Deuteronomy 23:3

Hebrew Bible

1 A man with crushed or severed genitals may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 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.

Lamentations 1:10

Hebrew Bible

8 ח (Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; therefore she became an object of scorn. All who admired her have despised her because they have seen her nakedness. She groans aloud and turns away in shame. 9 ט (Tet) Her menstrual flow has soiled her clothing; she did not consider the consequences of her sin. Her demise was astonishing, and there was no one to comfort her. She cried, “Look, O Lord, on my affliction because my enemy boasts!” 10 י (Yod) An enemy grabbed all her valuables. Indeed she watched in horror as Gentiles invaded her holy temple—those whom you had commanded: “They must not enter your assembly place.” 11 כ (Kaf) All her people groaned as they searched for a morsel of bread. They exchanged their valuables for just enough food to stay alive. “Look, O Lord! Consider that I have become worthless!” 12 ל (Lamed) Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine? The Lord has afflicted me, he has inflicted it on me when he burned with anger.

 Notes and References

"... Verses 10 and 11 continue the theme of the enemy, and the words are directed to God (you had forbidden ... your assembly, verse 10; and Jerusalem calls upon God again at the end of verse 11). When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the temple was plundered (Jeremiah 52) and the whole place was made unclean (see also Psalm 74:4–8). In Deuteronomy 23:3-4 Moabites and Ammonites were forbidden to enter the assembly of the Lord, and the Babylonians made use of these nations to attack Judah (2 Kings 24:2), so Lamentations 1:10 may also be applied to these groups (see Renkema 1998: 144). Verse 11 describes the people’s hunger, caused by war and the long siege of Jerusalem (see 2 Kings 25:3; Jeremiah 32:24; 37:21; 52:6). Verse 11 ends with (an even more urgent) prayer to God to pay attention to his people’s misery and do something about it (compare verse 9) ..."

Lalleman-de Winkel, H. Jeremiah and Lamentations (p. 330) InterVarsity Press, 2013

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