Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 23:2/אבן עזרא על דברים כ״ג:ב׳
אפצוע דכה. ביצים בלא אבר [ס״א חסר] ואמרו המדקדקים כי הטעם בשרם שהוא דכא וזה רחוק:
1HE THAT IS CRUSHED.3. Dakkah (crushed) refers to the testicles.4 as one who is wounded (petzu’a) in the testicles (dakkah). The word5. does not appear again in Scripture.6. 38, which says, betzim belo chaver. The Mikra’ot Gedolot edition of I.E. reads: betzim belo ever (testicles without a penis). This reading appears wrong in view of the fact that Scripture goes on to say that one missing a penis shall not enter the congregation of God. The grammarians say that it refers to the flesh,7 which is soft.8 (testicles) means soft. The grammarians explain that the testicles are referred to by the term dakkah because the flesh of the testicles is soft. However, this is far-fetched.
בשפכה. זה האבר שממנו ישפך מימיו והזרע:
2PRIVY PARTS. Shofkhah (privy parts) refers to the organ from which urine and semen pour.
גבקהל ה'. הטעם שלא יחשב כאחד מקהל ה' שיקח בת ישראל וכן עמוני ולא עמונית מואבי ולא מואבית והעד הנאמן רות והכתוב שאמר לא תבאו בהם על נשי שבעת הגוים. גם הכתוב בעזרא ויבדילו כל ערב הם (הנזכרים) ושם פירשתיו:
3INTO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD. It means that they shall not be considered as part of God’s assembly with regard to taking a daughter of Israel. Similarly, an Ammonite male to the exclusion of an Ammonite female, and a Moabite male to the exclusion of a Moabite female.9 Ruth is the true witness to the latter.10 The verse that says neither shall they come among you (I Kings 11:2)11, Ammonite and Moabite women fall under Scripture’s marriage ban. speaks of the women of the seven nations.12 refers to the Zidonians and Hittites, who were Canaanites, and not to the Moabites and the Ammonites. Furthermore, the verse in the Book of Ezra13 which states, that they separated from Israel all the alien mixture (Neh. 13:3),14 refers to the males. I have explained it there.15