Assembly Exclusions
Deuteronomy 23:1-8
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Deu.23.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- יקח: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- אשת: NOUN,f,sg,cns
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יגלה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כנף: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
Parallels
- Leviticus 18:8 (verbal): Explicitly forbids uncovering a father's wife ("You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife"), closely matching the prohibition in Deut 23:1.
- Leviticus 20:11 (structural): Prescribes the legal/penal consequence for a man who lies with his father's wife (both are to be put to death), treating the same act as a capital offense.
- Deuteronomy 27:20 (verbal): In the covenant curses list it declares a curse on anyone who lies with his father's wife, echoing the prohibition and framing it within Deuteronomic covenantal sanctions.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1–2 (allusion): Paul rebukes a church for tolerating a man 'having his father's wife,' invoking the same incestuous offense and reflecting the continued moral/communal prohibition in the NT context.
Alternative generated candidates
- No man shall take his father's wife, nor shall he uncover his father's bed.
- No man shall take his father's wife or uncover his father's skirt.
Deu.23.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- פצוע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- דכא: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- וכרות: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שפכה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בקהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 23:1 (structural): Immediate parallel in the same legislative block excluding certain persons from the 'assembly of the LORD' (here, the illegitimate); shared legal-formula and cultic concern about who may enter the congregation.
- Leviticus 21:17-23 (verbal): Priestly regulations forbidding those with physical defects from approaching holy things; both texts use physical bodily condition as grounds for exclusion from cultic access.
- Isaiah 56:3-5 (allusion): Prophetic promise that eunuchs who are faithful will receive a place and a name within God's house—an explicit theological development and corrective to earlier exclusions such as Deut 23:2.
- Matthew 19:12 (thematic): Jesus' reference to eunuchs (some made eunuchs by men) engages the category of those excluded by earlier law and raises questions about social/religious status and inclusion in the kingdom of heaven.
Alternative generated candidates
- No one who is maimed, crushed, or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
- No one who is wounded, crushed in the genitals, or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
Deu.23.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ממזר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בקהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- גם: ADV
- דור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עשירי: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- בקהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deut.23.4-6 (verbal): Immediate context/expansion of the same law — gives the reasons for excluding the Ammonites and Moabites (refusal of hospitality, hiring Balaam) and reiterates the tenth‑generation ban.
- Deut.2:9 (thematic): Earlier legislation on Israel's relations with Moab — instructs Israel not to harass Moabites as a neighboring people, providing background to the special legal status of Moab/Ammon in the Torah.
- Nehemiah 13:1-3 (quotation): Postexilic reading of the law that explicitly cites the prohibition that no Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of God; Nehemiah applies this law in reforming the community.
- Ruth 4:13-22 (allusion): Narrative counterpoint: Ruth the Moabitess is incorporated into Israel and becomes an ancestor of David, posing a theological/social challenge to a strict ethnic exclusion like Deut 23:3.
- Ezra 9:1-2 (thematic): Postexilic concern about foreign marriages and purity of the assembly echoes the exclusionary impulse of Deut 23:3; Ezra confronts intermarriage as a threat to communal identity.
Alternative generated candidates
- No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
- No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
Deu.23.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עמוני: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומואבי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בקהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- גם: ADV
- דור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עשירי: ADJ,m,sg,abs,ord
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- בקהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עד: PREP
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deut.23:3 (verbal): Immediate context: the preceding verse states the same prohibition against Ammonites and Moabites entering the assembly, forming a verbal/legislative unit with 23:4.
- Nehemiah 13:1 (quotation): Postexilic reading of the Torah: Nehemiah cites the law that no Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly and enforces it in community reform, explicitly echoing Deut 23:4.
- Deut.2:9 (thematic): God's command to Moses not to harass Moab (and not to take its land) explains earlier historical/territorial relations with Moab that inform Deut 23's discriminatory rule.
- Deut.2:19 (thematic): Parallel instruction regarding the sons of Lot (Ammon): God tells Israel not to contend with or harass the Ammonites, reflecting the distinctive legal/territorial stance toward Ammon and Moab.
- Ruth 4:13 (thematic): Narrative counterpoint: Ruth the Moabitess is incorporated into Israel (becomes David's ancestor), showing an instance of inclusion that complicates the Deuteronomic exclusion of Moabites from the assembly.
Alternative generated candidates
- No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD—forever.
- No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD — forever.
