9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.
10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:
13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
14 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
9 When the host H4264 goeth forth H3318 against thine enemies, H341 then keep H8104 thee from every wicked H7451 thing. H1697
10 If there be among you any man, H376 that is not clean H2889 by reason of uncleanness that chanceth H7137 him by night, H3915 then shall he go H3318 abroad H2351 out of the camp, H4264 he shall not come H935 within H8432 the camp: H4264
11 But it shall be, when evening H6153 cometh on, H6437 he shall wash H7364 himself with water: H4325 and when the sun H8121 is down, H935 he shall come H935 into H8432 the camp H4264 again.
12 Thou shalt have a place also H3027 without H2351 the camp, H4264 whither thou shalt go forth H3318 abroad: H2351
13 And thou shalt have a paddle H3489 upon thy weapon; H240 and it shall be, when thou wilt ease H3427 thyself abroad, H2351 thou shalt dig H2658 therewith, and shalt turn back H7725 and cover H3680 that which cometh H6627 from thee:
14 For the LORD H3068 thy God H430 walketh H1980 in the midst H7130 of thy camp, H4264 to deliver H5337 thee, and to give up H5414 thine enemies H341 before H6440 thee; therefore shall thy camp H4264 be holy: H6918 that he see H7200 no unclean H6172 thing H1697 in thee, and turn away H7725 from thee. H310
9 When thou goest forth in camp against thine enemies, then thou shalt keep thee from every evil thing.
10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of that which chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
11 but it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.
12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:
13 and thou shalt have a paddle among thy weapons; and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
14 for Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
9 `When a camp goeth out against thine enemies, then thou hast kept from every evil thing.
10 `When there is in thee a man who is not clean, from an accident at night -- then he hath gone out unto the outside of the camp -- he doth not come in unto the midst of the camp --
11 and it hath been, at the turning of the evening, he doth bathe with water, and at the going in of the sun he doth come in unto the midst of the camp.
12 `And a station thou hast at the outside of the camp, and thou hast gone out thither without,
13 and a nail thou hast on thy staff, and it hath been, in thy sitting without, that thou hast digged with it, and turned back, and covered thy filth;
14 for Jehovah thy God is walking up and down in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give thine enemies before thee, and thy camp hath been holy, and He doth not see in thee the nakedness of anything, and hath turned back from after thee.
9 When thou goest forth into camp against thine enemies, then keep thee from every evil thing.
10 If there be with thee a man that is not clean from what hath happened in the night, then shall he go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp;
11 and it shall be, towards evening, he shall bathe in water: and at the going down of the sun he may come inside the camp.
12 Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, and shalt go forth thither.
13 And thou shalt have a shovel amongst thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which is come from thee.
14 For Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; and thy camp shall be holy, that he see nothing unseemly with thee, and turn away from thee.
9 When you go forth in camp against your enemies, then you shall keep you from every evil thing.
10 If there be among you any man, who is not clean by reason of that which happens him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
11 but it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.
12 You shall have a place also outside of the camp, where you shall go forth abroad:
13 and you shall have a paddle among your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down abroad, you shall dig therewith, and shall turn back and cover that which comes from you:
14 for Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore shall your camp be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.
9 When you go out to war and put your tents in position, keep from every evil thing.
10 If any man among you becomes unclean through anything which has taken place in the night, he is to go out from the tent-circle and keep outside it:
11 But when evening comes near, let him take a bath: and after sundown he may come back to the tents.
12 Let there be a place outside the tent-circle to which you may go;
13 And have among your arms a spade; and when you have been to that place, let that which comes from you be covered up with earth:
14 For the Lord your God is walking among your tents, to keep you safe and to give up into your hands those who are fighting against you; then let your tents be holy, so that he may see no unclean thing among you, and be turned away from you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 23
Commentary on Deuteronomy 23 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Regulations as to the Right of Citizenship in the Congregation of the Lord - Deuteronomy 23
From the sanctification of the house and the domestic relation, to which the laws of marriage and chastity in the previous chapter pointed, Moses proceeds to instructions concerning the sanctification of their union as a congregation: he gives directions as to the exclusion of certain persons from the congregation of the Lord, and the reception of others into it (Deuteronomy 23:1-8); as to the preservation of the purity of the camp in time of war (Deuteronomy 23:9-14); as to the reception of foreign slaves into the land, and the removal of licentious persons out of it (Deuteronomy 23:15-18); and lastly, as to certain duties of citizenship (Deuteronomy 23:19-25).
