The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 23
Chapter XXIII · Vol. I, pp. 515–516
1 Who may or may not enter into the congregation. 9 Every wicked thing to be avoided in the host. 15 Of the fugitive servant. 17 Of filthiness. 18 Of abominable sacrifices. 19 Of usury. 21 Of vows. 24 Of trespasses.
1 HE that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not aenter into the congregation of the LORD.1
a Be admitted to any public office, sacred or civil, ver.2, 3,8.
1 This law was intended to operate as a check upon the unnatural and inhuman practice of mutilating children to prepare them for admission to the palaces of eastern despots—such as the Persian and Babylonian monarchs became—and in whose service such persons frequently rose to the highest posts of honour and emolument.—C.
2 A bbastard2 shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.3
2 The word so translated occurs only in the text and in Zec.9.3. Michaelis and other high authorities translate it by 'stranger or alien.'—C.
3 The Hebrew word translated 'bastard' probably signifies one begotten in incest, as the forefathers of the Moabites and Ammonites were. This is the opinion of the Jewish rabbins.—P.
3 Anc Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:4
c Ne.13.1. 2 Co.6.14-18.
4 'Tenth generation,' and 'for ever,' are not equivalent, as some have supposed: 'for ever' is merely intended to say that the exclusion to the tenth generation must never fall into desuetude.—C.
4 Becaused they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and ebecause they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
5 Nevertheless fthe LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.
6 Thou gshalt not seek their peace5 nor their prosperity6 all thy days for ever.
g Ezr.9.12. 2 Sa.8.2; 12.31. Ne.13.23-25.
5 It is vain to seek the peace of wolves; it were mad to seek their prosperity. But wicked, idolatrous, and licentious nations are worse than they. The precept does not, however, forbid to seek the instruction, conversion, and improvement of wicked men; but merely such companionship as would endanger our becoming 'partakers of their sins and their plagues,' 1 Ti. 5. 22. Re.18.4.—C.
6 Heb. good.
7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is hthy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a istranger in his land.
8 The children that are begotten of them shall kenter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then lkeep thee from every wicked thing.
l Jos.7.11-13. Lu.3.14.
10 If there mbe among you any man that is not clean, by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp; he shall not come within the camp:
m Le.15.16. Nu.5.3. 1 Co.5.11,13.
11 But it shall be, nwhen evening cometh on,7 he shall wash himself with water; and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
n Le.11.25; 15.16,27. 1 Co.13.12. Ep.5.26,27.
7 Heb. turneth toward.
12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:
13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt 8ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and ocover that which cometh from thee:
14 For the LORD thy God pwalketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no9 unclean thing1 in thee, and turn away from thee.
p Le.26.12. Ps.5.4-6; 44.10. Je.32.40. Ho.9.12. Is.59.1,2.
9 Heb. nakedness of any thing.
1 Cleanliness of person, raiment, and furniture formed an essential and prominent part of the Mosaic law; and, even when uncleanness was accidental, and incurred in the darkness of night, which might well have been pleaded as an excuse, no excuse is allowed, but a temporary exile from the family and the camp, and washing with water, were peremptorily enjoined, and the next sun must go down before a return is permitted. The importance of this law to health and decency is apparent: but its great use was to teach men to 'cleanse themselves from all pollution of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord.'—C.
15 Thou shalt qnot deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:2
q Ex.21.26,27. 1 Sa.30.15. Is.49.24-26.
2 Even when the slave-trade was tolerated and sanctioned by Great Britain, the moment a slave touched the shore he was free; and would not, upon any account, have been restored to his former master, whether a native or a stranger. Let this jealous watchfulness of civil liberty stir up the anxiety of God's freemen to open in their hearts, and even in their houses, an asylum for the slaves of Satan, 'who are led captive at his will;' and, when any are 'clean escaped,' let none, through negligence or inhospitality, permit them to return.
16 He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh him3 best: thou rshalt not oppress him.
3 Heb. is good for him.
r Ex.22.21?. ch.24.14.
