Apparent Moabite Discrepancy
Ruth 4:22 - And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
If an "...Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD...", and David is in the lineage of Ruth who is a Moabite, then How could David enter the congregation of the LORD if he is part Moabite (Ruth 4:18-22)?
Solution
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Agree (3) Disagree (6) |
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33% |
David is NOT of the lineage of Ruth. Ruth 4:18-22 desrcibes Naomi as being the mother of Obed, who is the father of Jesse: the father of David. The problem is that Naomi is not related to Ruth, she is Ruth's mother in law, thus not related in blood, and thus David is not a Moabite.
Solution
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Agree (5) Disagree (1) |
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83% |
In Deut. 23:3, this law excluding the Ammonites and Moabites from “the congregation of the Lord” applies specifically to men. Ruth was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite man, Boaz. She became a proselyte to the Jewish faith (Ruth 1:4,16).
Now, in Deut 23:3, it mentions that a Moabite could not “enter into the congregation of the Lord” until the “tenth generation”. Whenever in the Bible there is a list of generations, such as Ruth 4:18-22, it always mentions sons being begotten by their fathers and rarely mentions who their mothers are. So, only Moabite men are excluded from the Lord’s congregation all the way up until the “tenth generation”.
Interesting note: If you look at the genealogy of David in Ruth 4:18-22, you’ll notice that Pharez is the illegitimate son of Judah and Tamar. In Deut. 23:2 an illegitimate child will “not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation”. From Pharez to David is exactly ten generations. Since David is the tenth generation, according to the Law of Moses, he is not excluded from the Lord’s congregation.