Deuteronomy 23 · Verse 3

Deuteronomy 23:3

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:
Deuteronomy 23:3, King James Version

Deuteronomy 23:3 in other translations

BSBNo Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
WEBAn Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into the LORD’s assembly forever,
ASVAn Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Jehovah for ever:
YLT‘An Ammonite and a Moabite doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even a tenth generation of them doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah--to the age;
DARBYAn Ammonite or Moabite shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah; even their tenth generation shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah for ever;
BBENo Ammonite or Moabite or any of their people to the tenth generation may come into the meeting of the Lord's people:
WebsterAn 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:

What does Deuteronomy 23:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 23:1-3

De 23:1-25. Who May and Who May Not Enter into the Congregation. 1-3. He that is wounded ..., shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord--"To enter into the congregation of the Lord" means either admission to public honors and offices in the Church and State of Israel, or, in the case of foreigners, incorporation with that nation by marriage. The rule was that strangers and foreigners, for fear of friendship…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 23:1-3 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 An Ammonite or Moabite - These nations were subjected for their impiety and wickedness, (see Deu 23:4 and Deu 23:5), to peculiar disgrace, and on this account were not permitted to hold any office among the Israelites. But this did not disqualify them from being proselytes: Ruth, who was a Moabitess, was married to Boaz, and she became one of the progenitors of our Lord. Even to their tenth generation - That is, for ever, as the next clause explains; see Neh 13:1.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-8

We ought to value the privileges of God's people, both for ourselves and for our children, above all other advantages. No personal blemishes, no crimes of our forefathers, no difference of nation, shuts us out under the Christian dispensation. But an unsound heart will deprive us of blessings; and a bad example, or an unsuitable marriage, may shut our children from them.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 23:1-8 →

Deuteronomy 23:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
יָבֹ֧אya.Vo'he will goH935
עַמּוֹנִ֛יa.mo.Nian AmmoniteH5984
וּמוֹאָבִ֖יu.mo.'a.Viand a MoabiteH4125
בִּקְהַ֣לbik.Halin [the] assembly ofH6951
יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahwehH3068
גַּ֚םgamalsoH1571
דּ֣וֹרDora generationH1755
עֲשִׂירִ֔י'a.si.RitenthH6224
לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
יָבֹ֥אya.Vo'it will goH935
לָהֶ֛םla.Hemof <the> them
בִּקְהַ֥לbik.Halin [the] assembly ofH6951
יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahwehH3068
עַד\־'ad-untilH5704
עוֹלָֽם\׃o.LamperpetuityH5769

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 23:3

  • Nehemiah 13:1-2

    On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

  • Ruth 4:6

    And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.

  • Isaiah 56:3

    Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

  • Nehemiah 13:23

    In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:

  • Ruth 4:10-22

    Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth–lehem: And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. …

  • Nehemiah 4:7

    But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

  • Nehemiah 4:3

    Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ammonite.These nations were subjected for their impiety, wickedness, and enmity to Israel, (ver. 4, 5,) to peculiar disgrace; and on this account were not permitted to hold any office among the Israelites. This did not, however, disqualify them from becoming proselytes; for Ruth, who was a Moabitess, was married to Boaz, and became one of the progenitors of our Lord.
Ru 4:6,10-22; Ne 4:3,7; 13:1,2,23; Isa 56:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 23:2

    A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 23:3

    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:

  • Deuteronomy 23:4

    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.

Read all of Deuteronomy 23

Deuteronomy 23:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No entrará Ammonita ni Moabita en la congregación de Jehová; ni aun en la décima generación entrará en la congregación de Jehová para siempre:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
L’enfant illégitime n’entrera pas dans la congrégation de l’ Éternel; même sa dixième génération n’entrera pas dans la congrégation de l’ Éternel.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Es soll kein Ammoniter noch Moabiter in die Versammlung Jehovas kommen; auch das zehnte Geschlecht von ihnen soll nicht in die Versammlung Jehovas kommen ewiglich:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ammonites et Moabites etiam post decimam generationem non intrabunt ecclesiam Domini in æternum: