Deuteronomy 23:1
No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.
No man
The phrase "No man" sets a definitive boundary, emphasizing the universality of the command. In Hebrew, the word used is "אִישׁ" (ish), which refers to a male individual. This term underscores the personal responsibility and accountability of each man in adhering to the laws set forth by God. It reflects the importance of individual purity and wholeness in the context of communal worship and participation.

with crushed or severed genitals
This phrase refers to a specific physical condition, described in Hebrew as "פְּצוּעַ־דַּכָּא" (petsua daka) and "כְּרוּת שָׁפְכָה" (kerut shofkha). The condition of being "crushed" or "severed" indicates a loss of physical integrity, which in the ancient Near Eastern context, was often associated with ritual impurity or disqualification from certain religious roles. Historically, such conditions could result from accidents, punishment, or intentional acts, such as those performed by pagan priests or eunuchs. The emphasis here is on the wholeness and completeness required for those who participate in the sacred assembly, symbolizing spiritual integrity and the undivided devotion expected of God's people.

may enter
The Hebrew verb "יָבוֹא" (yavo) means "to come" or "to enter." This term is significant as it denotes not just physical entry but also participation and inclusion within the community of worship. The restriction implies a boundary set by God to maintain the sanctity and purity of the assembly. It serves as a reminder of the holiness required to approach God and the community of believers.

the assembly of the LORD
The "assembly of the LORD" refers to the congregation of Israel gathered for worship and communal activities. In Hebrew, "קְהַל יְהוָה" (qahal Yahweh) signifies a sacred gathering, set apart for the worship of Yahweh. This assembly was not merely a social or civic gathering but a spiritual congregation where God's presence was acknowledged and revered. The restriction highlights the importance of maintaining the sanctity and purity of this assembly, ensuring that those who participate are in a state of physical and spiritual wholeness, reflecting the holiness of God Himself.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The author of Deuteronomy, who is delivering God's laws to the Israelites.

2. Israelites
The chosen people of God, receiving the laws and commandments as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.

3. The Assembly of the LORD
Refers to the congregation or community of Israel, particularly in a religious or worship context.
Teaching Points
Holiness and Wholeness
The physical requirements for entering the assembly symbolize the spiritual wholeness and purity God desires from His people. This calls us to pursue holiness in our lives.

Cultural Context
Understanding the cultural and historical context of ancient Israel helps us see the importance of these laws in maintaining the distinct identity and purity of God's people.

Spiritual Inclusion
While the Old Testament law had strict requirements, the New Testament reveals God's inclusive plan through Christ, who breaks down barriers and welcomes all who believe.

Symbolism of Physical and Spiritual Integrity
The physical condition mentioned in the verse symbolizes the need for spiritual integrity and commitment to God’s standards.

Grace and Redemption
The New Testament shows that through Jesus, all are welcome into God's family, regardless of physical or social status, emphasizing grace and redemption.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the cultural and historical context of Deuteronomy 23:1 help us interpret its meaning for the Israelites?

2. In what ways does the New Testament expand on the concept of inclusion in the assembly of the LORD, as seen in Acts 8 and Isaiah 56?

3. How can we apply the principle of pursuing holiness and spiritual integrity in our daily lives today?

4. What does the transition from Old Testament law to New Testament grace teach us about God's character and His plan for humanity?

5. How can the account of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 inspire us to share the Gospel with those who feel excluded or marginalized?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Leviticus 21
Discusses the requirements for priests and those who serve in the temple, emphasizing physical wholeness and purity.

Isaiah 56
Offers hope and inclusion for eunuchs and foreigners, showing God's grace and the future expansion of His covenant.

Acts 8
The account of the Ethiopian eunuch, highlighting the New Testament's message of inclusion and the transformative power of the Gospel.
Loss of Sacred Privilege a Grievous PenaltyD. Davies Deuteronomy 23:1-6
The Congregation of the Lord Jealously GuardedR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 23:1-8
The Excluded from the CongregationJ. Orr Deuteronomy 23:1-8
People
Aram, Balaam, Beor, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Pethor
Topics
Assembly, Bruised, Congregation, Crushed, Crushing, Cut, Cutting, Emasculated, Enter, Eunuch, Lord's, Maimed, Male, Meeting, Member, Mutilated, Organ, Private, Privy, Secrets, Stones, Testicles, Whether, Wounded
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 23:1

