Deuteronomy 14:1-3

The Holy and the Profane

14:1 You are children ¹  of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald ²  for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a people holy ³  to the Lord your God. He ⁴  has chosen you to be his people, prized ⁵  above all others on the face of the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden ⁶  thing.

¹ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”

² sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.

³ tn Or “set apart.”

⁴ tn Heb “The Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

⁵ tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

⁶ tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the Lord because of its innate evil or inconsistency with his own nature and character. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25. Cf. KJV “abominable”; NIV “detestable”; NRSV “abhorrent.”