He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
- BSB No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.
- ESV “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
- NKJV “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the Lord.
- NASB “No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off may enter the assembly of the Lord.
- NLT “If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A man physically emasculated is excluded from the LORD's assembly. The law guarded the wholeness associated with worship in that era.
Overview
Exclusion from the assembly here concerns formal covenant standing, often linked to pagan self-mutilation and the symbolic wholeness required in approaching God. It was never a statement of personal worth. Strikingly, Isaiah 56:3-5 promises the faithful eunuch a name better than sons, and the gospel breaks down such barriers, as the Ethiopian eunuch's joyful baptism shows (Acts 8:36-39).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Isa 56:3–4Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
- Neh 13:1–3On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever;
- Deut 23:2–3A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
- Lev 21:17–21Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
- Lev 22:22–24Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
- Deut 23:8The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
- Lam 1:10The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 23:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.