Deuteronomy 23:14
That which thou art eased of: (for the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to thee:) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein, lest he go away from thee.
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- quo revelatus es : Dominus enim Deus tuus ambulat in medio castrorum, ut eruat te, et tradat tibi inimicos tuos : et sint castra tua sancta, et nihil in eis appareat fœditatis, ne derelinquat te.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ὅτι Κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐνπεριπατεῖ ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ σου, ἐξελέσθαι σε καὶ παραδοῦναι τὸν ἐχθρόν σου πρὸ προσώπου σου· καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολή σου ἁγία, καὶ οὐκ ὀφθήσεται ἐν σοὶ ἀσχημοσύνη πράγματος, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀπὸ σοῦ.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Deuteronomy 23:15
- כִּי֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ מִתְהַלֵּ֣ךְ בְּקֶ֣רֶב מַחֲנֶ֗ךָ לְהַצִּֽילְךָ֙ וְלָתֵ֤ת אֹיְבֶ֨יךָ֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ וְהָיָ֥ה מַחֲנֶ֖יךָ קָד֑וֹשׁ וְלֹֽא יִרְאֶ֤ה בְךָ֙ עֶרְוַ֣ת דָּבָ֔ר וְשָׁ֖ב מֵאַחֲרֶֽיךָ
Haydock's commentary
No uncleanness. This caution against suffering any filth in the camp, was to teach them to fly the filth of sin, which driveth God away from the soul. (Challoner) Those who have had the misfortune to fall into the sink of iniquity, must not fail to use the sharp instrument of compunction, with which they may hide the enormity of their crimes. (Haydock)
Incessanter terram mentis nostræ pœnitentiæ dolore confodiat &....abscondat. (St. Gregory, Mor. iii. 13.)
In a camp where three million people were collected, if some such regulation had not been made, great and serious inconveniences would have ensued. The lawgiver, therefore, descends to several particulars which to us might appear minute; but besides the obvious meaning, which is very rational, the words convey other mystical instructions of the highest importance. God was pleased to assume the character of a powerful monarch, residing among his people, and hence every appearance of indecency must be removed. (Haydock)
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.