Deuteronomy 23:8

Translation
King James Version
The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
Ask
KJV (with Strong's)
The children H1121 that are begotten H3205 of them shall enter H935 into the congregation H6951 of the LORD H3068 in their third H7992 generation H1755.
Ask
Complete Jewish Bible
The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of ADONAI.
Ask
Berean Standard Bible
The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
Ask
American Standard Version
The children of the third generation that are born unto them shall enter into the assembly of Jehovah.
Ask
World English Bible Messianic
The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into the LORD’s assembly.
Ask
Geneva Bible (1599)
The children that are begotten of them in their thirde generation, shall enter into the Congregation of the Lord.
Ask
Young's Literal Translation
sons who are begotten of them, a third generation of them, doth enter into the assembly of Jehovah.
Ask
See also
Exodus 20:5Exodus 20:6Deuteronomy 23:1Deuteronomy 23:3Romans 3:29Romans 3:30Ephesians 2:12
In the KJVVerse 5,509 of 31,102

Study This Verse

SUMMARY

Deuteronomy 23:8 establishes a specific legal provision within the Mosaic covenant, outlining a pathway for the descendants of Edomites and Egyptians to be fully integrated into the Israelite community. It stipulates that while first and second generations would remain outside the formal assembly, their offspring, beginning with the third generation, would be permitted to "enter into the congregation of the LORD," signifying full acceptance into the religious, social, and civic life of Israel. This nuanced regulation contrasts sharply with the perpetual exclusion of other nations, highlighting God's distinctive approach to various peoples based on historical relationships and a vision for the covenant community's spiritual integrity and eventual assimilation.

CONTEXT

  • Literary Context: Deuteronomy 23:8 is situated within a broader section of Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 23:1-8) that meticulously details who may and may not "enter into the congregation of the LORD." This phrase refers to the formal, covenantal assembly of Israel, where matters of worship, law, and community life were conducted. The immediate preceding verses establish a graduated scale of inclusion and exclusion. Deuteronomy 23:3-6 unequivocally and perpetually bar Ammonites and Moabites due to their historical antagonism towards Israel during the Exodus, specifically their failure to provide provisions and their hiring of Balaam to curse the Israelites. This severe prohibition sets a crucial backdrop, making the conditional inclusion of Edomites and Egyptians in Deuteronomy 23:7-8 stand out as a remarkable demonstration of divine nuance and grace.
  • Historical & Cultural Context: The distinct treatment of Edomites and Egyptians is rooted in their complex historical and familial relationships with Israel. Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob's twin brother, establishing a kinship tie, albeit one often marked by conflict. Deuteronomy 23:7 explicitly commands Israel not to "abhor an Edomite." Similarly, Egyptians, despite having brutally enslaved Israel for centuries, had also served as a place of refuge during famine (e.g., the time of Joseph), and Israel had "been a sojourner in his land." This dual history underscores the divine command not to abhor an Egyptian. The "third generation" requirement reflects a cultural understanding of assimilation. It implies that two generations would pass, allowing for the shedding of ancestral allegiances and the full adoption of Israelite customs, laws, and, most importantly, the exclusive worship of Yahweh, ensuring the third generation was fully integrated from birth.
  • Key Themes: This verse significantly contributes to several overarching themes within Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch. It powerfully underscores the theme of Israel's distinct identity and holiness, emphasizing the necessity of purity within the covenant community while simultaneously providing a structured, albeit delayed, pathway for certain outsiders. It also highlights God's nuanced justice and mercy, demonstrating that divine law is not arbitrary but considers historical relationships and the potential for transformation, contrasting sharply with the absolute exclusion of nations like the Ammonites and Moabites, as seen in Deuteronomy 23:3. Furthermore, the "third generation" clause speaks profoundly to the theme of assimilation and spiritual heritage, indicating that true integration into the "congregation of the LORD" involves a genuine adoption of Israelite faith and identity, passed down and solidified over time through successive generations.

EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS

Key Word Analysis

  • begotten (Hebrew, yâlad', H3205): This primitive root signifies "to bear young" or "to beget." In the context of Deuteronomy 23:8, it emphasizes the biological lineage and generational succession. The focus is on the offspring, those born from the Edomites and Egyptians, highlighting that the provision for inclusion applies to subsequent generations, not the initial immigrants themselves. It underscores the concept of a new birth within the Israelite cultural and religious sphere, a process that unfolds over time.
  • congregation (Hebrew, qâhâl', H6951): Derived from a root meaning "to assemble," qāhāl refers to the assembled community of Israel. It is more than a mere crowd; it is a divinely constituted assembly, the people of God gathered for worship, legal proceedings, and communal decision-making. To "enter into the congregation of the LORD" meant gaining full participation in the rights, responsibilities, and blessings of the covenant people, including marriage, land ownership, and religious participation.
  • generation (Hebrew, dôwr', H7992): This term denotes a "revolution of time," an "age," or a "generation." In conjunction with "third" (H7992, shᵉlîyshîy), it precisely defines the temporal condition for inclusion. A "third generation" implies a significant passage of time, typically 60-120 years, ensuring that the descendants would have been born, raised, and thoroughly assimilated within the Israelite cultural and religious framework, having no direct memory or allegiance to their ancestral land or pagan practices. This period was deemed sufficient to ensure their complete integration and loyalty to Yahweh and the Israelite covenant.

Verse Breakdown

  • "The children that are begotten of them": This phrase specifically refers to the descendants of the Edomites and Egyptians, as mentioned in the immediately preceding verse. It clarifies that the provision for inclusion applies to their offspring, not the first-generation immigrants themselves, establishing a generational process for integration into the Israelite community. This highlights a deliberate, gradual approach to assimilation.
  • "shall enter into the congregation of the LORD": This signifies full acceptance and participation in the religious, social, and civic life of Israel. It implies the right to worship Yahweh, intermarry within the community, hold property, and partake in all the privileges and responsibilities of an Israelite. This stands in stark contrast to the perpetual exclusion imposed on Ammonites and Moabites, underscoring a pathway to full belonging for these specific nations.
  • "in their third generation": This is the crucial temporal condition for full inclusion. It means that the grandchildren (or even great-grandchildren, depending on the precise interpretation of "generation") of the original Edomite or Egyptian sojourners would become eligible for full integration. This waiting period served as a safeguard, ensuring that the foreign lineage had been thoroughly assimilated into Israelite culture, faith, and allegiance, thereby minimizing potential foreign influence and preserving the distinct identity and purity of the covenant community.

Literary Devices

Deuteronomy 23:8 primarily employs Legal Prescription, articulating a clear and specific law for the Israelite community. The language is precise and prescriptive, leaving little room for ambiguity regarding the conditions for inclusion. The verse also utilizes Contrast, implicitly setting the lenient, albeit delayed, inclusion of Edomites and Egyptians against the absolute and perpetual exclusion of Ammonites and Moabites found in the preceding verses. This contrast powerfully highlights the nuanced nature of God's justice and mercy, demonstrating that divine law is not monolithic but considers historical context and relational dynamics. Furthermore, the concept of "third generation" functions as a form of Symbolism for complete assimilation and purification, representing a sufficient passage of time for a foreign lineage to shed its original identity and fully embrace the Israelite covenant and way of life.

THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS

Deuteronomy 23:8 offers profound insight into God's character, revealing His capacity for both strict holiness and redemptive inclusion. While Israel was unequivocally called to be a distinct, holy nation, set apart for Yahweh, this verse demonstrates that God's overarching plan was not one of absolute xenophobia. Instead, it provided a structured pathway for certain outsiders to become fully integrated into the covenant community, albeit under specific conditions and over time. This nuanced approach reflects God's justice, acknowledging past relationships (Edomites as kin, Egyptians as former hosts), and His mercy, offering a future for those willing to embrace His covenant. It subtly foreshadows a broader, more inclusive redemptive plan that would eventually transcend national boundaries, culminating in a global invitation to God's people.

