17 There shall be no whore H6948 of the daughters H1323 of Israel, H3478 nor a sodomite H6945 of the sons H1121 of Israel. H3478
For G1223 this G5124 cause God G2316 gave G3860 them G846 up G3860 unto G1519 vile G819 affections: G3806 for G1063 even G5037 their G846 women G2338 did change G3337 the natural G5446 use G5540 into G1519 that which is against G3844 nature: G5449 And G5037 likewise G3668 also G2532 the men, G730 leaving G863 the natural G5446 use G5540 of the woman, G2338 burned G1572 in G1722 their G846 lust G3715 one toward another; G1519 G240 men G730 with G1722 men G730 working G2716 that which is unseemly, G808 and G2532 receiving G618 in G1722 themselves G1438 that recompence G489 of their G846 error G4106 which G3739 was meet. G1163 And G2532 even as G2531 they did G1381 not G3756 like G1381 to retain G2192 God G2316 in G1722 their knowledge, G1922 God G2316 gave G3860 them G846 over G3860 to G1519 a reprobate G96 mind, G3563 to do G4160 those things which are G2520 not G3361 convenient; G2520
But before they lay down, H7901 the men H582 of the city, H5892 even the men H582 of Sodom, H5467 compassed H5437 the house H1004 round, H5437 both old H2205 and young, H5288 all the people H5971 from every quarter: H7097 And they called H7121 unto Lot, H3876 and said H559 unto him, Where are the men H582 which came in H935 to thee this night? H3915 bring them out H3318 unto us, that we may know H3045 them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 23
Commentary on Deuteronomy 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
De 23:1-25. Who May and Who May Not Enter into the Congregation.
1-3. 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.
3. 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 (Ne 13:1; Ru 4:10; 2Ki 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 at the Exodus (Ex 12:36). The grandchildren of Edomite or Egyptian proselytes were declared admissible to the full rights of citizenship as native Israelites; and by this remarkable provision, God taught His people a practical lesson of generosity and gratitude for special deeds of kindness, to the forgetfulness of all the persecution and ill services sustained from those two nations.
9-14. When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing—from the excesses incident to camp life, as well as from habits of personal neglect and impurity.
15, 16. Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which has escaped from his master unto thee—evidently a servant of the Canaanites or some of the neighboring people, who was driven by tyrannical oppression, or induced, with a view of embracing the true religion, to take refuge in Israel.
19, 20. Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother … Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury—The Israelites lived in a simple state of society, and hence they were encouraged to lend to each other in a friendly way without any hope of gain. But the case was different with foreigners, who, engaged in trade and commerce, borrowed to enlarge their capital, and might reasonably be expected to pay interest on their loans. Besides, the distinction was admirably conducive to keeping the Israelites separate from the rest of the world.
21, 22. When thou shalt vow a vow—(See on Nu 30:2).
24, 25. When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure—Vineyards, like cornfields mentioned in the next verse [De 23:25], were often unenclosed. In vine-growing countries grapes are amazingly cheap; and we need not wonder, therefore, that all within reach of a person's arm, was free; the quantity plucked was a loss never felt by the proprietor, and it was a kindly privilege afforded to the poor and wayfaring man.