Does Deuteronomy 23:1 say that a man cannot enter heaven if he is castrated?
Deuteronomy 23:1
ESV - 1 No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
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Asked April 07 2014
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George Adams
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Larry Truelove
It's strange that someone might read "can't go to heaven" into a passage like that. The passage doesn't even mention heaven.
An important consideration when interpreting scripture is to avoid importing ideas INTO a text.
Gary Jones
Hi Larry. I also find it strange that when a person asks a very direct question that sometimes the answers seem to go around the question. Let me restate the question and maybe it will get a more direct answer: If the "assembly of the Lord" is God's group of believers and God's group of believers can rightfully assume entry into heaven if they are true, then when Deuteronomy says the eunuch may not "enter the assembly of the Lord" what is the Lord saying? That he is not worthy of heaven?
Donald Woody
If it does why are we as christian concerning ourselves with it. We are not bound by or to this law. To the christian this law is nill. Today it also is for the Jew they just won't accept that fact.
Larry Truelove
Gary, I don't assume that the "assembly of The Lord" in the OT sense equates to believers bound for heaven. Of course, your particular view of scripture might but mine does not.
So, it's a non sequitur to me. If the moderators permit, I'll allow the moderators to give you my email if you want to pursue this further.
George Adams
I raised this question because of this: http://youtu.be/ELh667oxAiE?t=1m32s
Karl Gauss
Is it the case that the language of the KJB (et al) includes no word for foreskin or for its removal? Yet we read "He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD." The words 'foreskin' and 'circumcision' are conspicuously absent in such context, with said omissions clearly deliberate, having been instigated by Jews to lessen their stigma in the eyes of believers and non-believers alike.