Chapter Twenty-Three

Laws: on admission to the Israelite community; on the cleanliness of the camp; on runaway slaves; on professional male and female prostitutes; on interest; on vows; on the use of a neighbor’s orchard and harvest.

Deuteronomy 23:1. Whoever has his testicles crushed or his male organ cut off may not enter the assembly of the Lord. Deuteronomy 23:2. The son of a prostitute may not enter the assembly of the Lord, and even the tenth generation of his descendants may not enter the assembly of the Lord. Deuteronomy 23:3. No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord, and even the tenth generation of their descendants may not enter the assembly of the Lord forever, Deuteronomy 23:4. because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you were coming out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you; Deuteronomy 23:5. but the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and the Lord your God turned his curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. Deuteronomy 23:6. Do not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days, forever. Deuteronomy 23:7. Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother; do not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a foreigner in his land; Deuteronomy 23:8. children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord. Into “the assembly of the Lord,” that is, the Israelite community, the following could not be admitted as members: 1) eunuchs, since the law is alien to everything unnatural (see Deut 22:5, with note), which is why “it is forbidden to make eunuchs — not only men, but also livestock” (Theodoret, Commentary on Deut., question 15); 2) sons of professional prostitutes not acknowledged by their father; 3) Ammonites and Moabites: “first, because their very root is unlawful — they were born of an unlawful union (Gen 19:36-38); and then also because of the impiety in which they made the Israelites partakers, adorning women, and through them enticing the people of God into the service of idols (Num 25:1)” (Theodoret, Commentary on Deut., question 16). Grandsons of Edomites and Egyptians who had settled among the Hebrews could be admitted into the Israelite community, presumably because of the comparative purity of their morals and religious views. Regarding the religion of Egypt, some scholars hold the view that it was nothing other than a veiled monotheism, inaccessible to the consciousness of the masses, but grasped and jealously guarded by the priests. The reference to the idolatry of the Edomites (2 Chr 25:14) relates to a comparatively later period, and it is still unknown whether the idol-worship of the Edomites was full-blown idolatry or merely a manifestation of immoderate sensualism in the sphere of religion, similar to the Israelites’ worship of Jehovah in the form of the golden calf cast by Aaron (Exod 32:1-6).

Deuteronomy 23:9. When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourself from every evil thing. Deuteronomy 23:10. If anyone among you is unclean because of a nocturnal occurrence, he must go outside the camp and not come back into the camp, Deuteronomy 23:11. but when evening comes he must wash his body with water, and after sunset he may come back into the camp. Deuteronomy 23:12. You shall have a place outside the camp to go to; Deuteronomy 23:13. besides your weapons you shall have a trowel; and when you sit down outside the camp, you shall dig a hole with it and then cover over your excrement; Deuteronomy 23:14. for the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to rescue you and to hand over your enemies to you, and therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. Rules of hygiene that take on special significance in light of the people’s status as God’s chosen.

Deuteronomy 23:15. Do not hand over a slave to his master when he has fled to you from his master; Deuteronomy 23:16. let him live with you, among you, in the place he chooses in whichever of your settlements pleases him; do not oppress him. In view here are slaves who have fled from beyond the border of Palestine.

Deuteronomy 23:17. There shall be no prostitute among the daughters of Israel, and there shall be no male prostitute among the sons of Israel. Deuteronomy 23:18. Do not bring the wages of a prostitute or the pay of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are an abomination before the Lord your God. In view here are professional male and female prostitutes who had devoted themselves to the vile service in honor of pagan deities (cf. 1 Sam 14:23-24). The amount of the monetary vow for the tabernacle must not be identical to the payment given to a female or male prostitute (“a dog,” v. 18).

Deuteronomy 23:19. Do not charge interest to your brother — neither on silver, nor on grain, nor on anything else that can be lent at interest; Deuteronomy 23:20. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you undertake with your own hands, in the land you are going to possess. Cf. Exod 22:25; Lev 25:35-37. The law forbids a Hebrew to collect interest on capital loaned to a “brother,” that is, a fellow Hebrew. It was permitted to charge interest only from a foreigner, who stood outside the sphere of theocratic community relations.

Deuteronomy 23:21. If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will require it of you, and it will be a sin for you; Deuteronomy 23:22. but if you do not make a vow, there will be no sin in you. Deuteronomy 23:23. What has gone out from your lips you shall keep and carry out, just as you voluntarily promised to the Lord your God with your own lips. Cf. Lev 27:1; Num 30:1 (rules concerning vows).

Deuteronomy 23:24. 1 When you come upon your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain. Deuteronomy 23:25. 2 When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat grapes to your fill, as much as you desire, but you shall not put any into your container. Eat grapes, pluck ears of grain (Matt 12:1) in the garden and field of your neighbor: “let your belly be filled to satisfaction because of hunger,” says Ephrem the Syrian, but do not put berries into your container and do not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain, “for by doing so you would already show greed” (Commentary on Deut., ch. XXIII). * * * 25 24