◄ Deuteronomy 23:8 ►
The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
Study Bible
The third generation
This phrase indicates a specific time frame within the lineage of a foreigner. In the Hebrew context, the term "generation" (Hebrew: דּוֹר, dor) often signifies a period of about 40 years. The third generation implies a significant passage of time, allowing for the integration and assimilation of foreign descendants into the Israelite community. This reflects God's grace and the potential for redemption and inclusion over time, emphasizing that while the Israelites were to remain distinct, there was room for others to join them in worship and community.

of children born to them
This phrase highlights the continuity of life and the natural process of birth and growth within a family. The Hebrew word for "children" (בָּנִים, banim) underscores the importance of offspring in the biblical narrative, often seen as a blessing from God. The phrase suggests that these children, though born to foreigners, are part of God's creation and have the potential to be part of His covenant people. It speaks to the inclusivity of God's plan, where lineage does not permanently exclude one from His assembly.

may enter the assembly of the LORD
The "assembly of the LORD" (קָהָל יְהוָה, qahal Yahweh) refers to the congregation or community of Israel, particularly in a religious or worship context. Entrance into this assembly was a significant privilege, symbolizing acceptance and participation in the covenant community. Historically, this reflects the Israelites' understanding of holiness and separation, yet also God's provision for inclusion. The allowance for the third generation to enter signifies a balance between maintaining the sanctity of the community and extending grace to those who seek to join it. It is a reminder of God's overarching plan for unity and redemption, foreshadowing the New Testament's message of inclusion through Christ.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Israelites
The chosen people of God, to whom the laws and commandments were given, including those concerning who may enter the assembly of the LORD.

2. Edomites
Descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. Historically, there was tension between the Israelites and Edomites, yet they are given a path to inclusion in the assembly.

3. Egyptians
A people among whom the Israelites lived for centuries. Despite past oppression, Egyptians are also given a path to inclusion in the assembly.

4. Assembly of the LORD
Refers to the congregation or community of Israel, particularly in a religious or worship context.

5. Third Generation
Indicates a specific time frame for when descendants of certain foreign nations could be fully integrated into the Israelite community.
Teaching Points
God's Grace and Inclusion
God's laws provided a way for outsiders to become part of His people, demonstrating His grace and desire for inclusion.

Historical Context and Reconciliation
Understanding the historical tensions between Israel and neighboring nations helps us appreciate the significance of these laws in promoting reconciliation.

Generational Impact
The mention of the "third generation" highlights the importance of time and transformation in the process of integration and acceptance.

Compassion for the Foreigner
As believers, we are called to show compassion and hospitality to those who are different from us, reflecting God's love and acceptance.

Unity in Christ
In the New Testament, the barriers between Jew and Gentile are broken down in Christ, calling us to live in unity and love with all believers.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the inclusion of the third generation of Edomites and Egyptians reflect God's character and His plans for His people?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of inclusion from Deuteronomy 23:8 in our church communities today?

3. How does the historical relationship between Israel and Edom/Egypt inform our understanding of this passage?

4. What are some modern-day barriers that prevent people from being fully integrated into the church, and how can we address them?

5. How does the message of unity in Galatians 3:28 relate to the principles found in Deuteronomy 23:8, and what practical steps can we take to live out this unity?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 12:48-49
Discusses the inclusion of foreigners in the Passover, emphasizing the importance of circumcision and adherence to God's laws for participation.

Leviticus 19:34
Commands the Israelites to love the foreigner residing among them as themselves, highlighting God's call for compassion and inclusion.

Ruth 1:16-17
Illustrates the account of Ruth, a Moabite, who becomes part of the Israelite community, showing God's grace and inclusion beyond ethnic boundaries.

Galatians 3:28
Speaks to the unity of all believers in Christ, transcending ethnic and social barriers, reflecting the ultimate fulfillment of inclusion.
Sermons
The Congregation of the Lord Jealously GuardedR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 23:1-8
The Excluded from the CongregationJ. Orr Deuteronomy 23:1-8
Terminable ChastisementsD. Davies Deuteronomy 23:7, 8
People
Aram, Balaam, Beor, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Pethor
Topics
Assembly, Begotten, Born, Congregation, Enter, Generation, Lord's, Meeting, Sons, Third
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 23:1-8

     7209   congregation

Deuteronomy 23:7-8

     5694   generation

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

Links
Deuteronomy 23:8 NIV
Deuteronomy 23:8 NLT
Deuteronomy 23:8 ESV
Deuteronomy 23:8 NASB
Deuteronomy 23:8 KJV

Deuteronomy 23:8 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Deuteronomy 23:7
Top of Page
Top of Page