Deuteronomy 23
ButlerDe. 23 3 AN Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD ; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever : because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt ; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam ; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite ; for he is thy brother : thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian ; because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children of the third generation that are born unto them shall enter into the assembly of the LORD.
25 17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt ; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary ; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven ; thou shalt not forget.
26 1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein ; that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring in from thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee ; and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the land which the LORD swore unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. And thou shalt answer and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number ; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous : and the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage : and we cried unto the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression : and the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders : and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God : and thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is in the midst of thee.
12. When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithe of thine increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then thou shalt give it unto the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled ; and thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have put away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me : I have not transgressed any of thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them : I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for the dead : I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, I have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people
Israel, and the ground which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
16. This day the LORD thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and judgements: thou 17 shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and that thou shouldest walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and hearken unto his voice: 18 and the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be a peculiar people unto himself, as he hath 19 promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
Fellowship Forbidden with the Ammonite and Moabite.
As God had prohibited his people from all connection and alliance with the Canaanitish nations, so he now distinguishes between the aliens, and shows upon what conditions and whom they might admit into fellowship. The Moabites and Ammonites he altogether rejects; because they not only refused the common rites of humanity to the people but also took arms against them, and even hired Balaam to curse them. They were the descendants of Lot, and ought to have embraced the children of Abra- ham as brethren. It was inexcusable in them to make a violent attack upon those who had voluntarily offered them peace; who had prom- ised by their messengers that they would make their way without injury or wrong; and who finally had besought that a passage might be granted them provided they honestly paid the price of bread and water; although doubtless God took vengeance rather on their impiety than their cruelty, since they had not only en- deavored to make his goodness of none effect but also to annihilate his faithfulness. Calv. —Such was the mark set upon these people for their offence in the matter of Balaam; and Balaam’s infamy is perpetuated by the same law, being expressly mentioned in it as the man who had been “hired to curse God’s people.” Waterland.
G. Israel was not to seek—i.e., care for and use means to promote the welfare of these nations. Individuals, however, of these nations might be naturalized in Israel, and as proselytes enter the congregation, as the case of Ruth proves. It was against the nations, as such, that this ban was directed, and this they had brought on themselves by choosing to be ene- mies of Israel when they might have been friends and allies. W. L. A — This law forbids only the naturalization of those against whom it is directed. It does not forbid their dwelling in the land; and seems to refer rather to the nations than to individuals. It was not under- stood at any rate to interdict marriage with a Moabitess. Ruth, however, and her sister were doubtless proselytes. Such a law would cer- tainly never have suggested itself to the mind of a writer after the times of David, whose great- grandmother was a Moabitess. Espin.
The Edomites and Egyptians have not so deep a mark of displeasure put upon them as the Moabites and Ammonites. If an Edomite or Egyptian turned proselyte, his grandchildren should be looked upon as members of the con- gregation of the Lord to all intents and pur- poses. H.—The Edomite, as descended from Esau, a twin brother of Jacob, and the Egyptian, as of that nation which had for long shown hospitality to Joseph and his brethren, were not to be objects of abhorrence. The Edomites had indeed shown themselves unfriendly to Israel in refusing a passage through their land, but had not actively resisted them, and the tie of kindred was therefore to be respected. Espin. —The Edomites remained free from the gross- er kinds of idolatry, while Lot’s descendants, from that impure connection, sank into the more horrible idolatrous abominations. Gerl.
In the mention of nationalities that are eligible or ineligible to the privilege of Jewish citizen- ship, the attitude assumed by our Lawgiver toward these nations does not seem unnatural, if he be Moses. But no writer in his senses could have seriously taken it after the time of Solomon. Because of their treatment of Israel on their march from Egypt, the Ammonite and Moabite are forever shut out from citizenship among the chosen people. The Edomite is ad- mitted to it after a short probation; so, too, the Egyptian—the former on the ground of kindred blood, the latter on that of hospitality to the Hebrew strangers. E. C. B.
Amalek to be Destroyed.