Deuteronomy 23:7
“You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.”
What does Deuteronomy 23:7 mean?
The Israelites are reminded here that even groups they had genuine reasons to resent deserve respect and welcome. Edom was descended from Esau, Jacob's twin brother, so the Edomites were distant relatives to Israel, yet there was old family tension between them. Egypt had enslaved the Israelites for generations, yet this law says don't hold that against Egyptian people who come among you. What makes this remarkable is that God is essentially saying: yes, you've had real conflicts with these nations, but that shared history doesn't give you permission to treat individuals with contempt. The law calls for a kind of generosity that remembers both the hurt and the humanity. For anyone reading this today who carries old grievances, it's a gentle push toward recognizing that people aren't reducible to the wrongs of their ancestors, and that remembering our own experiences of displacement or hardship can teach us compassion.