Deuteronomy 23:3

3 ¹"No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever,

Deuteronomy 23:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 23:3

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of
the Lord
Or marry an Israelitish woman, as Jarchi, and so the Targum of Jonathan,

``the male Ammonites and Moabites are not fit to take a wife of the congregation of the Lord;''

for the Jews restrain this to men, because it is, as Aben Ezra observes, an Ammonite, not an Ammonitess, a Moabite, not a Moabitess; they allow that females of those nations might be married to Israelites, that is, provided they were proselytesses, as Ruth was ^F13:

even to their tenth generation, shall they not enter into the
congregation of the Lord for ever;
that is, not only to the tenth generation, but for ever; and this law was understood as in force in Nehemiah's time, which was more than ten generations from the making of it; though now, as these nations are no more a distinct people, they suppose it is no longer binding ^F14.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 3.
F14 Misn. Yadaim, c. 4. sect. 4.

Deuteronomy 23:3 In-Context

1 "No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.

2 "No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD.

3 "No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever,

4 because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you

5 But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 13:1, 2