10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 1
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 2 for each tribe in all your villages 3 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 4
16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole 5 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.
1 tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.
2 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
3 tn Heb “gates.”
4 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
3 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
4 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
5 tn Heb “become as a vassal and will serve you.” The Hebrew term translated slaves (מַס, mas) refers either to Israelites who were pressed into civil service, especially under Solomon (1 Kgs 5:27; 9:15, 21; 12:18), or (as here) to foreigners forced as prisoners of war to become slaves to Israel. The Gibeonites exemplify this type of servitude (Josh 9:3-27; cf. Josh 16:10; 17:13; Judg 1:28, 30-35; Isa 31:8; Lam 1:1).
5 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
6 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”
7 tn Heb “siege and stress.”