17 There shall be no swhore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
s Or, Sodomitess, ch.22.21,29. Ge.19.15. Le.19.20. 2 Ki.23.7. Pr.2.16. Ro.1.26,27.
18 Thou shalt not bring the thire of a whore, or the price of a dog,4 into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow; for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
19 Thouu shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury.
u Ex.22.25. Le.25.35-37. Ps.15.5. Ne.5.2-4. Lu.6.34,35. ver.20.
20 Untox a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury; ythat the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
x ch.14.21; 15.3.
y ch.4.2; 28.1-4; 24.19. Is.1.19. Ps.15.5. Pr.19.17. 1 Co.15.58.
21 Whenz thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.
23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shaltb keep and perform; even a free-will-offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
b Unless it be sinful, contrary to God's law, Je.44.25-27. Ac.23.12,21. 1 Sa.14.24.
Notes
[Ver. 9. Keep thee from every wicked thing. War is at all times, and in all cases and events, to be deplored; and, whenever it is possible, to be avoided. But when defensive war is inevitable, there is no military code, there are no articles of war, comparable to the Mosaic. In all Gentile nations glory has been the excitement of the brave; plunder of the mercenary; licentiousness of the profligate: but of the Jewish soldier it is required that 'when the host goeth forth against enemies, he keep himself from every wicked thing.' Translate this ancient ordinance into modern words, and it will form 'an order of the day' unparalleled in the annals of nations. C.]
Ver. 18. [Abomination unto the Lord thy God. Impurity constituted a part of heathen worship, and a dedicated prostitution was employed to support some of their temples. The Egyptians worshipped Anubis under the form of a dog; and hence such unhallowed gains are specifically rejected from the house of the Lord.—Note, God abominates the principle that makes the price of sin the purchase of pardon. C.]
Ver. 19. [Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother. The former laws of loan, Ex. 22. 25; Le. 25. 36, forbade the exaction of usury from the poor only. Here there is a total prohibition of usury for money lent by one Jew to another, whether rich or poor. Why this addition? why this prohibition? and why especially when the Jew is freely permitted to lend on usury to a stranger? (1) This addition, like several others, is now made to the law, with a view to the state of society in Canaan, into which the people were about to enter, De. 12. 1. While they were in the wilderness, without any fixed residence, there could be little if any occasion for the rich to borrow, and as little apparent security for any to lend. The poor only required protection. (2) The prohibition of usury between Jew and Jew rests first, upon the implied principle of brotherhood in the whole nation; secondly, upon the fact, that God did not intend them for a commercial but for an agricultural people, as all their institutions testify. (3) The permission, and implied encouragement, of lending on usury to a stranger, founded upon the general principle that a fair profit on the loan of money is in itself as just as profit upon any other property, was a wise speciality; as, by bringing commercial men, the great political peace-bonds of the world, into contact with the Jews, some knowledge of the true religion would be diffused in the nations; and, when prospectively considered, it was mercifully calculated to accustom the Jews to such foreign management of money, as would prepare them either for the disasters of threatened exile, or for the period of their promised return to their own land. C.]
Reflections.—It is unseemly for saints to connect themselves in intimacy or marriage with profane persons: but whoremongers unnaturally mark their innocent posterity with shame and disgrace. God severely resents the injury done to his people in the day of their distress. But we ought quickly to forget the evil done to us by our relations or others; and carefully to remember the favours which we have received. Purity and cleanliness should be studied together with godliness, as they are both healthful and honourable, especially that of the heart and life, before God. How becoming is a tender compassion towards the afflicted, especially young converts to Christ! For great is the mercy of God to such—he will never deliver up a poor fugitive, that flees to him from the servitude of sin or of the broken law. Let me admire his grace, and imitate his goodness—let me carefully abstain from fleshly lusts, which provoke God and war against my soul. In all my dealings, let brotherly love continue. And if I have vowed unto the Lord, let me in no wise go back. Let me be kind to strangers, ready to distribute, and never insist upon trifling rights and claims.