申命记 23:1

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

不得進耶和華的會的人“睾丸受傷的，或生殖器被割除的，不可進耶和華的會。（本節在《馬索拉抄本》為23:2）

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
凡 外 肾 受 伤 的 ， 或 被 阉 割 的 ， 不 可 入 耶 和 华 的 会 。

Contextual Overview

¹ No man who has had part of his sex organ cut off may come into the meeting to worship the Lord . ² No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord . The descendants for ten generations may not come in either. ³ No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the meeting to worship the Lord , and none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. ⁴ This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia, to put a curse on you. ⁵ But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. ⁶ Don't wish for their peace or success as long as you live. ⁷ Don't hate Edomites; they are your close relatives. Don't hate Egyptians, because you were foreigners in their country. ⁸ The great-grandchildren of these two peoples may come into the meeting to worship the Lord .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wounded: Leviticus 21:17-21, Leviticus 22:22-24, Galatians 3:28

shall not enter: It is evident that his law was not meant to exclude such Israelites either from the common benefits of civil society, or any essential religious advantages; but merely to lay them under a disgraceful distinction. This would tend to discourage parents from thus treating their children; a practice which was exceedingly common in those ages and countries. To this they were induced by the custom which prevailed, of employing such in the houses of the great and the courts of princes; so that they often rose to the highest posts of honour and authority. Some expositors therefore consider the phrase, "shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord," as meaning, that they should be incapable of bearing any office in that government which was placed over the people of God, who must thus enter a protest against this custom, and deliver selfish parents from this temptation. Deuteronomy 23:2, Deuteronomy 23:3, Deuteronomy 23:8, Nehemiah 13:1-3, Isaiah 56:3, Isaiah 56:4, Lamentations 1:10

Reciprocal: Leviticus 21:20 - or hath Leviticus 22:24 - broken

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is ninety?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 f; :-

shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; which is to be understood not of the sanctuary of the Lord, or of being refused admittance into the church of God, and to join in religious rites, and partake of sacred ordinances, which all Israelites, and strangers that were proselytes, had a right unto; such might bring their offerings, keep the passover, c. Exodus 12:48 nor of the commonwealth of Israel, as if unfit to be members of civil society it cannot be thought that such defects should abridge them of their civil rights and privileges: but by the congregation is to be understood the elders, judges, and representatives of the people, that met together in some one place to execute judgment; see

Numbers 35:12, into which such persons were not to be admitted; either because disgraceful and dishonourable, or because of the influence such defects have on their minds, they thereby becoming effeminate, irresolute, and wanting courage, as well as in opposition to the customs and usages of the Heathens, with whom it was common to admit such persons to civil offices; hence the word eunuch is sometimes used for an officer, Genesis 37:36 and elsewhere; the Jews g restrain this law to marriage, but unnecessarily.

f Hilchot lssure Biah, c. 16. sect. 8. g Targum Jon. in loc. Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 2, 4, 5, 6. Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 49.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare Leviticus 21:17-24. Such persons, exhibiting a mutilation of that human nature which was made in God’s image, were rejected from the covenant entirely. However, they could be proselytes (compare Acts 8:27). The Old Testament itself foretells Isaiah 56:3-5 the removal of this ban when under the kingdom of Messiah the outward and emblematic perfection and sanctity of Israel should be fulfilled in their inner meaning by the covenanted presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XXIII

Neither eunuchs, bastards, Ammonites, nor Moabites, shall be

incorporated with the genuine Israelites, 1-3.

The reason why the Ammonites and Moabites were excluded, 4-6.

Edomites and Egyptians to be respected, 7.

Their descendants in the third generation may be incorporated

with the Israelites, 8.

Cautions against wickedness when they go forth against their

enemies, 9.

To keep the camp free from every defilement, and the reason why,

10-14.

The slave who had taken refuge among them is not to be delivered

up to his former master, 15, 16.

There shall be no prostitutes nor sodomites in the land, 17.

The hire of a prostitute or the price of a dog is not to be

brought into the house of God, 18.

The Israelites shall not lend on usury to each other, 19;

but they may take usury from strangers, 20.

Vows must be diligently paid, 21-23.

In passing through a vine yard or field a man may eat of the

grapes or corn, but must carry away none with him, 24, 25.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII

Verse Deuteronomy 23:1. Shall not enter into the congregation, c. — If by entering the congregation be meant the bearing a civil office among the people, such as magistrate, judge, &c., 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 words is, simply, that the persons here designated should not be so incorporated with the Jews as to partake of their civil privileges.