The Right of Citizenship in the Congregation of the Lord. - Deuteronomy 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 Leviticus 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 generally performed in this way (see Tournefort, Reise. ii. p. 259, and Burckhardt, Nubien, pp. 450, 451). The reason for the exclusion of emasculated persons from the congregation of Jehovah, i.e., not merely from office ( officio et publico magistratu , Luth .) and from marriage with an Israelitish woman ( Fag., C. a Lap., and others), but from admission into the covenant fellowship of Israel with the Lord, is to be found in the mutilation of the nature of man as created by God, which was irreconcilable with the character of the people of God. Nature is not destroyed by grace, but sanctified and transformed. This law, however, was one of the ordinances intended for the period of infancy, and has lost its significance with the spread of the kingdom of God over all the nations of the earth (Isaiah 56:4).
Deuteronomy 23:2
So also with the ממזר , i.e., not persons begotten out of wedlock, illegitimate children generally (lxx, Vulg .), but, according to the Talmud and the Rabbins , those who were begotten in incest or adultery (cf. Ges. thes . p. 781). The etymology of the word is obscure. The only other place in which it occurs is Zechariah 9:6; and it is neither contracted from מוּם and זר (according to the Talmud , and Hitzig on Zechariah 9:6), nor from זר מעם ( Geiger Urschr. p. 52), but in all probability is to be derived from a root מזר , synonymous with the Arabic word “to be corrupt, or foul.” The additional clause, “ not even in the tenth generation ,” precludes all possibility of their ever being received. Ten is the number of complete exclusion. In Deuteronomy 23:3, therefore, “ for ever ” is added. The reason is the same as in the case of mutilated persons, namely, their springing from a connection opposed to the divine order of the creation.
Deuteronomy 23:3-8
Also no Ammonite or Moabite was to be received, not even in the tenth generation; not, however, because their forefathers were begotten in incest (Genesis 19:30.), as Knobel supposes, but on account of the hostility they had manifested to the establishment of the kingdom of God. Not only had they failed to give Israel a hospitable reception on its journey (see at Deuteronomy 2:29), but they (viz., the king of the Moabites) had even hired Balaam to curse Israel. In this way they had brought upon themselves the curse which falls upon all those who curse Israel, according to the infallible word of God (Genesis 12:3), the truth of which even Balaam was obliged to attest in the presence of Balak (Numbers 24:9); although out of love to Israel the Lord turned the curse of Balaam into a blessing (cf. Num 22-24). For this reason Israel was never to seek their welfare and prosperity, i.e., to make this an object of its care (“to seek,” as in Jeremiah 29:7); not indeed from personal hatred, for the purpose of repaying evil with evil, since this neither induced Moses to publish the prohibition, nor instigated Ezra when he put the law in force, by compelling the separation of all Ammonitish, Moabitish, and Canaanitish wives from the newly established congregation in Jerusalem (Ezra 9:12). How far Moses was from being influenced by such motives of personal or national revenge is evident, apart from the prohibition in Deuteronomy 2:9 and Deuteronomy 2:19 against making war upon the Moabites and Ammonites, from the command which follows in Deuteronomy 23:8 and Deuteronomy 23:9 with reference to the Edomites and Egyptians. These nations had also manifested hostility to the Israelites. Edom had come against them when they desired to march peaceably through his land (Numbers 20:18.), and the Pharaohs of Egypt had heavily oppressed them. Nevertheless, Israel as to keep the bond of kindred sacred (“he is thy brother”), and not to forget in the case of the Egyptians the benefits derived from their sojourn in their land. Their children might come into the congregation of the Lord in the third generation, i.e., the great-grandchildren of Edomites of Egyptians, who had lived as strangers in Israel (see at Exodus 20:5). Such persons might be incorporated into the covenant nation by circumcision.
