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Deuteronômio 23

BLIVRE · Chapter 23/34

1Não entrará na congregação do SENHOR o que tiver os testículos esmagados, nem o castrado.

2Não entrará bastardo na congregação do SENHOR: nem ainda na décima geração entrará na congregação do SENHOR.

3Não entrará amonita nem moabita na congregação do SENHOR; nem ainda na décima geração entrará na congregação do SENHOR para sempre:

4Porquanto não vos saíram a receber com pão e água ao caminho, quando saístes do Egito; e porque contratou contra ti a Balaão filho de Beor de Petor de Mesopotâmia da Síria, para que te amaldiçoasse.

5Mas não quis o SENHOR teu Deus ouvir a Balaão; e o SENHOR teu Deus te tornou a maldição em bênção, porque o SENHOR teu Deus te amava.

6Não procurarás a paz deles nem seu bem em todos os dias para sempre.

7Não abominarás ao edomita, que teu irmão é: não abominarás ao egípcio, que estrangeiro foste em sua terra.

8Os filhos que nascerem deles, à terceira geração entrarão na congregação do SENHOR.

9Quando saíres a campanha contra teus inimigos, guarda-te de toda coisa má.

10Quando houver em ti alguém que não for limpo por acidente de noite, sairá do acampamento, e não entrará nele.

11E será que ao declinar da tarde se lavará com água, e quando for posto o sol, entrará no acampamento.

12E terás um lugar fora do acampamento, e sairás ali fora;

13Terás também uma estaca entre tuas armas; e será que, quando estiveres ali fora, cavarás com ela, e logo ao voltar cobrirás teu excremento:

14Porque o SENHOR teu Deus anda por meio de teu acampamento, para livrar-te e entregar teus inimigos diante de ti; portanto será teu acampamento santo: para que ele não veja em ti coisa imunda, e se volte de trás de ti.

15Não entregarás a seu senhor o servo que se fugir a ti de seu amo:

16More contigo, em meio de ti, no lugar que escolher em alguma de tuas cidades, onde bem lhe estiver: não o oprimirás.

17Não haverá prostituta das filhas de Israel, nem haverá prostituto ritual dos filhos de Israel.

18Não trarás pagamento de prostituta, nem pagamento de prostituto à casa do SENHOR teu Deus por nenhum voto; porque abominação é ao SENHOR teu Deus tanto um como o outro.

19Não tomarás de teu irmão juros de dinheiro, nem juros de comida, nem juros de coisa alguma que se costuma tomar.

20Do estrangeiro tomarás juros, mas de teu irmão não o tomarás, para que te abençoe o SENHOR teu Deus em toda obra de tuas mãos sobre a terra à qual entras para possuí-la.

21Quando prometeres voto ao SENHOR teu Deus, não tardarás em pagá-lo; porque certamente o exigirá o SENHOR teu Deus de ti, e haveria em ti pecado.

22Mas quando te abstiveres de prometer, não haverá em ti pecado.

23Guardarás o que teus lábios pronunciarem; e farás, como prometeste ao SENHOR teu Deus, o que de tua vontade falaste por tua boca.

24Quando entrares na vinha de teu próximo, comerás uvas até saciar teu desejo: mas não porás em teu vaso.

25Quando entrares na plantação de teu próximo, poderás cortar espigas com tua mão; mas não aplicarás foice à plantação de teu próximo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Moses establishes who may or may not be included in the 'congregation of the LORD,' hygiene laws for the military camp, protection for runaway slaves, a prohibition against cultic prostitution, rules about charging interest on loans to foreigners versus Israelites, and the seriousness of keeping vows made to God.

Explanation

The restrictions on who could fully participate in the 'congregation' (certain neighboring peoples hostile for generations) reflected specific historical memories of hostility (such as the Ammonites and Moabites refusing to help Israel in the wilderness), but even these restrictions were not absolute or eternal for every people — Edomites and Egyptians, for example, would be accepted after the third generation, showing gradations rather than a permanent, total exclusion. The prohibition against charging interest to a fellow Israelite (while permitting it with foreigners) sought to protect the community's internal economic solidarity, preventing Israelites from financially exploiting one another in times of need. The emphasis on the seriousness of vows ('that which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep') reinforces a recurring theme in Deuteronomy: the integrity of one's given word, both to God and between people, was fundamental for a covenant society to function with mutual trust.

