Deuteronomy 23:13-25

23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself ¹  outside you must dig a hole with the spade ²  and then turn and cover your excrement. ³  23:14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat ⁴  your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent ⁵  among you and turn away from you.

Purity in the Treatment of the Nonprivileged

23:15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. ⁶  23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages ⁷  he prefers; you must not oppress him.

Purity in Cultic Personnel

23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute ⁸  among the young women ⁹  of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute ¹⁰  among the young men ¹¹  of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute ¹²  or the wage of a male prostitute ¹³  into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

Respect for Others’ Property

23:19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, ¹⁴  whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 23:20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 23:21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he ¹⁵  will surely ¹⁶  hold you accountable as a sinner. ¹⁷  23:22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23:23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 23:24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please, ¹⁸  but you must not take away any in a container. ¹⁹  23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, ²⁰  but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.

[23:13]  ¹ tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.

[23:13]  ² tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:13]  ³ tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.

[23:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”

[23:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “nakedness of a thing”; NLT “any shameful thing.” The expression עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers specifically to sexual organs and, by extension, to any function associated with them. There are some aspects of human life that are so personal and private that they ought not be publicly paraded. Cultically speaking, even God is offended by such impropriety (cf. Gen 9:22-23; Lev 18:6-12, 16-19; 20:11, 17-21). See B. Seevers, NIDOTTE 3:528-30.

[23:15]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.

[23:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “gates.”

[23:17]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qÿdeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah).

[23:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “daughters.”

[23:17]  ¹⁰ tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[23:18]  ¹² tn Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה (zonah) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17.

[23:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17.

[23:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).

[23:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[23:21]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”

[23:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”

[23:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”

[23:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”

[23:25]  ²⁰ sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.