Deu.23.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- קדמו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- בלחם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ובמים: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בדרך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בצאתכם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,const+PRON,2,m,pl
- ממצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואשר: CONJ+PRON,rel
- שכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- את: PRT,acc
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בעור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מפתור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ארם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נהרים: NOUN,m,du,abs
- לקללך: PREP+VERB,qal,inf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 22:5 (verbal): Balak's messengers ask Balaam to come and curse Israel — the same episode Deut 23:5 recalls (Balak hiring Balaam to curse the people).
- Numbers 23:20 (verbal): Balaam declares he has been commanded to bless and cannot reverse it — parallels Deut 23:5‑6's claim that God removed the curse and turned it into a blessing.
- Joshua 13:22 (thematic): Lists Balaam son of Beor as a diviner (showing Israelite tradition about Balaam tied to the wilderness period), connecting later tradition to the Deutorean reference.
- Revelation 2:14 (allusion): Speaks of the 'teaching of Balaam' who led Israel into sin via Balak's designs — a New Testament allusion to the Balaam/Balak incident cited in Deut 23:5.
- 2 Peter 2:15 (allusion): Warns against 'the way of Balaam' (love of gain and corrupt teaching) echoing the moral and hostile dimensions of the Balaam episode mentioned in Deut 23:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- On account of the fact that they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim to curse you,
- This is because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor of Aram-naharaim to curse you.
Deu.23.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ולא: CONJ
- אבה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- לשמע: INF,qal,infc
- אל: NEG
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויהפך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- הקללה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- לברכה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- אהבך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg+obj,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
Parallels
- Numbers 22:12 (quotation): God tells Balaam he must not go with Balak's messengers or curse Israel — directly parallels 'the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam.'
- Numbers 23:8 (verbal): Balaam declares 'How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?' which echoes the idea that a divinely intended curse was turned aside.
- Numbers 24:10 (structural): Balak's complaint that Balaam blessed Israel instead of cursing them parallels Deut.23:6's claim that the intended curse became a blessing.
- Deuteronomy 7:8 (thematic): States that God's actions toward Israel are rooted in his love for them, mirroring Deut.23:6's 'because the LORD your God loves you.'
- Jude 11 (allusion): New Testament allusion to Balaam (as a negative example) connects later reception of the Balaam episode mentioned in Deut.23:6 to subsequent theological interpretation.
Alternative generated candidates
- and the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, for the LORD your God loves you.
- But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
Deu.23.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- תדרש: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- שלמם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3mp
- וטבתם: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+3mp
- כל: DET
- ימיך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+2ms
- לעולם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deut.23.8 (structural): Immediate parallel/continuation in the same pericope: repeats the injunction not to despise the Edomite and the Egyptian and gives the same reasons (kinship, former sojourn).
- Deut.10.19 (verbal): Gives the same rationale — 'you were strangers in the land of Egypt' — as the basis for humane treatment of foreigners; echoes the ethic of remembering Israel's past.
- Exodus 23:9 (thematic): Commands not to oppress the sojourner with the explicit justificatory memory 'for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,' parallel reasoning for benevolent treatment.
- Leviticus 19:33-34 (verbal): Directly instructs Israelites to love the resident foreigner as themselves and grounds the injunction in Israel’s own experience, paralleling the Deuteronomic appeal to past sojourn in Egypt.
- Obadiah 1:10-14 (allusion): Condemns Edom for violence against Jacob/Israel; functions as a prophetic contrast to Deuteronomy’s command not to despise Edom and highlights the negative consequences when that command is violated.
Alternative generated candidates
- You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days—forever.
- You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days — forever.
Deu.23.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- תתעב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אדמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- אחיך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תתעב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- מצרי: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- גר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- היית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בארצו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss-3m
Parallels
- Exodus 23:9 (verbal): Uses the same rationale and wording—do not oppress/abhor a foreigner because you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
- Leviticus 19:33-34 (verbal): Commands love and fair treatment of the stranger, giving the identical grounding: ‘for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.’
- Deuteronomy 10:19 (structural): A parallel Deuteronomic instruction to ‘love the sojourner,’ justified by Israel’s experience as sojourners in Egypt—same legal-theological reasoning within Deuteronomy.
- Genesis 33:4 (thematic): Narrative evidence of kinship between Jacob and Esau (ancestor of the Edomites); supports Deut.23:8’s characterization ‘he is your brother.’
Alternative generated candidates
- Do not despise an Edomite; he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.
- Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother; do not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land.
A man shall not take his father's wife, nor shall he uncover his father's skirt.
No one who is maimed, crushed, or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
A mamzer shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; none of his descendants to the tenth generation shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants to the tenth generation shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD.
This is because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor of Aram‑naharaim to curse you. But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
Do not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days—forever.
Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother; do not despise an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land.