Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy explains exclusion by the refusal to help people in need. This resembles the Odyssey, where the god Zeus protects those in need and expects hosts to offer food and shelter under threat of punishment, treating hospitality as a basic duty.
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Homer Odyssey
Classical
"We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy, but by the will of Zeus, and stress of weather, we have been driven far out of our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who has won infinite renown throughout the whole world, by sacking so great a city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show us some hospitality, and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your excellency fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants, and Zeus takes all respectable travellers under his protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and foreigners in distress.'
Date: 725 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Deuteronomy 23:4
Hebrew Bible
2 A person of illegitimate birth may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever do so, 4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves you.
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Notes and References
"... Deuteronomy legislates that no ammonite or Moabite shall enter the lord’s assembly as a punishment for their inhospitality to the exodus generation: “because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 23:4). the reasoning here is not unlike what we discovered in homer’s Odyssey where Zeus’ role as the patron god of strangers functions as the religious sanction for humans to welcome strangers ..."
Jipp, Joshua W.
Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in Luke-Acts: An Interpretation of the Malta Episode in Acts 28:1-10
(p. 155) Brill, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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