himself with water, and then at sunset he may reenter the camp.

12 You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine.[q] 13 You must have a spade among your other equipment, and when you relieve yourself[r] outside you must dig a hole with the spade[s] and then turn and cover your excrement.[t] 14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat[u] your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent[v] among you and turn away from you.

Purity in the Treatment of the Unprivileged

15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you.[w] 16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages[x] he prefers; you must not oppress him.

Cultic Prostitution Banned

17 There must never be a sacred prostitute[y] among the young women[z] of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute[aa] among the young men[ab] of Israel. 18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute[ac] or the wage of a male prostitute[ad] into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

Respect for Others’ Property

19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite,[ae] whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he[af] will surely[ag] hold you accountable as a sinner.[ah] 22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please,[ai] but you must not take away any in a container.[aj] 25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand,[ak] but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:1 tn Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”
  2. Deuteronomy 23:1 tn Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”
  3. Deuteronomy 23:1 sn The Hebrew term translated “assembly” (קָהָל, qahal) does not refer here to the nation as such but to the formal services of the tabernacle or temple. Since emasculated or other sexually abnormal persons were commonly associated with pagan temple personnel, the thrust here may be primarily polemical in intent. One should not read into this anything having to do with the mentally and physically handicapped as fit to participate in the life and ministry of the church.
  4. Deuteronomy 23:2 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
  5. Deuteronomy 23:2 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  6. Deuteronomy 23:3 sn An Ammonite or Moabite. These descendants of Lot by his two daughters (cf. Gen 19:30-38) were thereby the products of incest and therefore excluded from the worshiping community. However, these two nations also failed to show proper hospitality to Israel on their way to Canaan (v. 4).
  7. Deuteronomy 23:3 tn The Hebrew term translated “ever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ʿad ʿolam) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.
  8. Deuteronomy 23:3 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  9. Deuteronomy 23:4 tn Heb “hired against you.”
  10. Deuteronomy 23:5 tn Heb “the Lord your God changed.” The phrase “the Lord your God” has not been included in the translation here for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. Moreover, use of the pronoun “he” could create confusion regarding the referent (the Lord or Balaam).
  11. Deuteronomy 23:5 tn The verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “love”) here and commonly elsewhere in the Book of Deuteronomy speaks of God’s elective grace toward Israel. See note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
  12. Deuteronomy 23:7 tn Heb “brother.”
  13. Deuteronomy 23:7 tn Heb “sojourner.”sn The same term ger (גֵּר) is used for the resident foreigner living in Israel and of the Israelite who lived in Israel, despite the very different social conditions of each. A foreign resident has differing status in different countries. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but the resident foreigner in Israel was under the same laws (civil and religious) as the Israelite and could worship the Lord as part of the covenant community. Several passages emphasize equal standing under Mosaic Law (Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 26, 29; 19:10; 35:15; Deut 1:16) or similar obligations (Exod 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:10, 12, 13; 18:26; 24:16; Num 15:14).
  14. Deuteronomy 23:8 sn Concessions were made to the Edomites and Egyptians (as compared to the others listed in vv. 1-6) because the Edomites (i.e., Esauites) were full “brothers” of Israel and the Egyptians had provided security and sustenance for Israel for more than four centuries.
  15. Deuteronomy 23:9 tn Heb “evil.” The context makes clear that this is a matter of ritual impurity, not moral impurity, so it is “evil” in the sense that it disbars one from certain religious activity.
  16. Deuteronomy 23:10 tn Heb “nocturnal happening.” The Hebrew term קָרֶה (qareh) merely means “to happen” so the phrase here is euphemistic (a “night happening”) for some kind of bodily emission such as excrement or semen. Such otherwise normal physical functions rendered one ritually unclean whether accidental or not. See Lev 15:16-18; 22:4.
  17. Deuteronomy 23:12 tn Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.
  18. Deuteronomy 23:13 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
  19. Deuteronomy 23:13 tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  20. Deuteronomy 23:13 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
  21. Deuteronomy 23:14 tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”
  22. Deuteronomy 23:14 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing”; NLT “any shameful thing.” The expression עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (ʿervat davar) refers specifically to sexual organs and, by extension, to any function associated with them. There are some aspects of human life that are so personal and private that they ought not be publicly paraded. Cultically speaking, even God is offended by such impropriety (cf. Gen 9:22-23; Lev 18:6-12, 16-19; 20:11, 17-21). See B. Seevers, NIDOTTE 3:528-30.
  23. Deuteronomy 23:15 tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.
  24. Deuteronomy 23:16 tn Heb “gates.”
  25. Deuteronomy 23:17 tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qedeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah).
  26. Deuteronomy 23:17 tn Heb “daughters.”
  27. Deuteronomy 23:17 tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).
  28. Deuteronomy 23:17 tn Heb “sons.”
  29. Deuteronomy 23:18 tn Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה (zonah) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17.
  30. Deuteronomy 23:18 tn Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17.
  31. Deuteronomy 23:19 tn Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).
  32. Deuteronomy 23:21 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  33. Deuteronomy 23:21 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”
  34. Deuteronomy 23:21 tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”
  35. Deuteronomy 23:24 tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”
  36. Deuteronomy 23:24 tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”
  37. Deuteronomy 23:25 sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
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Deuteronomy 23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 23

