Deuteronomy 4:15

The Nature of Israel’s God

4:15 Be very careful, ¹  then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:23

4:23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he ²  has forbidden ³  you.

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ⁴  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, ⁵  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 2:4

2:4 Instruct ⁶  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ⁷  the descendants of Esau, ⁸  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

Psalms 39:1

Psalm 39 ⁹ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ¹⁰  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ¹¹ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ¹² 

Psalms 119:9

ב (Bet)

119:9 How can a young person ¹³  maintain a pure life? ¹⁴ 

By guarding it according to your instructions! ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 4:23

4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, ¹⁶ 

for from it are the sources ¹⁷  of life.

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Hebrews 12:15

12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up ¹⁸  and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.

[4:15]  ¹ tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”

[4:23]  ² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:23]  ³ tn Heb “commanded.”

[4:1]  ⁴ 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.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[2:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”

[2:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”

[2:4]  ⁸ sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).

[39:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ¹² sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[119:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “young man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender specific “young man” has been translated with the more neutral “young person.”

[119:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “purify his path.”

[119:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

[4:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).

[4:23]  ¹⁷ sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.

[12:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “that there not be any root of bitterness,” but referring figuratively to a person who causes trouble (as in Deut 29:17 [LXX] from which this is quoted).