23:9-11
We now get some rules on uncleanness. These were given in the context of setting “up camp against your enemy”. They were to avoid anything impure. The first rule is given regarding nocturnal emissions of semen. Such a man was effectively benched for the whole day, but was allowed back on the field in the evening after washing himself.
23:12-14
The next rules concern doing the toilet. A designated place was to be set aside outside the camp. A hole was to be dug and the excrement covered up. This is all very good from a hygiene point of view, but I do find it more difficult to understand the religious significance. 23:14 does tell us that the reason is that the Lord moves about the camp to protect and deliver His people. So the camp had to be kept pure.
23:15,16
This rule may seem a little out of place, but the previous rules were given in the context of setting “up camp against your enemy”, and under such circumstances of a battle, slaves would often escape. Hence this rule about handling slaves that took refuge with them. One of the criticisms made of the Bible by those who like to do such things is that the Bible supports slavery. As we have seen in working through the Pentacheuch the situation is way more complex than that, and these two verses are a very clear example of the fact that the Bible does not simply “support slavery”. The escaped slave was not to be handed back but was to be allowed to live freely among them.
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