Mamzer
| Halakhic texts relating to this article | |
|---|---|
| Torah: | Deuteronomy 23:3 (verse 2 in some English translations) |
| Babylonian Talmud: | Yevamot 49a-b, 69a, 78b, 87b, Kiddushin 67b and 73a |
| Shulchan Aruch: | Even HaEzer 4 |
A mamzer (Hebrew: ממזר) is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person, in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law. A mamzer in modern Jewish culture is someone who is either born out of adultery by a married Jewish woman and a Jewish man who is not her husband, or born out of incest (as defined by the Bible), or someone who has a mamzer as a parent. Mamzer status is not synonymous with illegitimacy, since it does not include children whose mothers were unmarried.
The word mamzer is a masculine noun form derived from the root m-z-r having a meaning of spoilt/corrupt. The Talmud explains the term homiletically as consisting of the words mum (defect) and zar (strange/alien) a euphemism for an illicit union in the person's lineage (Kiddushin 3:12, Yevamot 76b)
From the Strong's Concordance: "mamzer (mam‑zare'); from an unused root meaning 'to alienate'; a mongrel, i.e., born of a Jewish father and a heathen mother".
The term occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible, the first time in Deuteronomy 23:3 (which is Deuteronomy 23:2 in the non-Hebrew versions). The Septuagint translates the term mamzer as son "of a prostitute" (Greek: ek ), and the Latin Vulgate translates it as de natus ("born of a prostitute"). In English, it is translated as "bastard".
A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
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