Deuteronomy 23:7
in Deuteronomy 23Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a sojourner in his land.
KJV
Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAt any rate [Scripture] says openly, "You shall not loathe Egyptians, since you lived as strangers in Egypt." By Egyptian it means "Gentile," in fact anyone from anywhere in the world. It is further forbidden to think of enemies as enemies, even if they are presently besieging your walls in the effort to capture your city, until you have sent them an envoy to invite them to peace.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite
on Deuteronomy 23:7-8
Edom is spared on the ground of kinship, for he is thy brother, and the reckoning holds after Genesis 27 and after Numbers 20:18-21, where Edom came out with the sword to refuse Israel passage. Egypt is spared on the ground that thou wast a stranger in his land, so the house of bondage is kept off the list that holds Moab, and Barnes reads the oppression as the act of the Pharaohs rather than the will of the people who once fed Joseph's brothers. The grandchildren of both may enter in the third generation, against the ten generations of verse 3.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thou shall not abhor an Edomite,....
Israel was now encamped, and this vast army was just entering upon action, which was likely to keep them together for a long time, and therefore it was fit to give them particular directions for the good ordering of their camp.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Edomite, as descended from Esau the twin brother of Jacob (compare Deu 2:4), and the Egyptian, as of that nation which had for long shown hospitality to Joseph and his brethren, were not to be objects of abhorrence. The oppression of the Egyptians was perhaps regarded as the act of the Pharaohs rather than the will of the people Exo 11:2-3; and at any rate was not to cancel the memory of preceding hospitality. Deu 23:8 In their third generation - i. e. the great grandchildren of the Edomite or Egyptian alien: compare the similar phrase in Exo 20:5.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְתַעֵ֣ב | tetaev | you will abhor | H8581 → | 22 times |
| אֲדֹמִ֔י | ʾadomi | an Edomite | H130 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָחִ֖יךָ | ʾachikha | [is] relative your | H251 → | 630 times |
| ה֑וּא ס | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְתַעֵ֣ב | tetaev | you will abhor | H8581 → | 22 times |
| מִצְרִ֔י | mitzri | an Egyptian | H4713 → | |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גֵ֖ר | ger | a sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| הָיִ֥יתָ | hayita | you were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְאַרְצֽוֹ׃ | veartzo | in land his | H776 → | 2504 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תְתַעֵ֣בyou will abhor
tetaevH8581 →22 times
אֲדֹמִ֔יan Edomite
ʾadomiH130 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אָחִ֖יךָ[is] relative your
ʾachikhaH251 →630 times
ה֑וּא סhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תְתַעֵ֣בyou will abhor
tetaevH8581 →22 times
מִצְרִ֔יan Egyptian
mitzriH4713 →
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גֵ֖רa sojourner
gerH1616 →92 times
הָיִ֥יתָyou were
hayitaH1961 →3559 times
בְאַרְצֽוֹ׃in land his
veartzoH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 10:19So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:21
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 19:33–34
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
- Exodus 22:21
Through
Leviticus 19:34You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:19
So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- Exodus 12:48–49
If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be…
- Matthew 5:43
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
- Deuteronomy 10:19
Through
Exodus 22:21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:9
Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Leviticus 19:33
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
- Exodus 23:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.