Deuteronomy 23:13
Carrying a paddle at thy girdle. And when thou sittest down, thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou shalt cover
Open Deuteronomy 23:13 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- gerens paxillum in balteo : cumque sederis, fodies per circuitum, et egesta humo operies
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ πάσσαλος ἔσται σοι ἐπὶ τῆς ζώνης σου, καὶ ἔσται ὅταν διακαθιζάνῃς ἔξω, καὶ ὀρύξεις ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐπάγων καλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην σου·
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Deuteronomy 23:14
- וְיָתֵ֛ד תִּהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֖ עַל אֲזֵנֶ֑ךָ וְהָיָה֙ בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֣ ח֔וּץ וְחָפַרְתָּ֣ה בָ֔הּ וְשַׁבְתָּ֖ וְכִסִּ֥יתָ אֶת צֵאָתֶֽךָ
Haydock's commentary
Girdle. Hebrew azon, means "a balance," as the Hebrews generally carried weights, &c., about them, chap. xxv. 13. Moderns translate, "a paddle upon thy weapon," But the Septuagint seem to have read ezor, "a girdle," (Calmet) which is more intelligible, as the Jews were accustomed to carry the necessary utensils, money, &c., not in their pockets, as we do, but in a bag, which they fixed to their girdles, or belts. All the Jews who dwelt in the camp, were bound to have a paddle, for the purpose here mentioned. (Haydock)
Josephus (Jewish Wars ii. 7,) observes, that the Essenians always made use of one, with which they made a hole a foot deep, and covered it with their robes, that nothing indecent might be exposed to view. (Haydock)
The Turks still follow the same custom, when they are encamped. (Busbec, ep. iii.) (Calmet)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, Colossians 1:21,22
So that one would not be wrong in calling Moses both a teacher, and a nursing-father, and a conductor ( Ex. xvi. 3; Num. xi. 4, 5 .); the man’s wisdom was great. Howbeit it is not the same thing to guide men who are already philosophers, and to rule unreasoning children. And, if you are inclined to hear yet another particular; as the nurse says to the child, When thou easest thyself, take up thy garments, and for as long as thou sittest, so also did Moses. ( Deut. xxiii. 13 .) For all the passions are tyrannous in children (for as yet they have not that which is to bridle them), vainglory, desire, irrationality, anger, envy; just as in children, so they prevailed; they spat upon, they beat, Moses. And as a child takes up a stone, and we all exclaim, O do not throw it; so did they also take up stones against their father; and he fled from them. …