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No Ammonite or Moabite[a] may enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever[b] do so,[c] for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired[d] Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed[e] the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves[f] you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:3 sn An Ammonite or Moabite. These descendants of Lot by his two daughters (cf. Gen 19:30-38) were thereby the products of incest and therefore excluded from the worshiping community. However, these two nations also failed to show proper hospitality to Israel on their way to Canaan (v. 4).
  2. Deuteronomy 23:3 tn The Hebrew term translated “ever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ʿad ʿolam) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.
  3. Deuteronomy 23:3 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  4. Deuteronomy 23:4 tn Heb “hired against you.”
  5. Deuteronomy 23:5 tn Heb “the Lord your God changed.” The phrase “the Lord your God” has not been included in the translation here for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. Moreover, use of the pronoun “he” could create confusion regarding the referent (the Lord or Balaam).
  6. Deuteronomy 23:5 tn The verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “love”) here and commonly elsewhere in the Book of Deuteronomy speaks of God’s elective grace toward Israel. See note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

No Ammonite(A) or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.(B) For they did not come to meet you with bread and water(C) on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam(D) son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim[a](E) to pronounce a curse on you.(F) However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse(G) into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves(H) you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:4 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation 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 of 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.

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