12:2 King Sihon of the Amorites who lived 1 in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) – including the city in the middle of the valley 2 and half of Gilead – all the way to the Jabbok Valley bordering Ammonite territory. 12:3 His kingdom included 3 the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Kinnereth 4 to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), 5 including the route to Beth Jeshimoth and the area southward below the slopes of Pisgah.
12:4 The territory of King Og of Bashan, one of the few remaining Rephaites, 6 who lived 7 in Ashtaroth and Edrei 12:5 and ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead as far as the border of King Sihon of Heshbon.
4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances 10 I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 11 is giving you.
1 tn Or perhaps, “reigned.”
2 tc The MT reads here, “and the middle of the valley,” but the reading “the city in the middle of valley” can be reconstructed on the basis of Josh 13:9, 16.
3 tn The words “his kingdom included” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 sn The Sea of Kinnereth is another name for the Sea of Galilee. See the note on the word “Kinnereth” in 11:2.
5 sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.
6 tn Heb “from the remnant of the Rephaites.”
7 tn Or perhaps “who reigned.”
8 tn The words “their territory extended” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 47-49 are all one sentence, but for the sake of English style and readability the translation divides the text into two sentences.
9 sn Mount Siyon (the Hebrew name is שִׂיאֹן [si’on], not to be confused with Zion [צִיּוֹן, tsiyyon]) is another name for Mount Hermon, also called Sirion and Senir (cf. Deut 3:9).
10 tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.
11 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
12 sn Avvites. Otherwise unknown, these people were probably also Anakite (or Rephaite) giants who lived in the lower Mediterranean coastal plain until they were expelled by the Caphtorites.
13 sn Caphtorites. These peoples are familiar from both the OT (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7) and ancient Near Eastern texts (Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:37-38; ANET 138). They originated in Crete (OT “Caphtor”) and are identified as the ancestors of the Philistines (Gen 10:14; Jer 47:4).
14 tn Heb “Caphtor”; the modern name of the island of Crete is used in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).