“A man is not to take his father’s wife, thus violating his father’s rights. A man with crushed or damaged private parts may not enter the assembly of Adonai.“-Deuteronomy 23:1-2
You wanna know what I really love about God’s Word?
I love how God in His awesome sovereignty takes pretty much every universally accepted cultural tradition at the time and turns them all on their heads.
Deuteronomy 23:1 is a perfect example of this.
While the whole gentile world had the custom of a father passing on his wives and concubines to his firstborn son as part of the son’s inheritance package, God says ‘that ain’t gonna be taking place in Israel Jose’.
And once the Lord decrees it, it is done.
I love this.
God is so sovereign!
Let’s take a look at another common Biblical phrase and its nuance that would be good to understand.
You know how we often see the term “taking” in reference to a man entering into a relationship with a woman in the Scriptures?
For example, in my last article, we talked about how Reuben “took” Bilah or here in Deuteronomy 23, the Lord tells Israel that a son is not to “take” his father’s former wife.
Well, Biblically speaking, the word “take” actually has two meanings.
It means to have sex AND…
…it means to get married.
Or let me put it this way.
From God’s perspective, sex and marriage are like a lock and a key.
They are inseparable or …
…one could say one without the other is meaningless.
According to the Torah, once a man and a woman are engaged to each other, they’re pretty much already legally married.
The only thing left to complete the arrangement is sexual intercourse.
The Lord views sexual intercourse between a married man and his wife or wives as VERY, VERY important.
Why?
Because this action is the first step that leads to children which also means it is the first step to having a family.
And a key component in the Abrahamic Covenant is “to be fruitful and multiply”.
In fact, it was considered a Hebrew’s primary duty before HASHEM to get married and have children.
The Lord wants many, many members in His Kingdom and He created sex as the vehicle in order to achieve that purpose.
So now that we have that understanding firmly in place (I hope), let’s take a look at verse 2.
“A man with crushed or damaged private parts
may not enter the assembly of Adonai.”
The King James version renders this verse as follows…
“He that is wounded in the stones,
or hath his privy member cut off,
shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.”
I swear, the King James version might as well have been written in a foreign language, don’t you think?
So, in plain English what we’re basically being told is that any man whose genitals have been either destroyed, altered or removed is disqualified from entering the assembly of Adonai.
Why?
Because as I’ve just said, such a man is incapable of having children and having children is a key part to fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant.
That’s why no eunuchs or otherwise sterile men were permitted to enter into the assembly of Israel.
Got it?
We’ll continue this discussion the next time we meet.
Awesome
Glad you liked this! Be blessed and shalom!
Is this a particular assembly or the nation as a whole?
I can’t help but consider that “damaged private parts” is a euphemism for something deeper. After all, “uncovering nakedness” holds to the same pattern.
Also in Isaiah 56, we find just the opposite: the eunuch is is treated exactly the opposite:
Isaiah 56:3 Do not let a son of a foreigner who has joined himself to Adonai say, ‘Adonai will surely exclude me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’”
Here, it is those who are Torah observant who are allowed to come near, despite their physical situation. So it would seem that “damaged private parts” indicate something spiritual or some action not taken rather than a physical marker?
You could very well be right Damian. In fact, I think you are.
A common Scriptural principle is that God often expresses unseen spiritual truths through PHYSICAL things on earth.
Thanks for your comment. Be blessed!