Those Excluded from the Congregation

231 He who is wounded in the stones, or has his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh. 2 A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh. 3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Yahweh forever: 4 because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam; but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. 7 You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother: you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. 8 The children of the third generation who are born to them shall enter into the assembly of Yahweh.

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

Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-8

(Read 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.