Joshua 22:16

22:16 “The entire community of the Lord says, ‘Why have you disobeyed the God of Israel by turning back today from following the Lord? You built an altar for yourselves and have rebelled today against the Lord. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 7:4

7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you.

Deuteronomy 7:1

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, ²  Girgashites, ³  Amorites, ⁴  Canaanites, ⁵  Perizzites, ⁶  Hivites, ⁷  and Jebusites, ⁸  seven ⁹  nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 12:14

12:14 for you may do so ¹⁰  only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 12:20

The Sanctity of Blood

12:20 When the Lord your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, “I want to eat meat just as I please,” ¹²  you may do so as you wish. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 12:1

The Central Sanctuary

12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ¹⁴  has given you to possess. ¹⁵ 

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 ¹⁶  people!

Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ¹⁷  a numerous ¹⁸  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 17:1-2

17:1 You must not sacrifice to him ¹⁹  a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive ²⁰  to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ²¹  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ²²  and breaks his covenant

Deuteronomy 25:1

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ²³  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ²⁴  hear the case, they shall exonerate ²⁵  the innocent but condemn ²⁶  the guilty.

Deuteronomy 34:1

The Death of Moses

34:1 Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. ²⁷  The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan,

¹ tn Heb “What is this unfaithfulness with which you have been unfaithful against the God of Israel, turning today from after the Lord, when you built for yourselves an altar, rebelling today against the Lord?”

² sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

³ sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).

⁴ sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

⁵ sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

⁶ sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

⁷ sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

⁸ sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).

⁹ sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.

¹⁰ tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹¹ sn This injunction to worship in a single and central sanctuary – one limited and appropriate to the thrice-annual festival celebrations (see Exod 23:14-17; 34:22-24; Lev 23:4-36; Deut 16:16-17) – marks a departure from previous times when worship was carried out at local shrines (cf. Gen 8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 22:9; 26:25; 35:1, 3, 7; Exod 17:15). Apart from the corporate worship of the whole theocratic community, however, worship at local altars would still be permitted as in the past (Deut 16:21; Judg 6:24-27; 13:19-20; 1 Sam 7:17; 10:5, 13; 2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Kgs 18:30).

¹² tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”

¹³ tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days which you live in the land.” This adverbial statement modifies “to obey,” not “to possess,” so the order in the translation has been rearranged to make this clear.

¹⁶ tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

¹⁷ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

¹⁸ 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).

¹⁹ tn Heb “to the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

²⁰ tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “an abomination”; cf. NAB) describes persons, things, or practices offensive to ritual or moral order. See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:314-18; see also the note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

²¹ tn Heb “gates.”

²² tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

²³ tn Heb “men.”

²⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁵ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

²⁶ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

²⁷ sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.