4:15 Be very careful, 4 then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire.
12:32 (13:1) 7 You 8 must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! 9
16:1 Observe the month Abib 14 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 15 he 16 brought you out of Egypt by night.
26:16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul. 17 26:17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments.
27:1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Pay attention to all the commandments 18 I am giving 19 you today.
29:9 “Therefore, keep the terms 22 of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do.
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 23
and he did not acknowledge his own brothers
or know his own children,
for they kept your word,
and guarded your covenant.
1 tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”
2 tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”
3 sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).
4 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
7 tn The term “commandment” (מִצְוָה, mitsvah), here in the singular, refers to the entire body of covenant stipulations.
8 tn Heb “as he has commanded us” (so NIV, NRSV).
10 sn Beginning with 12:32, the verse numbers through 13:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 12:32 ET = 13:1 HT, 13:1 ET = 13:2 HT, 13:2 ET = 13:3 HT, etc., through 13:18 ET = 13:19 HT. With 14:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
11 tn This verse highlights a phenomenon found throughout Deuteronomy, but most especially in chap. 12, namely, the alternation of grammatical singular and plural forms of the pronoun (known as Numeruswechsel in German scholarship). Critical scholarship in general resolves the “problem” by suggesting varying literary traditions – one favorable to the singular pronoun and the other to the plural – which appear in the (obviously rough) redacted text at hand. Even the ancient versions were troubled by the lack of harmony of grammatical number and in this verse, for example, offered a number of alternate readings. The MT reads “Everything I am commanding you (plural) you (plural) must be careful to do; you (singular) must not add to it nor should you (singular) subtract form it.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate suggest singular for the first two pronouns but a few Smr
12 sn Do not add to it or subtract from it. This prohibition makes at least two profound theological points: (1) This work by Moses is of divine origination (i.e., it is inspired) and therefore can tolerate no human alteration; and (2) the work is complete as it stands (i.e., it is canonical).
13 tn Heb “if listening you listen to the voice of.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “carefully.” The idiom “listen to the voice” means “obey.”
14 tn Heb “the
15 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
16 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
16 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
17 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
18 tn Heb “the
19 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
22 tn Heb “the whole commandment.” See note at 5:31.
23 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 10).
25 tn Heb “the commandments of the
26 tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
28 tn Heb “words.”
31 sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).