Deuteronomy 2:4

2:4 Instruct ¹  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ²  the descendants of Esau, ³  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

Deuteronomy 6:24

6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him ⁴  so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day.

Deuteronomy 7:18

7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall ⁵  what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt,

Deuteronomy 8:15

8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents ⁶  and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow ⁷  from a flint rock and

Deuteronomy 10:21

10:21 He is the one you should praise; ⁸  he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen.

Deuteronomy 13:4

13:4 You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him.

Deuteronomy 13:11

13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 21:21

21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out ¹⁰  wickedness from among you, and all Israel ¹¹  will hear about it and be afraid.

Deuteronomy 31:6

31:6 Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you!”

Deuteronomy 31:8

31:8 The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

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 “the Lord our God.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.

⁷ tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).

¹¹ tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.

¹³ tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).

¹⁶ sn Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ 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.