4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, 2 if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind 3 and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, 4 4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you 5 today that you will surely and swiftly be removed 6 from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be 7 annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you 8 among the nations where the Lord will drive you.
1 tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the
2 tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.
3 tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”
4 tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.
5 sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the
6 tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”
7 tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.
8 tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”