Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 7:1-6
  Click to retrieve Deuteronomy 7:1-6
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 20:16-18
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 22:10
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 23:4-7
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:28-33
  Click to retrieve Exodus 23:28-33
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 34:11-16
  Click to retrieve Exodus 34:11-16
  Jewish Commentary
• Numbers 25:3-15
  Click to retrieve Numbers 25:3-15
  Jewish Commentary

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

The Scriptures are plain in commanding that we are not to enter into covenants with idolaters and unbelievers in God, Yeshua, or the Bible. The kinds of covenants prohibited are not trivial agreements, but rather the kind that yoke individuals in causes for which the covenanting parties' understanding of God, morality, and ethics is material. Likewise, the kinds of idolaters contemplated are not those with minor personal bondages, but rather those whose idolatries render them unbelievers or persons whose judgments are likely to adversely affect the covenants into which they enter. The result of a believer entering into covenant with such a person can be isastrous because a believer's basis for conduct is God's Law, whereas an unbeliever recognizes no such authority. The prohibition of this Mitzvah does not usually apply to contracts such as those to buy or sell a described item at a defined price, because the terms of such agreements are not vague and are usually not dependent on the moral and ethical values of the parties. On the other hand, partnerships of most kinds (especially marriage) by believers and unbelievers are prohibited because, in the course of continuously dealing with one another, partners must be biblically in accord in handling situations as they arise. In cases of unequal yoking, the covenanting parties hold different values and respond to different authorities for their conduct; the result is that, sooner or later, they will either dissolve their covenant and part ways, or the believing party will be persuaded by the unbelieving party to compromise his or her biblical principles. Many a marriage and business partnership has been shattered through unequal yoking.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch limit their mitzvot to the kinds of idolatries that are prevalent in the Tanakh - the kinds that involve unbelief in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the consequent worship of heathen gods and physical idols. The people groups they include are the seven nations of Canaan and the Ammonites, Moabites, and heretics in general. They do not address idolatries of the heart and flesh.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2