Deuteronomy 23:2 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Deuteronomy 23:2

Those Excluded from the Congregation

1 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall ^anot enter the assembly of the Lord.

2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

3 ^a“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever,

4 ^abecause they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and ^bbecause they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Deuteronomy 23:1-3

WHO MAY AND WHO MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION. (Deu. 23:1-25)

He that is wounded . . ., shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord—"To enter into the congregation of the Lord" means either admission to public honors and offices in the Church and State of Israel, or, in the case of foreigners, incorporation with that nation by marriage. The rule was that strangers and foreigners, for fear of friendship or marriage connections with them leading the people into idolatry, were not admissible till their conversion to the Jewish faith. But this passage describes certain limitations of the general rule. The following parties were excluded from the full rights and privileges of citizenship: (1) Eunuchs—It was a very ancient practice for parents in the East by various arts to mutilate their children, with a view to training them for service in the houses of the great. (2) Bastards—Such an indelible stigma in both these instances was designed as a discouragement to practices that were disgraceful, but too common from intercourse with foreigners. (3) Ammonites and Moabites—Without provocation they had combined to engage a soothsayer to curse the Israelites; and had further endeavored, by ensnaring them into the guilt and licentious abominations of idolatry, to seduce them from their allegiance to God.

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Deuteronomy 23:2:**

Isaiah 56:3
Zechariah 9:6

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Deuteronomy 23:3 >>

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