     5282   crushing
     5309   eunuchs

Deuteronomy 23:1-8

     7209   congregation

Library
Appendix v. Rabbinic Theology and Literature
1. The Traditional Law. - The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplemented by a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation. In the first class, or Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [6370] which may be thus designated: religio-agrarian, four; [6371] ritual, including questions about clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [6372] concerning
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Here Then Shall These Persons in their Turn be in Another More Sublime Degree...
28. Here then shall these persons in their turn be in another more sublime degree of righteousness outdone, by them who shall so order themselves, that every day they shall betake them into the fields as unto pasture, and at what time they shall find it, pick up their meal, and having allayed their hunger, return. But plainly, on account of the keepers of the fields, how good were it, if the Lord should deign to bestow wings also, that the servants of God being found in other men's fields should
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Lessons for Worship and for Work
'Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Introductory Note to the Works of Origen.
[a.d. 185-230-254.] The reader will remember the rise and rapid development of the great Alexandrian school, and the predominance which was imparted to it by the genius of the illustrious Clement. [1865] But in Origen, his pupil, who succeeded him at the surprising age of eighteen, a new sun was to rise upon its noontide. Truly was Alexandria "the mother and mistress of churches" in the benign sense of a nurse and instructress of Christendom, not its arrogant and usurping imperatrix. The full details
Origen—Origen De Principiis

Excursus on Usury.
The famous canonist Van Espen defines usury thus: "Usura definitur lucrum ex mutuo exactum aut speratum;" [96] and then goes on to defend the proposition that, "Usury is forbidden by natural, by divine, and by human law. The first is proved thus. Natural law, as far as its first principles are concerned, is contained in the decalogue; but usury is prohibited in the decalogue, inasmuch as theft is prohibited; and this is the opinion of the Master of the Sentences, of St. Bonaventura, of St. Thomas
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Jesus Defends Disciples who Pluck Grain on the Sabbath.
(Probably While on the Way from Jerusalem to Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 1-8; ^B Mark II. 23-28; ^C Luke VI. 1-5. ^b 23 And ^c 1 Now it came to pass ^a 1 At that season ^b that he ^a Jesus went { ^b was going} on the { ^c a} ^b sabbath day through the grainfields; ^a and his disciples were hungry and began ^b as they went, to pluck the ears. ^a and to eat, ^c and his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. [This lesson fits in chronological order with the last, if the Bethesda
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

That it is not Lawful for the Well Affected Subjects to Concur in Such an Engagement in War, and Associate with the Malignant Party.
That It Is Not Lawful For The Well Affected Subjects To Concur In Such An Engagement In War, And Associate With The Malignant Party. Some convinced of the unlawfulness of the public resolutions and proceedings, in reference to the employing of the malignant party, yet do not find such clearness and satisfaction in their own consciences as to forbid the subjects to concur in this war, and associate with the army so constituted. Therefore it is needful to speak something to this point, That it is
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Canaan
Canaan was the inheritance which the Israelites won for themselves by the sword. Their ancestors had already settled in it in patriarchal days. Abraham "the Hebrew" from Babylonia had bought in it a burying-place near Hebron; Jacob had purchased a field near Shechem, where he could water his flocks from his own spring. It was the "Promised Land" to which the serfs of the Pharaoh in Goshen looked forward when they should again become free men and find a new home for themselves. Canaan had ever been
Archibald Sayce—Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations

Brief Directions How to Read the Holy Scriptures once Every Year Over, with Ease, Profit, and Reverence.
But forasmuch, that as faith is the soul, so reading and meditating on the word of God, are the parent's of prayer, therefore, before thou prayest in the morning, first read a chapter in the word of God; then meditate awhile with thyself, how many excellent things thou canst remember out of it. As--First, what good counsels or exhortations to good works and to holy life. Secondly, what threatenings of judgments against such and such a sin; and what fearful examples of God's punishment or vengeance
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Commerce
The remarkable change which we have noticed in the views of Jewish authorities, from contempt to almost affectation of manual labour, could certainly not have been arbitrary. But as we fail to discover here any religious motive, we can only account for it on the score of altered political and social circumstances. So long as the people were, at least nominally, independent, and in possession of their own land, constant engagement in a trade would probably mark an inferior social stage, and imply
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation,
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
BY A.E. GRIMKE. "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not within thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place: but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:--and so will I go in unto the king,
Angelina Emily Grimke—An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South

The Tenth Commandment
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.' Exod 20: 17. THIS commandment forbids covetousness in general, Thou shalt not covet;' and in particular, Thy neighbour's house, thy neighbour's wife, &c. I. It forbids covetousness in general. Thou shalt not covet.' It is lawful to use the world, yea, and to desire so much of it as may keep us from the temptation
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf.
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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