Deuteronomy 23:7-17

7 "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land.
8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.
9 "When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing.
10 If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp.
11 But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.
12 Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out;
13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.
14 For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you
15 "You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you.
16 He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him.
17 "There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel.

Deuteronomy 23:7-17 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 2

  • [a]. Hebrew qedeshah, feminine of qadesh (see note +)
  • [b]. Hebrew qadesh, that is, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.