5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 4 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!
6:1 Now these are the commandments, 5 statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 6 6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments 7 that I am giving 8 you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 9 I am giving 10 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 11 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 12
11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments 13 at all times.
22:31 “You must be sure to do my commandments. 16 I am the Lord.
105:45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey 17 his laws.
Praise the Lord!
119:4 You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept. 18
37:24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow 23 my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. 24
1 tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”
2 tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.
3 tn Heb “place before.”
4 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
5 tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.
6 tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”
7 tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.
8 tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
9 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
10 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
11 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
12 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
13 tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).
14 tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31).
15 tn Heb “And you shall keep my statutes and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31, etc.).
16 tn Heb “And you shall keep my commandments and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8, etc.).
17 tn Heb “guard.”
18 tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
19 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
20 tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.
21 tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.
22 tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.
23 tn Heb “walk [in].”
24 tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”
25 tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).
26 sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.
27 tc Most
28 tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
29 tn Grk “walking in” (an idiom for one’s lifestyle).
30 tn The predicate adjective has the effect of an adverb here (BDF §243).
31 sn This verse really explains John 15:10 in another way. Those who keep Jesus’ commandments are called his friends, those friends for whom he lays down his life (v. 13). It is possible to understand this verse as referring to a smaller group within Christianity as a whole, perhaps only the apostles who were present when Jesus spoke these words. Some have supported this by comparing it to the small group of associates and advisers to the Roman Emperor who were called “Friends of the Emperor.” Others would see these words as addressed only to those Christians who as disciples were obedient to Jesus. In either case the result would be to create a sort of “inner circle” of Christians who are more privileged than mere “believers” or average Christians. In context, it seems clear that Jesus’ words must be addressed to all true Christians, not just some narrower category of believers, because Jesus’ sacrificial death, which is his act of love toward his friends (v. 13) applies to all Christians equally (cf. John 13:1).