Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 23:2-3 
Context23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 1 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 2
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 3 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 4 do so, 5
1 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
2 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
3 sn An Ammonite or Moabite. These descendants of Lot by his two daughters (cf. Gen 19:30-38) were thereby the products of incest and therefore excluded from the worshiping community. However, these two nations also failed to show proper hospitality to Israel on their way to Canaan (v. 4).
4 tn The Hebrew term translated “ever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ’ad-’olam) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.
5 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
