Deuteronomy 4:8

4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just ¹  as this whole law ²  that I am about to share with ³  you today?

Deuteronomy 19:13

19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent ⁴  from Israel, so that it may go well with you.

Deuteronomy 19:19

19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge ⁵  evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 29:9

The Present Covenant Setting

29:9 “Therefore, keep the terms ⁶  of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 30:14

30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind ⁷  so that you can do it.

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 sn Purge out the blood of the innocent. Because of the corporate nature of Israel’s community life, the whole community shared in the guilt of unavenged murder unless and until vengeance occurred. Only this would restore spiritual and moral equilibrium (Num 35:33).

⁷ tn Heb “you will burn out” (בִּעַרְתָּ, bi’arta). Like a cancer, unavenged sin would infect the whole community. It must, therefore, be excised by the purging out of its perpetrators who, presumably, remained unrepentant (cf. Deut 13:6; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7).

¹⁰ tn Heb “words.”

¹³ tn Heb “heart.”