Deuteronomy 19:14

Laws Concerning Witnesses

19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, which will have been defined in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 27:17

27:17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:2

27:2 When you cross the Jordan River to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover them with plaster.

Deuteronomy 16:7-9

16:7 You must cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents. 16:8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day.

The Festival of Weeks

16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain.

Deuteronomy 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he 10  chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 28:16-22

28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children 11  will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 12 

Curses by Disease and Drought

28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you 13  in everything you undertake 14  until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. 15  28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases 16  until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He 17  will afflict you with weakness, 18  fever, inflammation, infection, 19  sword, 20  blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish.

Proverbs 17:14

17:14 Starting a quarrel 21  is like letting out water; 22 

stop it before strife breaks out! 23 

Proverbs 22:28

22:28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone 24 

which was put in place by your ancestors. 25 


tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”

tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”

tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.

tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.

tn The rules that governed the Passover meal are found in Exod 12:1-51, and Deut 16:1-8. The word translated “cook” (בָּשַׁל, bashal) here is translated “boil” in other places (e.g. Exod 23:19, 1 Sam 2:13-15). This would seem to contradict Exod 12:9 where the Israelites are told not to eat the Passover sacrifice raw or boiled. However, 2 Chr 35:13 recounts the celebration of a Passover feast during the reign of Josiah, and explains that the people “cooked (בָּשַׁל, bashal) the Passover sacrifices over the open fire.” The use of בָּשַׁל (bashal) with “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) suggests that the word could be used to speak of boiling or roasting.

tn The words “on that day” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for clarification (cf. TEV, NLT).

tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.

tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

10 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

11 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

12 sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.

13 tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”

14 tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”

15 tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.

16 tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”

17 tn Heb “The Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

18 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).

19 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”

20 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

21 tn Heb “the beginning of a quarrel”; TEV, CEV “The start of an argument.”

22 tn The verse simply begins with “letting out water.” This phrase is a metaphor, but most English versions have made it a simile (supplying “like” or “as”). R. N. Whybray takes it literally and makes it the subject of the clause: “stealing water starts a quarrel” (Proverbs [CBC], 100). However, the verb more likely means “to let out, set free” and not “to steal,” for which there are clearer words.

23 tn The temporal clause is formed with the prepositional “before,” the infinitive construct, and the following subjective genitive. The verb גָּלַע (gala’) means “to expose; to lay bare,” and in the Hitpael “to disclose oneself; to break out.”

24 sn Moving a boundary stone was (and still is) a major problem. The boundaries that were established by the forefathers were to be preserved, but no law would stop such violations if people lacked integrity (e.g., Deut 19:14; 27:17; 1 Kgs 21:16-19). Boundaries in Israel were sacred because God owned the land and he apportioned the property to the tribes. To extend one’s property illegally by moving a neighbor’s boundary marker was a violation of covenant and oath. Of course, disputes could arise when both sides claim their ancestors established a boundary.

25 tn Heb “your fathers” (so NAB, NASB).