Deuteronomy 23:3

3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people. ¹

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 man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the Lord's people.

2 "No one born out of wedlock or any descendant of such a person, even in the tenth generation, may be included among the Lord's people.

3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people.

4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you.

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

Cross References

• 1. 23.3-5Nehemiah 13.1, 2.