It looks like I’m gonna have a lot of company:
Deuteronomy 23, King James Version
1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
Damn, I thought you were joking. Guess not.
Y’know, Adam and Eve weren’t officially married, so I guess…
you know a vasectomy is not the same as having your “privy member” cut off.
Unless you get a reallly bad doctor.
I just love to see people type “privy member”.
I guess this answers my questions about how the term “stones” came to refer to the gonads.
And the original quotation does not condemn anyone to hell. What it meant was that castrated Jews could not be counted as part of a minyan, or ceremonial quorum.
Sorry.
Regards,
Shodan
Technically, the relevant Biblical passage refers to the community of worshippers, not those who enter Heaven.
It’s still a stupid rule. One of the reasons I’m not incredibly fond of the religious aspects of Judaism, in fact.
This passage is yet another good example of why the Bible contains much that applied to an ancient Hebrew culture on the other side of the planet, and not to our culture. Much like the Leviticus passage that forbid wearing cloth made of two different fibers.
It’s hard to imagine how this would even be helpful to the ancient Hebrew society, actually. Pity the poor ancient Hebrew who had his wang lopped off in an accident or in war. I can see that these Biblical rules are an attempt to improve society, for example “Thou shalt not kill” to reduce murders, but does there need to be a rule to make guys protect their junk? If that rule wasn’t there, were guys hacking at their 'nads when they were bored?
Aside:
Heh. “Stones”. I thought that was modern slang. People in King James times went around saying “That bitch kicked me right in the freakin’ stones!”
If I went for a vasectomy and came out with my privy member cut off, I wouldn’t be too happy, although it has nothing to do with hell. Daniel would be a good example.
Thanks for the clarification.
It’s still a stupid though, isn’t it? What do they do in the minyan that requires a penis?
Not so. It means marry a Jewish woman. (A minyan is not a Biblical concept).
It’s there forv probably the same reason behind most “incomprehensible” rules from the period: because they were common practices in other nearby religions. I can imagine, for instance, a local Canaanite cult - which we know nothing about today - that encouraged castration among its priestly caste and “holy men”.
Shodan and TVAA, that’s not quite correct. I wrote something about this here, to try and clarify what, according to Jewish law, is meant by “entering into the assembly of the L-rd.” It refers to a marital prohibition,* not one on entering a synagogue or being counted for a minyan, much less on going to heaven. (Indeed, Isaiah (56:4-5) speaks very positively of “the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths” and otherwise observe Judaism to the best of their ability, and assures them that their place in G-d’s house is secure.)
And the restriction on them not marrying Jewish women is pretty understandable – such a marriage would not produce any Jewish children. Better for the women to marry men who were more likely to produce children and keep their community growing.
RedNaxela and IzzyR -
Thanks for the correction. I was told that “entering into the congregation” meant being accepted as an adult Jew.
Regards,
Shodan
Well, they would have thrown in a “verily!” or something.
It seems odd that someone with damage ‘stones’ or missing wang couldn’t get into the minivan (yuk), but they can get into heaven. Does not pass the boloney test.
As in :
“Verily, I say unto you: OOOOWWWWWW!”
Maybe it means if you have your privy member cut off, then you ARE in hell. Sex is all I live for dunno about u guys.
A Kohen who’s a eunuch can’t serve in the temple, either.