  • Isaiah 56:3-7 - Prophesies a future where foreigners who join themselves to the Lord will be brought to His holy mountain and made joyful in His house of prayer, demonstrating a future, wider embrace.
  • Ephesians 2:11-13 - Describes how Gentiles, once far off and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, have been brought near by the blood of Christ, breaking down the wall of hostility.
  • Revelation 7:9-10 - Portrays a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and the Lamb, worshipping God, illustrating the ultimate fulfillment of God's inclusive plan.

REFLECTION AND APPLICATION

Deuteronomy 23:8 provides valuable insights for contemporary communities of faith regarding inclusion, identity, and the process of integration. It serves as a powerful reminder that while maintaining core principles and a distinct spiritual identity is vital for any covenant community, there can also be a divinely ordained pathway for outsiders to become fully part of that community. This process may require patience, allowing for genuine assimilation not just into cultural practices but into the foundational beliefs, allegiances, and spiritual heritage of the group. It challenges us to consider how we balance the preservation of our spiritual distinctiveness with an open heart towards those from different backgrounds, recognizing that true belonging is often a journey of transformation and commitment. The "third generation" principle suggests that deep, authentic integration takes time, fostering a sense of shared history and purpose that transcends immediate origins, building a truly unified body.

Questions for Reflection

  • How does the "third generation" principle in this verse challenge our modern expectations of immediate acceptance and assimilation in communities of faith?
  • In what ways can a spiritual community balance the preservation of its core identity and beliefs with a welcoming and integrating posture towards outsiders?
  • What might it mean for individuals from diverse backgrounds to truly "enter into the congregation of the LORD" in a spiritual sense today, beyond mere attendance?

FAQ

Why were Edomites and Egyptians treated differently from Ammonites and Moabites in terms of inclusion in Israel's assembly?

Answer: The differing treatment stemmed from their distinct historical relationships with Israel, reflecting God's nuanced justice. Ammonites and Moabites were perpetually excluded because of their active hostility during the Exodus, specifically their refusal to provide aid to Israel and their hiring of Balaam to curse them (Deuteronomy 23:3-6). In contrast, Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother, making them kin, and Egyptians had provided refuge for Israel in the past during times of famine, despite later enslavement. Deuteronomy 23:7 explicitly commands Israel not to abhor an Edomite or an Egyptian, reflecting a divine consideration of historical context and familial ties, allowing for eventual inclusion after a period of generational assimilation.

CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT

Deuteronomy 23:8, with its conditional and generational inclusion of certain Gentiles into the "congregation of the LORD," powerfully foreshadows the radical inclusivity of the New Covenant established through Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament law carefully guarded the purity of Israel's physical assembly, Christ's atoning work on the cross broke down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, creating one new humanity reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:14-16). No longer is inclusion dependent on lineage, ethnicity, or a multi-generational waiting period, but on faith in Christ alone, for in Him there is "neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Through His ultimate sacrifice, Jesus became the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) whose blood cleanses all who believe, regardless of their ethnic or national origin, welcoming them immediately and fully into the spiritual "congregation"—the Church, the very body of Christ (Colossians 1:18). Thus, the limited, delayed inclusion in Deuteronomy finds its glorious and immediate fulfillment in the universal, Spirit-empowered embrace of all nations into God's family through Christ.

Copy as

Commentary on Deuteronomy 23 verses 1–8

Interpreters are not agreed what is here meant by entering into the congregation of the Lord, which is here forbidden to eunuchs and to bastards, Ammonites and Moabites, for ever, but to Edomites and Egyptians only till the third generation. 1. Some think they are hereby excluded from communicating with the people of God in their religious services. Though eunuchs and bastards were owned as members of the church, and the Ammonites and Moabites might be circumcised and proselyted to the Jewish religion, yet they and their families must lie for some time under marks of disgrace, remembering the rock whence they were hewn, and must not come so near the sanctuary as others might, nor have so free a communion with Israelites. 2. Others think they are hereby excluded from bearing office in the congregation: none of these must be elders or judges, lest the honour of the magistracy should thereby be stained. 3. Others think they are excluded only from marrying with Israelites. Thus the learned bishop Patrick inclines to understand it; yet we find that when this law was put in execution after the captivity they separated from Israel, not only the strange wives, but all the mixed multitude, see Neh 13:1-2. With the daughters of these nations (though out of the nations of Canaan), it should seem, the men of Israel might marry, if they were completely proselyted to the Jewish religion; but with the men of these nations the daughters of Israel might not marry, nor could the men be naturalized otherwise than as here provided.