1 A man shall not marry his father’s wife,[a] nor shall he dishonor his father’s bed.(A)

Membership in the Assembly. 2 [b]No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may come into the assembly of the Lord.(B) 3 No one born of an illicit union may come into the assembly of the Lord, nor any descendant of such even to the tenth generation may come into the assembly of the Lord.(C) 4 (D)No Ammonite or Moabite may ever come into the assembly of the Lord, nor may any of their descendants even to the tenth generation come into the assembly of the Lord, 5 because they would not come to meet you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor in Aram Naharaim, to curse you. 6 The Lord, your God, would not listen to Balaam but turned his curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord, your God, loves you. 7 Never seek their welfare or prosperity as long as you live.(E) 8 (F)Do not abhor the Edomite: he is your brother. Do not abhor the Egyptian: you were a resident alien in his country. 9 Children born to them may come into the assembly of the Lord in the third generation.

Cleanliness in Camp. 10 When in camp during an expedition against your enemies, you shall keep yourselves from anything bad. 11 (G)If one of you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come back into the camp. 12 Toward evening, he shall bathe in water; then, when the sun has set, he may come back into the camp. 13 Outside the camp you shall have a place set aside where you shall go. 14 You shall keep a trowel in your equipment and, when you go outside to relieve yourself, you shall dig a hole with it and then cover up your excrement. 15 Since the Lord, your God, journeys along in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give your enemies over to you, your camp must be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent in your midst and turn away from you.(H)

Various Precepts. 16 (I)You shall not hand over to their master any slaves who have taken refuge with you from their master. 17 Let them live among you in any place they choose, in any one of your communities[c] that seems good to them. Do not oppress them.

18 There shall be no temple prostitute[d] among the Israelite women, nor a temple prostitute among the Israelite men.(J) 19 You shall not offer a prostitute’s fee or a dog’s pay[e] as any kind of votive offering in the house of the Lord, your God; both these things are an abomination to the Lord, your God.(K)

20 (L)You shall not demand interest from your kindred on a loan of money or of food or of anything else which is loaned. 21 From a foreigner you may demand interest, but you may not demand interest from your kindred, so that the Lord, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings on the land you are to enter and possess.

22 (M)When you make a vow to the Lord, your God, you shall not delay in fulfilling it; for the Lord, your God, will surely require it of you and you will be held guilty. 23 Should you refrain from making a vow, you will not be held guilty. 24 But whatever your tongue utters you must be careful to do, just as you freely vowed to the Lord, your God, with your own mouth.

25 When you go through your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you wish, until you are satisfied, but do not put them in your basket. 26 When you go through your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck some of the ears with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

Footnotes

  1. 23:1 Father’s wife: stepmother.
  2. 23:2 Exclusion of an emasculated male may have had to do with association of emasculation with the practices of other peoples, or it may have been rejection of someone with a significant blemish who was thus not suitable for participation in the sacral assembly.
  3. 23:17 In any one of your communities: from this it would seem that the slave in question is a fugitive from a foreign country.
  4. 23:18–19 Temple prostitute: Heb. qedesha, lit., “holy one,” a title of the goddess of fertility. The role or function of the qedesha is debated; some see this as simply a term for a prostitute (Heb. zona). Others see it as designating a cultic role but not necessarily one involving sexual activity. The evidence is insufficient to give a final answer.
  5. 23:19 Dog’s pay: “dog” is a derogatory term for a male temple prostitute.
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