Deuteronomy 23:11

But it shall be, when evening cometh on,.... When the day declines, and it is near sun setting: he shall wash himself with water; dip himself all over in water, not only wash his garments but his flesh: and when the sun is down he shall come into the camp again; and take his place and rank in the army. Now if all this was necessary on account of ceremonial uncleanness, which as much as possible was to be avoided, how much more careful were they to be of moral uncleanness, as fornication, adultery, and all sorts of debauchery and lewdness? and yet nothing more frequent among those that are of the military order; it would be well if there was no occasion for the reproach Maimonides (q) casts upon the camps of the Heathens, among whom, no doubt, he means Christians, if not principally; when he observes that these orders were given, that this might be deeply fixed in the mind of every one, that their camp ought to be holy as the sanctuary of God, and not like the camps of the Gentiles, in which abound corruptions of all kinds, transgressions, rapines, thefts, and other sins. (q) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 41.

The person who had become unclean through a nightly occurrence, was to go out of the camp and remain there till he had cleansed himself in the evening. On the journey through the desert, none but those who were affected with uncleanness of a longer duration were to be removed from the camp ( Numbers 5:2 ) but when they were encamped, this law was to apply to even lighter defilements.

5 . and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God ] Love, mentioned in JE as an affection between human beings (father and son, husband and wife, slave and master) and in H as a duty both to neighbour-Israelites and to strangers ( Leviticus 19:18 ; Leviticus 19:34 ), is never in the Hexateuch described as entering into the relation of man to God except in D and deuteronomic passages, where it is enforced with impressive frequency and fulness as the fundamental religious duty; in the deuteronomic expansion of the Decalogue Exodus 20:6 = Deuteronomy 5:10 ; cp. Deuteronomy 7:9 , also Deuteronomy 10:12 ; Deuteronomy 11:1 ; Deuteronomy 11:13 ; Deuteronomy 11:22 ; Deuteronomy 13:3 ; Deuteronomy 19:9 ; Deuteronomy 30:6 ; Deuteronomy 30:16 ; Deuteronomy 30:20 (of which only Deuteronomy 11:13 ; Deuteronomy 11:22 and Deuteronomy 13:3 are Pl.), and the deuteronomic passages Joshua 22:5 ; Joshua 23:11 . It must be noted that prophecy had already used the term ethically ( Amos 5:15 love the good ) and religiously, for Hosea, besides frequently emphasising God’s love to Israel ( Deuteronomy 3:1 , Deuteronomy 9:15 , Deuteronomy 11:1 ; Deuteronomy 11:4 , Deuteronomy 14:4 ), and in terms so warm as to inevitably excite their love to God, describes also the relation of men to their gods as one of love and calls Jehovah the husband of Israel ( Deuteronomy 2:7 ; Deuteronomy 2:13 , Deuteronomy 9:10 ).

Westphal, Sources du Pent. ii. 111. whither ye go over to possess it ] A formula distinctive of the Pl. passages occurring, besides here, Deuteronomy 4:14 , Deuteronomy 11:8 ; Deuteronomy 11:11 ; whereas when the Sg. passages use the verb go over they add the Jordan , Deuteronomy 9:1 , Deuteronomy 30:18 , but elsewhere prefer the equivalent phrase, the land whither thou art entering (or thou art entering the land ), Deuteronomy 6:18 , Deuteronomy 7:1 , Deuteronomy 9:5 , Deuteronomy 11:10 ; Deuteronomy 11:29 , Deuteronomy 12:29 , Deuteronomy 18:9 , Deuteronomy 23:20 , Deuteronomy 28:21 ; Deuteronomy 28:63 , Deuteronomy 30:16 . The only verse in which this phrase occurs with the Pl. Isaiah 4:5 b ( q.v. ); while Deuteronomy 4:1 (Pl.) gives a variation.

In no other stratum of the Hexateuch is this lofty conception of religion to be found’ (Bä.). See Deuteronomy 6:5 [ Mark 12:30 , Luke 10:27 ], Deuteronomy 10:12 , Deuteronomy 11:1 ; Deuteronomy 11:13 ; Deuteronomy 11:22 , Deuteronomy 13:3 , Deuteronomy 19:9 , Deuteronomy 30:6 ; Deuteronomy 30:16 ; Deuteronomy 30:20 , Joshua 22:5 ; Joshua 23:11 both Deuteronomic); and cf. the writer’s Deuteronomy , pp. xxi, xxviii, lxxviii, 91. Love to God is not mentioned elsewhere in the Hexateuch, except in the parallel, Deuteronomy 5:10 (cf. Exodus 7:19 : see, however, Jdg 5:30 ). It is, of course, not through extraordinary or miraculous interferences that the sins of parents are visited upon their children, but through the natural providence of God, operating through the normal constitution of society, which in its turn takes its organization and form from the character of human nature, which is His appointment. History and experience alike teach how often, and under what varied conditions, it happens that the misdeeds of a parent result in bitter consequences for the children. The principle here asserted is not in conflict with Deuteronomy 24:6 (children not to be put to death for the fathers): the legislator is not there dealing with a principle involved in the constitution of society itself; he is laying down a rule for the administration of justice by the State. See, on the distinction between the two cases, Mozley’s Ruling Ideas in Early Ages , Lect. V.