4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances 1 I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 2 is giving you.
14:15 “If you love me, you will obey 3 my commandments. 4
1 tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.
2 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
3 tn Or “will keep.”
4 sn Jesus’ statement If you love me, you will obey my commandments provides the transition between the promises of answered prayer which Jesus makes to his disciples in vv. 13-14 and the promise of the Holy Spirit which is introduced in v. 16. Obedience is the proof of genuine love.