Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ¹  a numerous ²  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 9:6

9:6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn ³  people!

Deuteronomy 9:13

9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn ⁴  lot!

Deuteronomy 10:9

10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance ⁵  among his brothers; ⁶  the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him.

Deuteronomy 12:23

12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself ⁷  – you must not eat the life with the meat!

Deuteronomy 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁸  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 26:19

26:19 Then ¹⁰  he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. ¹¹  You will ¹²  be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

Deuteronomy 27:20

27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with ¹³  his father’s former wife, ¹⁴  for he dishonors his father.’ ¹⁵  Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:22

27:22 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 28:33

28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.

Deuteronomy 32:6

32:6 Is this how you repay ¹⁶  the Lord,

you foolish, unwise people?

Is he not your father, your creator?

He has made you and established you.

Deuteronomy 32:21

32:21 They have made me jealous ¹⁷  with false gods, ¹⁸ 

enraging me with their worthless gods; ¹⁹ 

so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ²⁰ 

with a nation slow to learn ²¹  I will enrage them.

Deuteronomy 32:24-25

32:24 They will be starved by famine,

eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; ²² 

I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,

along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ²³  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

¹ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

² tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

³ tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

⁵ tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.

⁷ sn Levi has no allotment or inheritance. As the priestly tribe, Levi would have no land allotment except for forty-eight towns set apart for their use (Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-42). But theirs was a far greater inheritance, for the Lord himself was their apportionment, that is, service to him would be their full-time and lifelong privilege (Num 18:20-24; Deut 18:2; Josh 13:33).

⁸ tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.

⁹ sn The blood is life itself. This is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which the cause or means (the blood) stands for the result or effect (life). That is, life depends upon the existence and circulation of blood, a truth known empirically but not scientifically tested and proved until the 17th century a.d. (cf. Lev 17:11).

¹¹ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

¹² sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

¹³ tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).

¹⁴ tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.

¹⁵ tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).

¹⁶ tn See note at Deut 22:30.

¹⁷ tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.

¹⁷ tn Or “treat” (TEV).

¹⁹ sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.

²⁰ tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”

²¹ tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).

²² tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).

²³ tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”

²¹ tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).

²³ tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.