The Blind, the Lame, and the Barren Shall Not Come into the House

Abstract

D euteronomy 23:2 (in most of the Bible’s English versions, 23:1) forbids men who have suffered certain types of genital mutilation—crushed testicles or a cut-off penis—from entering into the qehal , or assembly, of Yahweh. As Saul M. Olyan discusses in his 2008 book, Disability in the Hebrew Bible , this means, most probably, that these men are forbidden to enter into sanctuary space for Yahwistic worship. This is at least the explanation that is suggested by Lam 1:10; Isa 56:3–5; and Ezek 44:7, 9, which are, as Olyan writes, “the earliest interpretations of and responses to the restriction itself and the larger pericope in which it is embedded (Deut 23:2–9 [Eng. 1–8]).” 1 Olyan furthermore persuasively argues that while the text of Deut 23:2 (English 23:1) does not articulate explicitly the reason that underlies its proscription, the verse and one of the early responses to it, Isa 56:3–5, together indicate that men with damaged genitals are barred from sanctuary space because of their lack of reproductive ability. Deuteronomy 23:2 (English 23:1) hints at this concern, according to Olyan, by leaving out the formula that Deut 23:2–9 (English 23:1–8) “uses in other cases of unqualified interdiction, ‘Even the tenth generation belonging to him shall not enter the assembly of Yahweh.’ “ In Olyan’s account, “This formula is left out in v. 2 (Eng. 1) presumably because the men with genital damage cannot reproduce.” These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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