Deuteronomium 23:4

4 Ter oorzake dat zij ulieden op den weg niet tegengekomen zijn met brood en met water, als gij uit Egypte uittoogt; en omdat hij tegen u gehuurd heeft Bileam, den zoon van Beor, van Pethor uit Mesopotamie, om u te vloeken

Deuteronomium 23:4 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 23:4

Because they met you not with bread and with water
To supply them therewith, either as a gift, which was a piece of humanity to strangers and travellers, or rather to sell unto them, for on no other terms did the Israelites desire their bread and their water:

in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt;
not as soon as they came forth from thence, for it was near forty years after; but it was while they were in the way from thence, as they were journeying to the land of Canaan, and so were travellers, and should have had kindness shown them as such; for though they needed not bread and water, God providing both for them, yet this does not excuse the inhumanity of these people: the words are to be understood by way of distribution; this charge here only belongs to the Ammonites, for it appears that the Moabites did give them bread and water for money, ( Deuteronomy 2:28 Deuteronomy 2:29 ) as what follows belongs peculiarly to the Moabites and not the Ammonites:

and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Pethor of
Mesopotamia, to curse thee;
this the Moabites did in conjunction with the Midianites, but the Ammonites had no concern in it; see ( Numbers 22:7 ) , it was not therefore because the Moabites and Ammonites were born in incest that they were forbidden entrance into the congregation of the Lord; which might have been thought to have been the reason of it, these instances following upon the former, had not these reasons been assigned.

Deuteronomium 23:4 In-Context

2 Geen bastaard zal in de vergadering des HEEREN komen; zelfs zijn tiende geslacht zal in de vergadering des HEEREN niet komen.

3 Geen Ammoniet, noch Moabiet zal in de vergadering des HEEREN komen; zelfs hun tiende geslacht zal in de vergadering des HEEREN niet komen tot in eeuwigheid.

4 Ter oorzake dat zij ulieden op den weg niet tegengekomen zijn met brood en met water, als gij uit Egypte uittoogt; en omdat hij tegen u gehuurd heeft Bileam, den zoon van Beor, van Pethor uit Mesopotamie, om u te vloeken

5 Doch de HEERE, uw God, heeft naar Bileam niet willen horen; maar de HEERE, uw God, heeft u den vloek in een zegen veranderd, omdat de HEERE, uw God, u liefhad.

6 Gij zult hun vrede en hun best niet zoeken, al uw dagen in eeuwigheid.