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NASB | Deuteronomy 23:3 "No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 23:3 "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, |
Bible Question:
Shalom y'all, I'm missing something here, so I need some help. Deut. 23:3 says that a Moabite will "never" enter into the assembly of God. Wasn't Ruth a Moabitess? How do we reconcile a Moabitess joining Israel (and becoming a part of the lineage of Jesus) to Deut. 23:3? What am I missing? Thanks in advance Cheri |
Bible Answer: Cheri, (2 post long) I was interested in your question but didn’t have time to answer. Now that you and John had your dialogue, it seems somewhat unnecessary, but I did the work so here it is. A starting point in how I approach the Bible may be helpful: 1) I don’t believe as some commentators do, that God can violate the covenant, but mankind can not, therefore God can include Ruth just because he said so. God MUST remain faithful. 2) I don’t believe the covenant stipulations change after Jesus resurrection; but rather that the law points to and is enhanced and enlightened by Him. Rom 3:31 “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. [give it a firmer standing]” ESV I include this for those “who are reading along” as John so wisely recognizes. With this in mind, the law for the Moabite can not simply be uprooted (Deut 4:2; 12:32 “do not add to this law, nor take away from it.”) A Moabite can not “enter the assembly of the LORD” to the tenth generation…forever. The “forever” is “ ‘ad o’lam ”, which is nearly impossible to translate any other way than “forever.” If it could, then the Targum Jonathan, which Gill quotes, (see John’s answer) would have most certainly used this option. Neh. 13:23 also says this law means forever. The phrase “assembly of the LORD” is another key. One source had this to say, “In the Torah, the word kahal (assembly) is used to apply to Israel as a nation, to a religious gathering and to a national governing assembly. This national governing assembly consisted of all adult males meeting in plenary session. Eligibility in this governing assembly was apparently tantamount to eligibility in full citizenship and therefore eligible for leadership.” While Ruth was a women and may (or may not) be exempt for that reason, I believe there are other options. It is possible that this passage is speaking of holding leadership position. In this case, Ruth also wouldn’t need worry about this law. Furthermore, when we look at the law in context, it falls within a marriage section. Why would this be included here? Let’s read the context of the sin of Moab: Num 25:1 “While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor.” It was within adulterous relationships that Moab seduced Israel with their women threatening their existence as a nation, and by extension, the coming Messiah. If they can’t beat them by war, and they can’t defeat them with the curses of Balaam, maybe they can defeat them by seduction. To marry into this nation was to marry into their cult. See also Neh 13:23 “In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.” The women in this passage were not “making your God my God” but rather were still worshiping their false gods. The mothers are the primary teacher of children when they are young. This instance was a violation of the Law (and Nehimiah also says “ ‘ad olam” means forever.) With these passages we are hard pressed to say women are absolved from the Deut 23 law simply by being women. So if Ruth wasn’t exempt because she was a woman then what? ...continued... |