Deuteronomy 5:15-33

5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. ¹  That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe ²  the Sabbath day. 5:16 Honor ³  your father and your mother just as the Lord your God has commanded you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he ⁴  is about to give you. 5:17 You must not murder. ⁵  5:18 You must not commit adultery. 5:19 You must not steal. 5:20 You must not offer false testimony against another. ⁶  5:21 You must not desire ⁷  another man’s ⁸  wife, nor should you crave his ⁹  house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.” ¹⁰ 

The Narrative of the Sinai Revelation and Israel’s Response

5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. ¹¹  Then he inscribed the words ¹²  on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 5:23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory ¹³  and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us ¹⁴  that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 5:25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 5:26 Who is there from the entire human race ¹⁵  who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 5:27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he ¹⁶  says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 5:28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he ¹⁷  said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well. 5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey ¹⁸  all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 5:30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, ¹⁹  statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” ²⁰  5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as he ²¹  has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long ²²  in the land you are going to possess.

¹ tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”

² tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).

³ tn The imperative here means, literally, “regard as heavy” (כַּבֵּד, kabbed). The meaning is that great importance must be ascribed to parents by their children.

⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “He” in 5:3.

⁵ tn Traditionally “kill” (so KJV, ASV, RSV, NAB). The verb here (רָצַח, ratsakh) is generic for homicide but in the OT both killing in war and capital punishment were permitted and even commanded (Deut 13:5, 9; 20:13, 16-17), so the technical meaning here is “murder.”

⁶ tn Heb “your neighbor.” Clearly this is intended generically, however, and not to be limited only to those persons who live nearby (frequently the way “neighbor” is understood in contemporary contexts). So also in v. 20.

⁷ tn The Hebrew verb used here (חָמַד, khamad) is different from the one translated “crave” (אָוַה, ’avah) in the next line. The former has sexual overtones (“lust” or the like; cf. Song of Sol 2:3) whereas the latter has more the idea of a desire or craving for material things.

⁸ tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” See note on the term “fellow man” in v. 19.

⁹ tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” The pronoun is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Heb “or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”

¹² tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “this day we have seen.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord our God.” See note on “He” in 5:3.

¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “He” in 5:3.

¹⁸ tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

¹⁹ tn Heb “commandment.” The MT actually has the singular (הַמִּצְוָה, hammitsvah), suggesting perhaps that the following terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) are in epexegetical apposition to “commandment.” That is, the phrase could be translated “the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances.” This would essentially make מִצְוָה (mitsvah) synonymous with תּוֹרָה (torah), the usual term for the whole collection of law.

²⁰ tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”

²¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

²² tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”