Deuteronomy 23 – Instructions to the Assembly, Various Laws

A. Those excluded from leadership in Israel.

1. (1) Eunuchs are excluded from leadership in the congregation of Israel.

“He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD.

a. By crushing or mutilation: This refers to those emasculated by a birth defect, accident, or by deliberate emasculation.

b. Shall not enter the assembly of the LORD: The idea of the assembly of the LORD often refers to the nation gathered before the LORD in worship, such as when Israel gathered at Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 5:22, 9:10, 10:4, 18:16). But it doesn’t always have this sense.

i. There are several suggestions for what comprised the assembly of the LORD. (1) The general community of Israel. (2) “Citizens” of Israel, distinct from “residents.” (3) Those permitted and welcome to gather for public worship and celebration of the feasts. (4) The broad group of civil leaders and officials in Israel. There are reasons to regard the last sense here.

ii. Deuteronomy 31:30 refers to all the congregation of Israel, while Deuteronomy 31:28 makes it clear that “all the congregation” was represented by all the elders of your tribes, and your officers. So, in some contexts, the congregation can refer to elders and officers. It may very well be that these exclusions from the assembly of the LORD are exclusions not from the religious life of Israel, but from the political life of the nation.

iii. Poole suggests that the idea of the assembly of the LORD is the leadership or the rulers of Israel. These people were barred not from the religious life of Israel, but from the political life of the nation. Trapp agrees, saying on shall not enter the assembly of the LORD: “Shall not go in and out before the people as a public officer.” Clarke adds, “If by entering into the congregation be meant the bearing a civil office among the people, such as magistrate, judge, etc., then the reason of the law is very plain.”

c. Shall not enter the assembly of the LORD: To whatever extent eunuchs were excluded, it was because God’s covenant with Israel was vitally connected with the idea of the seed, and emasculation is a “crime” against the seed of man. Additionally, most eunuchs were made to be so in pagan ceremonies where they, in their emasculated condition, were dedicated to pagan gods.

i. Isaiah 56:3-5 shows that even eunuchs and foreigners could be accepted before the LORD if they would obey Him, and they would be received before those who were complete in their body but disobeyed God. Acts 8:27-38 is the record of a eunuch coming to faith in Jesus.

2. (2) Those of unknown parentage are excluded from the assembly of Israel (civil leadership in Israel).

“One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD.

a. One of illegitimate birth: It is difficult to define exactly what is meant by the term of illegitimate birth. Some later Jewish writers defined this as someone who was born of an incestuous relationship between Jews; others said it refers to those born of mixed marriages between the people of Israel and their pagan neighbors (as in Nehemiah 13:23).

i. To the tenth generation: “The temporal reference in Deuteronomy 23:2–3 “to the tenth generation,” as Deuteronomy 23:6 indicates, means as long as the nation exists. The generations are not to be counted but should be understood rather as in the Lord Jesus’ statement that one’s brother should be forgiven seventy-seven times (i.e., always; cf. Matthew 18:22).” (Kalland)

b. The assembly of the Lord: This exclusion of those of illegitimate birth, as with the case of those emasculated in verse 1, probably applied to the civil leadership of Israel, not to membership in the community of Israel as a whole.

3. (3-6) Ammonites and Moabites are excluded from the congregation of Israel (civil leadership in Israel).

“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

a. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD: The Moabites and the Ammonites not only treated Israel cruelly on their way to the Promised Land, but they also were a people with a disgraceful beginning. Moab and Ammon were the two sons born to the daughters of Lot through their incest with their father (Genesis 19:30-38).

i. The story of the strange prophet Balaam and Balak, the Moabite king who hired him to curse Israel, is found in Numbers 22-24.

b. The assembly of the LORD: This had the same application as the previous laws in this section, concerning the civil leadership of Israel. It did not apply to membership in the community of Israel as a whole.

i. “Disbarment from the assembly was not synonymous with exclusion from the covenant community itself as the one example of Ruth the Moabite makes clear…. There can be no doubt that Ruth was welcomed among the people of the Lord as one of their own.” (Merrill)

4. (7-8) The descendants of Edomites and Egyptians are permitted to be among the congregation of Israel (civil leadership in Israel).

