Deuteronomy 13:13

13:13 some evil people ¹  have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, ²  saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). ³ 

Deuteronomy 17:7

17:7 The witnesses ⁴  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ⁵  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 21:21

21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out ⁶  wickedness from among you, and all Israel ⁷  will hear about it and be afraid.

Deuteronomy 24:7

24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ⁸  and regards him as mere property ⁹  and sells him, that kidnapper ¹⁰  must die. In this way you will purge ¹¹  evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 4:3

4:3 You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, ¹²  how he ¹³  eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. ¹⁴ 

Deuteronomy 22:21

22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing ¹⁵  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge ¹⁶  evil from among you.

¹ tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”

² tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”

³ tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.

⁴ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

⁵ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew term בִּעַרְתָּה (bi’artah), here and elsewhere in such contexts (cf. Deut 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:9), suggests God’s anger which consumes like fire (thus בָעַר, ba’ar, “to burn”). See H. Ringgren, TDOT 2:203-4.

⁸ tc Some LXX traditions read הַנִּשְׁאָרִים (hannish’arim, “those who remain”) for the MT’s יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”), understandable in light of Deut 19:20. However, the more difficult reading found in the MT is more likely original.

¹⁰ tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.

¹¹ tn Or “and enslaves him.”

¹² tn Heb “that thief.”

¹³ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.

¹³ tc The LXX and Syriac read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in Deut 3:29.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹⁵ tn Or “followed the Baal of Peor” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV), referring to the pagan god Baal.

¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.