Deuteronomy 16:5

16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages ¹  that the Lord your God is giving you,

Deuteronomy 23:16

23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages ²  he prefers; you must not oppress him.

Deuteronomy 12:14

12:14 for you may do so ³  only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 1:3

1:3 However, it was not until ⁵  the first day of the eleventh month ⁶  of the fortieth year ⁷  that Moses addressed the Israelites just as ⁸  the Lord had instructed him to do.

Deuteronomy 15:7

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ⁹  from one of your villages ¹⁰  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ¹¹  to his impoverished condition. ¹² 

Deuteronomy 17:2

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ¹³  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ¹⁴  and breaks his covenant

¹ tn Heb “gates.”

² tn Heb “gates.”

³ tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

⁴ sn This injunction to worship in a single and central sanctuary – one limited and appropriate to the thrice-annual festival celebrations (see Exod 23:14-17; 34:22-24; Lev 23:4-36; Deut 16:16-17) – marks a departure from previous times when worship was carried out at local shrines (cf. Gen 8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 22:9; 26:25; 35:1, 3, 7; Exod 17:15). Apart from the corporate worship of the whole theocratic community, however, worship at local altars would still be permitted as in the past (Deut 16:21; Judg 6:24-27; 13:19-20; 1 Sam 7:17; 10:5, 13; 2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Kgs 18:30).

⁴ tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.

⁵ sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.

⁶ sn The fortieth year would be 1406 b.c. according to the “early” date of the exodus. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66-75.

⁷ tn Heb “according to all which.”

⁵ tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

⁶ tn Heb “gates.”

⁷ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

⁸ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

⁶ tn Heb “gates.”

⁷ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”