“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.

a. You shall not abhor an Edomite: The Edomites were ethnically related to Israel, because Jacob’s brother Esau was the father of the Edomite peoples. Therefore, Israel was commanded to not abhor an Edomite. Starting with the third generation, the descendants of an Edomite or an Egyptian could be part of the leadership of Israel.

i. “The verb abhor (tieb) is from the same root as the noun ‘abomination’ (toeba) and is generally used of ritual uncleanness. The verb form here means ‘to treat as ritually unclean’ (cf. Deuteronomy 7:26).” (Thompson)

ii. Interestingly, one of the most famous Edomites in history was hated by Israel – Herod the Great. Many of his spectacular building projects in Judea were intended to not only glorify his own name, but to win the favor of the Jews who despised him as an Edomite.

b. You shall not abhor an Egyptian: The Egyptians were also to receive more favor than the Moabites or Ammonites, because Israel was a “guest” in Egypt for almost 400 years. Though the years Israel spent in Egypt were hard, God had a great purpose for them. Egypt was like a mother’s womb for Israel; they went in as a large family and came out as a distinct nation.

i. “There were the most cogent reasons why Israel should make no political affinity with Egypt, but she was not to harbour abhorrence in her heart against the Egyptian people.” (Morgan)

B. Miscellaneous laws.

1. (9-14) Cleanliness in the camp.

“When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.

“Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

a. When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing: God commanded ceremonial cleanliness among the army of Israel. Some occurrence in the night probably refers to nocturnal emissions, and the cleansing ceremony for this was described in Leviticus 15:16-18. After observing the ceremonial washing, that soldier may come into the camp again.

i. “Though the passage in no way suggests that bodily emissions (whether or not of a quasi-sexual kind) are in themselves inherently evil or even cultically impure, it does underscore the importance of a proper time and place for such things.” (Merrill)

b. And you shall have an implement among your equipment: God commanded sanitary cleanliness among the army of Israel. In addition to his weapons, each soldier was to carry some type of shovel, used to cover refuse.

i. Spurgeon completely passed over Deuteronomy 23:13, and said this of Deuteronomy 23:14: “I will scarcely allude to the context, which you ought to notice at home, but I must say as much as this: the Lord cared for the cleanliness of his people while they were in the wilderness, literally so; and this text is connected with a sanitary regulation of the wisest possible kind.” (Spurgeon)

c. For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp: Israel had the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant, which in some sense symbolized or pointed to the presence of Yahweh among them. At the same time, they also understood that God’s presence was not restricted to the tabernacle or the ark of the covenant. Yahweh was present everywhere, as if He walked through the camp of Israel.

i. “No part of the camp was exempt from God’s walking in it. Not merely in the holy place was God, or in the Holy of holies between the cherubim, but he was everywhere in the streets of the canvas city, and in the outskirts thereof.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “God went up and down the long avenues of the tents, He would see nothing to offend his gaze and make Him turn away. How deep a lesson! God is ever patrolling the avenues of our life. The most secret processes of our daily existence, our innermost relationships, the thoughts and intents of our heart, are all manifest to Him.” (Meyer)

iii. And turn away from you: “Note well the fearful warning which is added. If there be in the camp an unclean thing tolerated and delighted in, and he see it – if it becomes conspicuous and grievous to him, then the worst consequences will follow – ‘Lest he turn away from thee.’” (Spurgeon)

2. (15-16) Israel to provide asylum for the foreign escaped slave.

“You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him.

a. You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you: This probably dealt with a slave from a foreign land, enslaved by kidnapping (prohibited in Exodus 21:16). At times, there were escaped slaves roaming the land in Israel (1 Samuel 25:10).

i. “Israel was to be a refuge for the oppressed slaves of other people.” (Morgan)

ii. “The refugee slave referred to had evidently come from a foreign land. Otherwise there would have been legal complications, since slaves were a valued possession.” (Thompson)

b. He may dwell with you in your midst: An Israelite was not to take an escaped slave and enslave them again. The escaped slave was free and entitled to live in whatever place that he chooses.

3. (17-18) Sacred prostitution banned.

