Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
Don't hate or despise an Edomite, because he is your relative. Don't hate or despise an Egyptian, because you were once a foreigner living in their land.
God is telling His people not to harbor hatred toward Edomites (their relatives) or Egyptians (who once gave them refuge), reminding them to remember their connections and history with these nations.
📚 Historical Context
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is delivering laws to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land after their exodus from Egypt. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Israel's ancestor), which established a familial bond despite historical conflicts. The Egyptians had initially hosted the Israelites as strangers during a famine, though they later enslaved them, and this verse reminds Israel of that earlier hospitality.
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