In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that my other favorite Bible verse is Deut. 23:1: No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
I try to apply it to some aspect of my life every day.
4 comments:
Well OK, but there is an actual reason for this. And since you didn't ask:
When God called Abraham a promise was made of "as many descendants as the stars in the sky..." and this to a man in his 80s. Offspring and descendants were vital to economic well-being in those times and this promise to Abraham was taken very seriously.
The lack of reproductive equipment - a common misfortune in fighting or war - would therefore preclude the carrying out of God's will. Hence these men were not allowed to be part of the religious community.
Ouch. Thank you for sharing.
Paul - The reason I heard was somewhat different: that the purpose of the rule was to distinguish the Hebrews from the surrounding pagan societies, where eunuchs were a common feature of religious rites. I suppose your explanation is just as plausible, but it seems rather unfeeling to exclude a man from the fellowship of a religious community simply because he's been injured fighting that community's battles. One wonders what veterans organizations would have to say about such a policy. Hard to see, too, how this could be enforced. Did they hire inspectors? And who would want the job?
How sad that one should be valued or
disqualified based on a muscle. I have heard of the competitive issues some have over this particular body part and find it as absurd as the
notion that males be expected to
repopulate the military in order to maintain a place in their community. The only thing more absurd is that we are still having religious wars.
Personally, I prefer a well functioning brain in the community or in the military.
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