Deuteronomy 23:1

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Interpreters are not agreed what is here meant by entering into the congregation of the Lord, which is here forbidden to eunuchs and to bastards, Ammonites and Moabites, for ever, but to Edomites and Egyptians only till the third generation. 1. Some think they are hereby excluded from communicating with the people of God in their religious services. Though eunuchs and bastards were owned as members of the church, and the Ammonites and Moabites might be circumcised and proselyted to the Jewish... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1

He that is wounded in the stones ,.... In any of them, not accidentally, but purposely; which are crushed and bruised by the hands of men, with a design to make him unfit for generation, or to make an eunuch of him: or that hath his privy member cut by himself or another , and is a thorough eunuch by the hands of men; for of such eunuchs that are made by men, and not born so, the law speaks; so Maimonides interprets it F6 Hilchot lssure Biah, c. 16. sect. 8. ; See Gill on Matthew... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 23:1

Shall not enter into the congregation, etc. - If by entering 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; no man with any such personal defect as might render him contemptible in the sight of others should bear rule among the people, lest the contempt felt for his personal defects might be transferred to his important office, and thus his authority be disregarded. The general meaning of these... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 23:1

Verse 1 1He that is wounded. What is here delivered respecting those who are mutilated, and who are bastards, has a similar object; lest the Church of God should be onctaminate by foul stains, and thus religion should lose its honor. Moses rejects from the congregation of the faithful two sorts of men, viz, eunuchs and bastards. But, before we treat of the subject itself, the definition of the words is to be considered. The first question is, that it is to enter into the congregation; the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1

Mutilation was performed by the two methods here specified—crushing and excision. The exclusion of persons who had suffered this from the congregation, i . e . from the covenant fellowship of Israel, the πολιτεία τοῦ ισραὴλ ( Ephesians 2:12 ), was due to the priestly character of the nation. Israel was a kingdom of priests ( Exodus 19:6 ), and the admission into it of one in whom the nature of man, as made by God, had been degraded and marred, would have been unfitting; just... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1-6

Loss of sacred privilege a grievous penalty. In such passages as this, very much more is intended than is expressed. We have to read between the lines, for only they who lived in those days of Jewish life could comprehend the shadowy hints, the pregnant suggestions, which are here reduced to words. I. THE ABUSE OF REPRODUCTIVE VITALISM IS A GIGANTIC SIN . The law of the natural kingdom, with regard to every species of life, that its "seed should be in itself," obtains... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1-8

EXPOSITION CIVIL RIGHTS . WHO MAY AND WHO MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION . UNCLEANNESS IN THE CAMP TO BE AVOIDED . RECEPTION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES . LICENTIOUS PERSONS TO BE REMOVED , AND GIFTS THE PRICE OF IMPURITY TO BE REFUSED . LAWS REGARDING USURY , VOWS , AND CERTAIN DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP . Five classes of persons are here excluded from the congregation of the Lord. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Stern safeguards sometimes needed. It was no small part of the education of the Hebrew people at once to stamp as disreputable the practices of bodily mutilation which were common enough among heathen nations. The honor of the congregation of the Lord was bound up in its freedom from complicity therewith. Eunuchs and illegitimate offspring were excluded from the congregation of the Lord, lest the moral virus connected with the associations of their life should be as poison in the camp.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1-8

The excluded from the congregation. Certain principles underlie these exclusions which it is worth our while to note. It will be seen that, though bars of this kind are done away in Christ, there was a fitness, under the theocracy, in the exclusion of the classes specified from full participation in covenant privilege, such exclusion being in harmony with the idea of "a holy nation"—type in earthly mold of the ideal kingdom of God. I. THE EXCLUSION OF THE MUTILATED . ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 23:1-8

The congregation of the Lord jealously guarded. There has been considerable controversy about what the term" entering into the congregation of the Lord signifies. It cannot be the Old Testament equivalent for our " communicants ," or "Church members;" for it would seem from Exodus 12:48 , Exodus 12:49 , that Jewish privileges were open to strangers on condition of their circumcision. Nor need we interpret it as merely indicating the marriage connections which Israelites were to... read more

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