It is plain, in general, that disgrace is here put,

I. Upon bastards and eunuchs, Deu 23:1, Deu 23:2. By bastards here the Jewish writers understand, not all that were born of fornication, or out of marriage, but all the issue of those incestuous mixtures which are forbidden, Lev. 18. And, though it was not the fault of the issue, yet, to deter people from those unlawful marriages and unlawful lusts, it was very convenient that their posterity should thus be made infamous. By this rule Jephthah, though the son of a harlot, a strange woman (Jdg 11:1, Jdg 11:2), yet was not a bastard in the sense of this law. And as for the eunuchs, though by this law they seemed to be cast out of the vineyard as dry trees, which they complain of (Isa 56:3), yet it is here promised (Deu 23:5) that if they took care of their duty to God, as far as they were admitted, by keeping his sabbaths and choosing the things that pleased him, the want of this privilege should be made up to them with such spiritual blessings as would entitle them to an everlasting name.

II. Upon Ammonites and Moabites, the posterity of Lot, who, for his outward convenience, had separated himself from Abraham, Gen 13:11. And we do not find that he or his ever joined themselves again to the children of the covenant. They are here cut off to the tenth generation, that is, (as some think it is explained), for ever. Compare Neh 13:1. The reason of this quarrel which Israel must have with them, so as not to seek their peace (Deu 23:6), is because of the unkindness they had now lately done to the camp of Israel, notwithstanding the orders God had given not to distress or vex them, Deu 2:9, Deu 2:19. 1. It was bad enough that they did not meet them with bread and water in the way (Deu 23:4), that they did not as allies, or at least as neutral states, bring victuals into their camp, which they should have been duly paid for. It was well that God's Israel did not need their kindness, God himself following them with bread and water. However this omission of the Ammonites should be remembered against their nation in future ages. Note, God will certainly reckon, not only with those that oppose his people, but with those that do not help and further them, when it is in the power of their hand to do it. The charge at the great day is for an omission: I was hungry, and you gave me no meat. 2. The Moabites had done worse, they hired Balaam to curse Israel, Deu 23:4. It is true God turned the curse into a blessing (Deu 23:5), not only changing the word in Balaam's mouth, but making that really turn to the honour and advantage of Israel which was designed for their ruin. But though the design was defeated, and overruled for good, the Moabites' wickedness was not the less provoking. God will deal with sinners, but according to their endeavours, Psa 28:4.

III. The Edomites and Egyptians had not so deep a mark of displeasure put upon them as the Moabites and Ammonites had. If an Edomite or Egyptian turned proselyte, his grand-children should be looked upon as members of the congregation of the Lord to all intents and purposes, Deu 23:7, Deu 23:8. We should think that the Edomites had been more injurious to the Israelites than the Ammonites, and deserved as little favour from them (Num 20:20), and yet "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, as thou must an Ammonite, for he is thy brother." Note, The unkindness of near relations, though by many worst taken, yet should with us, for that reason, because of the relation, be first forgiven. And then, as to the Egyptians, here is a strange reason given why they must not be abhorred: "Thou wast a stranger in their land, and therefore, though hardly used there, be civil to them, for old acquaintance' sake." They must not remember their bondage in Egypt for the keeping up of any ill will to the Egyptians, but only for the magnifying of Gods power and goodness in their deliverance.

Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–8. Public domain.
Copy as
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
Copy as

Continue studying Deuteronomy 23:8 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.

Read & Compare

Commentaries

Original Language & Research

Sermons, Hymns & Audio

TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.