The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
- KJV The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
- BSB The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
- NKJV The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.
- NLT The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the assembly of the Lord.
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
The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the LORD's assembly. The path to full inclusion was open to these peoples.
Overview
Unlike the harsher exclusion of Ammon and Moab, the descendants of Edomites and Egyptians could be incorporated into the covenant community within a few generations. This gracious provision shows that God's people were not closed off forever to outsiders. It anticipates the gospel age, in which all nations are invited to enter God's people through faith in Christ (Eph 2:11-13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Exod 20:5–6you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
- Deut 23:1–3He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
- Eph 2:12–13that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
- Rom 3:29–30Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 23:8 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.