“There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.

a. Ritual harlot: This refers to a female prostitute. The term perverted one refers to a male prostitute, both of which were common among the pagan religions of the Canaanites and others in the ancient world.

i. Later, in the reigns of Asa (1 Kings 15:12) and Josiah (2 Kings 23:7) we are told that the perverted persons (male prostitutes) were expelled from Israel. This means that for some period before they were expelled, they were allowed to practice their “sacred prostitution,” which was clearly an abomination to the LORD your God.

b. You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God: The pay of a female prostitute (the hire of a harlot) and the pay of a male prostitute (the price of a dog) were never to be offered to the LORD. This was a common practice among the sacred prostitution cults that abounded in the ancient world.

i. “The female prostitute is described in verse 18 as a harlot (zona) and the male a dog. This usage of the term dog is known outside the Old Testament.” (Thompson) Goliath’s question to young David, “Am I a dog?” (1 Samuel 17:43) should probably be understood in this context. This is also true in 2 Kings 8:13, and perhaps behind Paul’s warning in Philippians 3:2.

ii. The work of the LORD does not need money from immoral or ill-gotten gains. “Whole guilds of male and female temple personnel participated in grossly sexual rituals designed to induce the various gods and goddesses to release their procreative powers on the earth. Nowhere was this more commonly practiced than among the peoples of Syria and Canaan, hence the special need to warn Israel against it.” (Merrill)

4. (19-20) Against stealing from a fellow Israelite through unfair interest on a loan.

“You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

a. You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food: The mention of food, and the similar command in Exodus 22:25, leads most people to understand that interest was prohibited on loans made to the poor for their basic needs, and did not prohibit the taking of interest on loans that were not for relief of the poor.

i. Deuteronomy 23:19 could be translated, “You shall not lend at biting interest,” referring to excessive interest or usury. “Heb., Upon biting usury.” (Trapp)

ii. “To exact penalties of a brother is to put the ‘bite’ (so Heb. nesek, ‘interest,’ or nasak, ‘pay interest’) on him.” (Merrill)

iii. “The rate of interest in the ancient Near East was exorbitant, e.g. some contracts in Northern Assyria at Nuzi in the fifteenth century BC show that the interest was fifty per cent.” (Thompson)

b. To a foreigner you may charge interest: Such loans to foreigners were made for business and commercial purposes, not to sustain or help the poor.

i. “But since merchants from other nations might come for business reasons to Israel, or make loans on interest to Israelites, foreigners could be charged interest.” (Kalland)

5. (21-23) Against stealing from the LORD by failing to pay a vow.

“When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.

a. You shall not delay to pay it: A vow before God is no small thing. God expressly commanded that Israel should be careful to keep its vows and to fulfill every oath made, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.

i. In many circles today, the breaking of an oath is just standard business practice. Before God, it is simply sin.

ii. “Payment of vows is often mentioned by psalmist and prophet (Psalm 22:25; 50:14; et al.; Isaiah 19:21; Jonah 2:9; Nahum 1:15). Jeremiah and Malachi speak of improper vows (Jeremiah 44:25; Malachi 1:14).” (Kalland)

b. If you abstain from vowing: Some ask if vows or oaths are permitted for a Christian today, based on what Jesus said in Matthew 5:34-37: But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. James 5:12 expresses a similar thought.

i. In the context of the rest of Scripture, we see that Jesus was not forbidding oaths, rather telling His people that the integrity of their words should make an oath unnecessary. Jesus answered under oath in a court (Matthew 26:63-64), and God Himself swears oaths (Luke 1:73, Acts 2:30, Hebrews 3:18, 6:13, 17).

c. But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you: God never requires vows; many times, it is better not to make a vow.

d. That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform: This shows how important it is to keep a vow once made. As it says in Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

i. Many vows are just plain foolish – “I’ll never do that again” is usually a foolish vow, and it is foolish and unwise to demand such a vow from someone else.

ii. Of course, there is a vow we all can and should make – a vow to praise God: Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You (Psalm 56:12). So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows (Psalm 61:8).

6. (24-25) Against stealing from a traveler by refusing the right to glean a grainfield.

“When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

a. When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard: The idea was that, as you traveled, you had the right to pick off a few grapes or heads of grain to eat along the way. It wasn’t the right to harvest from your neighbor’s fields, but to provide for your own immediate needs.

b. You may pluck the heads with your hand: This is the law Jesus and His disciples were operating under when they plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands (Luke 6:1-5). They were accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath, but not of stealing grain, because the Pharisees knew this law in the book of Deuteronomy.

i. “On the other hand, this advantage was not to be abused by putting grapes in a basket or putting a sickle to the neighbor’s grain for one’s future use.” (Kalland)

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