דברים, פרק כ״ג, פסוק ג׳

The Torah establishes strict boundaries to protect the sanctity of the Israelite family structure, placing a severe and permanent restriction on the marriage prospects of a person born from grave sexual transgressions. The primary approach among commentators is that this status applies to someone born from deeply forbidden relationships, such as incest within the immediate family or the adultery of a married woman—sins that carry the heaviest spiritual and court-imposed penalties. Scholars offer various explanations for the origin of the Hebrew term used to describe this person. Some view it as an acronym for a "foreign blemish," indicating a permanent flaw in the person's lineage [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי, תורה תמימה]. Others suggest it describes someone born from a partner who is entirely forbidden and "foreign" to the mother [חזקוני, בכור שור, מלבי״ם]. Another approach links the word to an Arabic root meaning an abomination [הכתב והקבלה]. Alternatively, the term is related to the word for "strange," portraying an outcast who is kept hidden by parents ashamed of their sin, making the child a stranger to his own siblings [רמב״ן, הטור הארוך]. Commentators completely reject the notion that the term refers to a foreign nation [אבן עזרא, נתינה לגר].

The restriction is universally understood as a ban on marrying a legitimate Israelite woman. The concept of joining the community implies forging a close, permanent bond and integrating into a family, which occurs only through marriage, rather than a casual encounter [הכתב והקבלה, מזרחי, רלב״ג]. The law is deliberately specified so that one might not mistakenly assume the parents' severe sin entirely uproots the child from the nation. In truth, this limitation applies exclusively to marriage; in every other aspect of life, this individual remains an inseparable and valued member of the Jewish people. In fact, a scholar who holds this status takes precedence over a High Priest who is ignorant of Torah [מלבי״ם, גור אריה, משכיל לדוד, שפתי חכמים, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The marriage ban is specifically limited to joining the core, pedigreed lineages of Priests, Levites, and Israelites. Consequently, the individual is permitted to marry a convert, as a community of converts does not strictly fall under this specific definition of God's congregation [מזרחי, רבנו בחיי, תורה תמימה, צאינה וראינה]. A subtle phrasing in the law further teaches that a child always inherits the blemish of the disqualified parent, ensuring that all subsequent descendants carry the same status [תורה תמימה, בכור שור, הכתב והקבלה]. Although the restriction is stated to last for ten generations, the primary approach among commentators understands this as an eternal ban. Distancing the descendants in this way serves to amplify the community's revulsion toward the acts of adultery that led to their birth [שד״ל].

This raises a question: why does the law not explicitly state that the ban lasts forever, as it does regarding the nations of Ammon and Moab? Some explain that, unlike those nations, this individual has hope for the future; in the Messianic era, they are destined to be purified [הכתב והקבלה, תורה תמימה]. Additionally, while an Ammonite has no marriage options within the community, this individual is permitted to marry a convert or a maidservant [הכתב והקבלה]. A historical perspective suggests that the prophets prayed these lineages would not survive across many generations to prevent them from mingling with the rest of the nation, meaning their family lines naturally do not last forever [חתם סופר].

Finally, the placement of this law immediately following the prohibition regarding a man with damaged reproductive organs highlights a shared theme. Just as a man with physical trauma to his reproductive system cannot father children to continue his line, the legal and recognized lineage of this individual is similarly severed, unable to continue within the broader Israelite congregation [קיצור בעל הטורים].