Catholic Commentary on Deuteronomy 23

"For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy." (Deuteronomy 23:14)

Exclusions and Conduct in Camp

Moses lists those excluded from the assembly of the LORD: Ammonites and Moabites, to the tenth generation, because they did not give bread and water on the Exodus journey and hired Balaam to curse Israel. But Edomites are not to be despised, because they are brothers; their third-generation descendants may enter the assembly. Egyptians are not to be despised, because Israel lived in their country; their third-generation descendants may also enter. The exclusions and inclusions reflect both the moral memory of historical acts and the possibility of restoration across generations.

The camp must be kept clean because the LORD moves in it. Anyone who has a nocturnal emission must leave the camp until evening. A place outside the camp is designated for sanitation, with equipment for proper burial of waste. The reason given is direct: For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. The presence of God in the midst of his people creates the obligation of holiness in every dimension of life, including the most bodily. The Catechism draws from this the principle that the presence of God in the Eucharist calls for a corresponding holiness in every aspect of the community's life (CCC 2097).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the LORD your God moves about in your camp. The holy God who walks among you sees everything, including what is buried and what is shameful. The call to holiness is therefore not an invitation to performance but to transparency: live in a way that you could live if you knew the LORD was walking past your tent at every moment. He is.

Prayer

Lord God, you move about in your camp to protect your people. Let your presence sanctify every corner of our community, even the corners we would rather keep private. Your camp must be holy because you are holy and you walk in it. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

23
Exclusion from the Congregation
1 No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.
 
2 No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.
 
3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation. 4 For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim * 23:4 That is, Mesopotamia; Aram-naharaim means Aram of the two rivers, likely the region between the Euphrates and Balih Rivers in northwestern Mesopotamia. to curse you. 5 Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. 6 You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live.
 
7 Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. 8 The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
Uncleanness in the Camp
(Leviticus 15:1–12)
 
9 When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing. 10 If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp and stay outside. 11 When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may return to the camp.
 
12 You must have a place outside the camp to go and relieve yourself. 13 And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement.
 
14 For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from you.
Miscellaneous Laws
 
15 Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you. 16 Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.
 
17 No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute. 18 You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male,† 23:18 Hebrew or a dog into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.
 
19 Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.
 
21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.
 
24 When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket.
 
25 When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

*23:4 23:4 That is, Mesopotamia; Aram-naharaim means Aram of the two rivers, likely the region between the Euphrates and Balih Rivers in northwestern Mesopotamia.

†23:18 23:18 Hebrew or a dog

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