Fun facts

  • The permission to eat grapes or grain from a neighbor's field while passing through it, but forbidding carrying any away in a vessel or using a sickle (v. 24-25), is the same principle behind Jesus' disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1), showing a biblical social practice still in effect in the first century.
  • Ruth the Moabitess would become the great-grandmother of King David despite the restriction against Moabites mentioned in this chapter (v. 3) — one of the most notable biblical examples of grace and inclusion overcoming legal ethnic barriers, showing how general principles sometimes gave way before circumstances of genuine faith and loyal integration into the community.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 23:1Eunuchs, “bastards,” and peoples such as the Ammonites and Moabites were kept out of the assembly of Israel for many generations. In the case of the Moabites and Ammonites, the reason given in the next verse is historical: they did not help Israel in the wilderness and even hired Balaam to curse the people.
  2. Deuteronômio 23:2It restricts full participation in the religious community for descendants of an illegitimate union, for many generations.
  3. Deuteronômio 23:3Ammonites and Moabites were also kept out of the assembly of Israel, even after many generations.
  4. Deuteronômio 23:4The historical reason for this exclusion is the hostility of these peoples during the exodus, including hiring the prophet Balaam to curse Israel.
  5. Deuteronômio 23:5But God reversed the plan: instead of a curse, Balaam ended up pronouncing a blessing on Israel, because of God’s love for the people.
  6. Deuteronômio 23:6It reinforces permanent hostility toward these peoples: never seeking their peace or prosperity.
  7. Deuteronômio 23:7Edomites and Egyptians, however, receive different treatment, either as kin (Edom through Esau) or for having hosted Israel in the past.
  8. Deuteronômio 23:8Descendants of Edomites and Egyptians could enter the assembly as early as the third generation, showing a path toward inclusion.
  9. Deuteronômio 23:9It introduces purity rules for the military camp, beginning with a general call to proper conduct.
  10. Deuteronômio 23:10Whoever had a ritual uncleanness at night was to withdraw temporarily from the camp.
  11. Deuteronômio 23:11That person was to wash in the evening and only return to the camp after sunset.
  12. Deuteronômio 23:12The law about digging a hole outside the camp for one’s needs, with a shovel kept among one’s weapons, ties basic hygiene to the idea that God walks “in the midst of thy camp”: the camp had to stay clean because it was considered sacred space.
  13. Deuteronômio 23:13It commands carrying a specific tool for digging and covering one’s own waste, maintaining the camp’s hygiene.
  14. Deuteronômio 23:14The spiritual reason for this hygiene rule is that God walks in the midst of the camp — which is why it must be kept holy and clean.
  15. Deuteronômio 23:15It forbids returning to his former master a runaway slave who sought refuge in Israel.
  16. Deuteronômio 23:16That servant was to be free to live wherever he chose, without oppression.
  17. Deuteronômio 23:17It forbids cultic prostitution, both female and male, within the religion of Israel — a practice common in Canaanite worship.
  18. Deuteronômio 23:18It forbids using money earned through prostitution, even to fulfill a religious vow, since it was considered an abomination.
  19. Deuteronômio 23:19Charging interest was forbidden between Israelites, but allowed with foreigners: the logic was to protect fellow community members who borrowed from growing poverty, without extending that protection to business outside the group.
  20. Deuteronômio 23:20It allows charging interest to a foreigner, but never to a fellow Israelite — reinforcing the different treatment inside and outside the community.
  21. Deuteronômio 23:21It requires promptly fulfilling any vow made to God, because delay would be counted as sin.
  22. Deuteronômio 23:22It makes clear that making no vow at all is not a sin — the problem is promising and not following through.
  23. Deuteronômio 23:23It reinforces that a word freely given to God must be kept exactly as promised.
  24. Deuteronômio 23:24Anyone passing through a neighbor’s vineyard or grainfield could eat grapes or pluck ears of grain by hand to satisfy hunger on the spot, but could not carry any away in a container or use a sickle. It was permission for the hungry, not a license to harvest another person’s crop.
  25. Deuteronômio 23:25It allows plucking ears of grain by hand in another person’s field to eat, but forbids using a sickle to harvest in quantity — a survival right that stops short of becoming theft.

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