Deeper Commentary
Deu 23:1 He who is wounded in the testicles, or has his privy member cut
off, must not enter into the assembly of Yahweh-
Perhaps the point is
that all those who are the Lord’s people must recognize their ability to
procreate for Him, in the bringing forth of yet others in their Lord’s
image.
Deu 23:2 An illegitimate person must not enter into the assembly of Yahweh;
even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of
Yahweh-
According to Talmudic writings like Yebamot 78b, Dt. 23:2
was interpreted as meaning that a fatherless man wasn’t allowed to enter
the temple or marry a true Israelite. The reference to Jesus as “son of
Mary” (Mk. 6:3) rather than “son of Joseph” is, apparently, very unusual.
It reflects the Lord’s lack of social identity in first century Israel; He
had no father’s house to belong to. In passing, the jibe in Mt. 27:64 “the
last deception shall be worse than the first” is likely a reference to
Mary and Jesus claiming that He was the result of a virgin birth- this, as
far as the Jews were concerned, was the “first deception”.
Deu 23:3 An Ammonite or a Moabite must not enter into the assembly of
Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter
into the assembly of Yahweh forever-
This would have applied to Ruth, but so many of these laws of Moses
had exceptions to them. It was as if God gave these laws, intending
purposefully that the way of grace was to be beyond them. See on Dt.
22:19.
Deu 23:4 This is because they didn’t meet you with bread and water in the
way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you
Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you-
Dt. 2:29 says that the Edomites and Moabites sold Israel food and
water as they passed through. But Dt. 23:3,4 says that the Moabites didn't
do this and were cursed because of it. Perhaps a few Moabites did do so,
but Moab generally didn't. But see note on Dt. 2:29.
Deu 23:5 Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but Yahweh
your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God
loved you-
Yahweh did not behold iniquity in His people at this time (Num.
23:21). His love was shown in imputing righteousness to them; and as Paul
explains in Rom. 1-8, the love of God is articulated through doing this to
us too. Dt. 23:5 LXX speaks of Balaam's plural curses being turned into
plural blessings, because God refused to listen to Balaam. We learn from
this that Balaam wanted to curse Israel [for he so loved the money being
offered for doing so], indeed be perhaps began to utter curses, but the
Spirit of God overpowered him and made him utter blessings instead. We
learn from this that the Spirit of God working upon a person is no
guarantee of their personal acceptance with Him. And we marvel at how the
love of money drove Balaam to attempt to do what he was clearly not
intended to, i.e. to curse Israel. Maybe his unexpressed desires were read
by God as a prayer, and to that prayer "Yahweh your God wouldn't listen"
(Dt. 23:5). Prayer is therefore not just in the form of spoken words; for
then the more verbally articulate would be, as it were, better at prayer.
God reads situations and unspoken desires as prayers. For this is what
prayer "in the spirit" is all about.
Deu 23:6 You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days
forever-
And yet we read of how Boaz sought the peace and prosperity of Ruth,
whom the record seven times stresses was a Moabitess. Clearly the value
and meaning of the individual person was so great to God that exceptions
could be made to such blanket policy positions. The simple take away is
that God values the individual human person to a very great extent.
Deu 23:7 You must not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother-
The brotherhood between Jacob and Esau [who is Edom] is so often
recalled in the later Biblical records. This may be to remind Israel
that they were no better than Edom; or to remind them of the need for
reconciliation to be attempted.
You must not
abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land-
The Egyptians later abused the Israelites, but initially they were
their saviours, in human terms, and were extremely generous to them. This
commandment was therefore asking them to look back in history and see the
past as a glass half full rather than half empty. This is a lesson which
needs to be learned. For so many look back in their personal history and
see only the abuse and the bad years, rather than appreciating the wider
sweep of that history.
Deu 23:8 The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter
into the assembly of Yahweh-
This may have been a form of God punishing people to the third
generation (Ex. 20:5). This command is presumably time limited, referring
to a specific starting point. Perhaps in view are members of the "mixed
multitude" which went with Israel out of Egypt, and which would have been
addressed at this point.
Deu 23:9 When you go forth to camp against your enemies, you must keep
yourselves from every evil thing-
Deu 23:10 If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that
which happens to him by night, he must go outside the camp. He shall not
come within the camp-
We must be aware that starting in :9, we have here commands
specifically relevant to Israel's military; "the camp" is the "camp
against your enemies" of :9, referring to "camp" in a specifically
military sense. The idea could appear to be that if a man needed to
defecate, then he was to do so outside of the camp of soldiers. Having
latrines outside the camp would have ensured hygiene within the "camp".
But it seems that defecating is what is in view in :12. Therefore this
specifically night time reason for uncleanness must refer to an
involuntary emission of semen. Hence the reference to what "happens to him
at night". Nobody apart from the soldier knew what had happened. Many of
the Mosaic commands invited obedience from men on a very personal and
intimate level; for nobody else apart from the soldier would have known
whether or not this had happened. This was all designed to inculcate very
personal obedience to and relationship with God. See on Ps.
