When Is a Moabite a Moabite? Selectivity, Stereotypes, and Identity in the Gemeindegesetz, Deut. 23:2–9 [Eng 1–8]

Abstract

This article argues that the Gemeindegesetz’s exclusion of Ammonites and Ammonites from the qahal-YHWH, like its inclusion of Edomites and Egyptians, is not based on ethnobiology or essentialist ethnicity. It draws on social identity and stereotyping theory to explore the text’s characterization of these different groups, and proposes that the salience of moral-behavioral features subordinates but does not efface ethnic and other factors. This interpretation is also integrated with approaches to identity for Israelites and non-Israelites elsewhere in Deuteronomy.