Preservation of the Purity of the Camp in Time of War. - The bodily appearance of the people was also to correspond to the sacredness of Israel as the congregation of the Lord, especially when they gathered in hosts around their God. “ When thou marchest out as a camp against thine enemies, beware of every evil thing .” What is meant by an “evil thing” is stated in Deuteronomy 23:10-13, viz., uncleanness, and uncleanliness of the body.
Deuteronomy 23:10-11
The person who had become unclean through a nightly occurrence, was to go out of the camp and remain there till he had cleansed himself in the evening. On the journey through the desert, none but those who were affected with uncleanness of a longer duration were to be removed from the camp (Numbers 5:2) but when they were encamped, this law was to apply to even lighter defilements.
Deuteronomy 23:12-13
The camp of war was also not to be defiled with the dirt of excrements. Outside the camp there was to be a space or place ( יד , as in Numbers 2:17) for the necessities of nature, and among their implements they were to have a spade, with which they were to dig when they sat down, and then cover it up again. יתד , generally a plug, here a tool for sticking in, i.e., for digging into the ground.
Deuteronomy 23:14
For the camp was to be (to be kept) holy, because Jehovah walked in the midst of it, in order that He might not see “ nakedness of a thing ,” i.e., anything to be ashamed of (see at Deuteronomy 24:1) in the people, “ and turn away from thee .” There was nothing shameful in the excrement itself; but the want of reverence, which the people would display through not removing it, would offend the Lord and drive Him out of the camp of Israel.
Toleration and Non-Toleration in the Congregation of the Lord. - Deuteronomy 23:15, Deuteronomy 23:16. A slave who had escaped from his master to Israel was not to be given up, but to be allowed to dwell in the land, wherever he might choose, and not to be oppressed. The reference is to a slave who had fled to them from a foreign country, on account of the harsh treatment which he had received from his heathen master. The plural `adoniym denotes the rule.
On the other hand, male and female prostitutes of Israelitish descent were not to be tolerated; i.e., it was not to be allowed, that either a male or female among the Israelites should give himself up to prostitution as an act of religious worship. The exclusion of foreign prostitutes was involved in the command to root out the Canaanites. קדּשׁ and קדשׁה were persons who prostituted themselves in the worship of the Canaanitish Astarte (see at Genesis 38:21). - “ The wages of a prostitute and the money of dogs shall not come into the house of the Lord on account of ( ל , for the more remote cause, Ewald , §217) any vow; for even both these (viz., even the prostitute and dog, not merely their dishonourable gains) are abomination unto the Lord thy God .” “The hire of a whore” is what the kedeshah was paid for giving herself up. “The price of a dog” is not the price paid for the sale of a dog ( Bochart, Spencer, Iken, Baumgarten, etc.), but is a figurative expression used to denote the gains of the kadesh , who was called κίναιδος by the Greeks, and received his name from the dog-like manner in which the male kadesh debased himself (see Revelation 22:15, where the unclean are distinctly called “dogs”).
Different Theocratic Rights of Citizenship. - Deuteronomy 23:19, Deuteronomy 23:20. Of his brother (i.e., his countryman), the Israelite was not to take interest for money, food, or anything else that he lent to him; but only of strangers (non-Israelites: cf. Exodus 22:24 and Leviticus 25:36-37).
Vows vowed to the Lord were to be fulfilled without delay; but omitting to vow was not a sin. (On vows themselves, see at Lev and Numbers 30:2.) נדבה is an accusative defining the meaning more fully: in free will, spontaneously.
In the vineyard and cornfield of a neighbour they might eat at pleasure to still their hunger, but they were not to put anything into a vessel, or swing a sickle upon another's corn, that is to say, carry away any store of grapes or ears of corn. כּנפשׁך , according to thy desire, or appetite (cf. Deuteronomy 14:26). “ Pluck the ears: ” cf. Matthew 12:1; Luke 6:1. - The right of hungry persons, when passing through a field, to pluck ears of corn, and rub out the grains and eat, is still recognised among the Arabs (vid., Rob. Pal. ii. 192).