119:55,56.
Deu 23:11 but when evening comes on he must bathe in water, and when the sun
is down he shall come within the camp-
To have soldiers needing to remain ritually unclean outside the main
camp of soldiers was not perhaps seen as the most effective use of
soldiers in a conflict situation, where every man was required. But they
were taught thereby that victory was not going to come in their own
strength, but through obedience to God's ways. We likewise are tempted to
think that careful obedience to God's commands will hinder our material
progress in life. But the opposite is in fact true, and this commandment
taught that.
Deu 23:12 You must have a place also outside the camp where you shall go to
relieve yourself-
This unclean place "outside the camp" is alluded to in Heb. 13:12,13:
"Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood,
suffered outside of the gate. Let us therefore go to him outside the camp,
bearing his reproach". The place of crucifixion is likened to the place of
"reproach", outside the camp, just as Jesus died outside the city walls of
Jerusalem in an unclean place, Golgotha. His death was the climax of a
life lived in careful attention to the most intimate requirements of God's
laws, as discussed on :10. And we are to unashamedly "go forth" to Him
there.
Deu 23:13 and you must have a trowel among your weapons, and when you relieve
yourself you must dig with it and turn back and cover that which comes
from you-
A theme of Deuteronomy is the way in which Moses visualizes commonplace
daily incidents which he could foresee occurring in Israel's daily life:
the man cutting down the tree and the axe head flying off and hitting
someone; finding a dead body in a lonely field; coming across a stray
animal on the way home from work; a man with two wives treating one as his
favourite; seeing your neighbour struggling to lift up his sick animal;
coming across a bird's nest and being tempted to take the mature bird as
well as the chicks home for supper; being tempted not to bother building a
battlement around the flat roof of your new house; the temptation to
take a bag with you and fill it up with your neighbour's grapes; the need
to have weapons which could be used for covering excrement (Dt. 19:5;
21:1,15; 22:1,2,4,6,8; 23:13,24,25; 24:5,6,10,15,19; 25:11,13). The
sensitivity of Moses was just fantastic! His eager imagination of His
people in daily life, his understanding of their everyday temptations so
superbly typifies that of our Lord!
There is a clear similarity with a dog coverings its own excrement. The idea may be that in going to war, Israel were to remember that they were but unclean dogs, accepted by grace. Humility, rather than psyching up of soldiers in bravado, was what was required for victory.
Deu 23:14 for Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you
and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy
so that He may not see an unclean thing in you and turn away from you-
In prospect all Israel's battles with the inhabitants of Canaan had
been won by the Angels, and it was for them to live in a suitable way and
to display enough faith to enable them to make use of these victories.
For it was Yahweh through the Angel who walked in the midst of the camp.
They were warned that if the camp were impure, Yahweh would turn (Heb.) "from following after you". This recalls how the Angel [who was
perhaps dwelling over the ark in the shekinah glory] "went behind" [s.w.
"followed"] at the exodus (Ex. 14:19), and "followed them" at the crossing
of Jordan and conquest of Jericho (Josh. 6:8 s.w.). The word is also used
in Dt. 23:14, where Israel are warned that if they are unclean, then
Yahweh will no longer follow them. They of course were bidden follow Him,
but He is also presented as following them. And thus God's people hear His
voice behind them, urging them to choose the right path (s.w. Is. 30:21);
for He is not only their vanguard, but also their rear guard following
them (Is. 52:12; 58:8). This indicates not only the mutuality between God
and His people; but the sense that we are both following and being
followed by Him, as it were sandwiched by His presence.
Deu 23:15 You must not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from
his master to you-
This was to remind them how they were escaped slaves. God wanted them
to continually remember the way He had saved them (see too :7), and His
law was designed to repeatedly prod their conscience about this in daily
life. He wants us to live today in constant awareness of our salvation.
Deu 23:16 He shall dwell with you, in the midst of you in the place which he
shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You must
not oppress him-
There was no mechanism, therefore, for the master to regain a slave
who ran away. Unlike most legal codes, the law was on the side of the
slave and not of the owner. The master therefore needed to treat slaves
well, so that they didn't want to run away. And if they did, he had no
legal mechanism to get them back.
Deu 23:17 There must be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel. Neither
should there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel-
The implication is that the "Sodomite" refers here to a male
prostitute, and the "prostitute" of the first half of the verse refers to
a female prostitute. This is confirmed in :18.
Deu 23:18 You must not bring the hire of a prostitute or of a male prostitute
into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow, for both of these are an
abomination to Yahweh your God-
Prostitution was forbidden under the Law (:17), but this is another
tacit recognition made by Moses that such failure would still occur. We
see here how Moses forbad something and then went on to give legislation
recognizing that it would still occur.
Deu 23:19 You must not lend on interest to your brother, interest of money,
of food or of anything that is lent-
Lending was therefore to be seen as an opportunity to help your
brother rather than to benefit from him; indeed to lend without interest
meant that effectively you were giving your brother something in his time
of need.
