Deuteronomy 23:10-20

10 If there be with thee a man that is not clean from what hath happened in the night, then shall he go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp;
11 and it shall be, towards evening, he shall bathe in water: and at the going down of the sun he may come inside the camp.
12 Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, and shalt go forth thither.
13 And thou shalt have a shovel amongst thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which is come from thee.
14 For Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; and thy camp shall be holy, that he see nothing unseemly with thee, and turn away from thee
15 Thou shalt not hand over to his master a bondman that hath escaped from his master unto thee:
16 he shall dwell with thee, even in thy midst, in the place that he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it seemeth good to him; thou shalt not oppress him.
17 There shall be no prostitute amongst the daughters of Israel, nor any Sodomite amongst the sons of Israel.
18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, or the price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God for any vow; for even both these are an abomination to Jehovah thy God.
19 Thou shalt take no interest of thy brother, interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of anything that can be lent upon interest
20 of a foreigner thou mayest take interest, but of thy brother thou shalt not take interest; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the business of thy hand in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronomy 23:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 23

Orders are here given to restrain certain persons from entering into the congregation of the Lord, De 23:1-8, and to take care that there be no unclean person in the camp, or any indecent thing done in it, De 23:9-14, to protect fugitive servants, and not deliver them up to their masters, De 23:15,16 not to suffer a filthy person to be among them, or any filthy thing to be brought into the house of God for a vow, De 23:17,18, then follow some laws against usury, and for the payment of vows, De 23:19-23, and the chapter is concluded with some directions how to behave in a neighbour's vineyard, or standing corn, De 23:24,25.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Others, 'a paddle upon thy weapon.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.