Deu 23:20 To a foreigner you may lend on interest, but to your brother you
shall not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all
that you put your hand to in the land where you go in to possess it-
The Lord Jesus in His parable told the rejected man that he should at least
have given His money to others on usury (Mt. 25:27). He may have meant
that the man should at least have done
something even if he broke the
letter of the law; or He may have meant that if the man had at least
shared the Gospel with the Gentiles and got some fruit for Christ, all his
other lack of achievement would’ve been overlooked.
"Drive out" is s.w. "possess". We must note the difference between the
Canaanite peoples and their kings being "struck" and their land "taken" by
Joshua-Jesus; and the people of Israel permanently taking possession. This
is the difference between the Lord's victory on the cross, and our taking
possession of the Kingdom. Even though that possession has been "given" to
us. The word used for "possession" is literally 'an inheritance'. The
allusion is to the people, like us, being the seed of Abraham. The Kingdom
was and is our possession, our inheritance- if we walk in the steps of
Abraham. But it is one thing to be the seed of Abraham, another to take
possession of the inheritance; and Israel generally did not take
possession of all the land (Josh.
11:23 13:1; 16:10; 18:3; 23:4). The language of inheritance / possession
is applied to us in the New Testament (Eph. 1:11,14; Col. 3:24; Acts
20:32; 26:18; 1 Pet. 1:4 etc.). Israel were promised: "You shall possess
it" (Dt. 30:5; 33:23). This was more of a command than a prophecy, for
sadly they were "given" the land but did not "possess" it. They were
constantly encouraged in the wilderness that they were on the path to
possessing the land (Dt. 30:16,18; 31:3,13; 32:47), but when they got
there they didn't possess it fully.
Deu 23:21 When you make a vow to Yahweh your God you must not be slack to pay
it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you and it would be sin
upon you-
This was to guard against the temptation to make a vow which was
publically impressive before men, but then not to pay it. Any attempt to
garner kudos for our spiritual devotion is absolutely wrong; such
spiritual pride is the worst. God would therefore "require it" and
severely judge those who did this (Dt. 23:21). Not being slack to pay a
vow (Dt. 23:21) fits in with a wider Biblical theme of being quick in
responding to God. It comes to full term in the New Testament accounts of
immediate baptisms straight after people had grasped the basic message of
the Gospel. "Yes straight away" is what God really seeks from His
children. Israel were not to delay in offering their firstfruits to God
(Ex. 22:29), lest their intentions weren't translated into practice. The
disciples immediately left the ship, simply put their nets down and
followed (Mt. 4:20,22); Matthew left his opened books and queue of clients
in the tax office and walked out never to return (Lk. 5:17,18 implies).
Deu 23:22 But if you forbear to vow, that will be no sin upon you-
"Sin" is often used to effectively mean "punishment for sin", as
here. And this is another great Biblical theme, that sin is of itself its
own punishment. This is why those condemned at the last day are
effectively self condemned, and indeed judgment day is in this sense right
now. For as sin is committed, so is the judgment for that sin, in God's
eyes. But repentance and Divine grace can change that judgment.
Deu 23:23 That which has gone out of your lips you must observe and do,
according as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, as a freewill offering
which you have promised with your mouth-
The fact that God’s word is true means that we also ought to be
truthful- for we should speak “as oracles of God”. Moses surely intended a
connection between his words recorded in Dt. 8:3 and Dt. 23:23- for they
are the only times he uses a particular Hebrew word translated “proceed”
or ‘go out’, within the same speech uttered the same day: “By every word
that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live… that
which goes forth [s.w. “proceeds”] out of your lips /
mouth you shall keep and perform”. The influence of continually hearing
God’s word should be that our words are likewise
truthful and trustworthy. The fact that the Bible as God’s word is true
has implications for our own truthfulness. Pistos is listed as a
fruit of the spirit in Gal. 5; but the idea it can carry is not so much of
faith in the sense of belief, but of faithfulness, loyalty, reliability,
utter dependability. If this is how God’s words are to us, then this is
how we and our words should be to others.
Deu 23:24 When you come into your neighbour’s vineyard you may eat your fill
of grapes at your own pleasure, but you must not put any in your vessel-
Israel were seen by the Lord as the tree by the roadside (Mt. 21:19),
whose fruit should have been for all that passed by (Dt. 23:24). But
because there was not even the glimmer of this kind of giving of fruit,
they were condemned by the Lord.
Deu 23:25 When you come into your neighbour’s standing grain you may pluck
the ears with your hand, but you shall not move a sickle to your
neighbour’s standing grain-
Boaz allowed foreigners to glean immediately behind his reapers, and
then was personally generous in giving Ruth sacks of barley. He understood
this law as a springboard into a culture of far more extensive grace,
rather than a chain which limits human behaviour, to be tolerated and
obeyed with reluctance. See on Dt. 25:7.
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