Deuteronomy 8:7-9

8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, ¹  springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 8:9 a land where you may eat food ²  in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron ³  and from whose hills you can mine copper.

Deuteronomy 11:11-12

11:11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy ⁴  is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, ⁵  11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. ⁶  He is constantly attentive to it ⁷  from the beginning to the end of the year. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 32:8

32:8 When the Most High ⁹  gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided up humankind, ¹⁰ 

he set the boundaries of the peoples,

according to the number of the heavenly assembly. ¹¹ 

[8:7]  ¹ tn Or “wadis.”

[8:9]  ² tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[8:9]  ³ sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.

[11:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “rain of heaven.”

[11:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.

[11:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “always on it.”

[11:12]  ⁸ sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.

[32:8]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term עֶליוֹן (’elyon) is an abbreviated form of the divine name El Elyon, frequently translated “God Most High” (so here NCV, CEV) or something similar. This full name (or epithet) occurs only in Gen 14, though the two elements are parallel in Ps 73:11; 107:11; etc. Here it is clear that Elyon has to do with the nations in general whereas in v. 9, by contrast, Yahweh relates specifically to Israel. See T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:400-401. The title depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world, who is enthroned high above his dominion.

[32:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sons of man” (so NASB); or “the sons of Adam” (so KJV).

[32:8]  ¹¹ tc Heb “the sons of Israel.” The idea, perhaps, is that Israel was central to Yahweh’s purposes and all other nations were arranged and distributed according to how they related to Israel. See S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy (ICC), 355-56. For the MT יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי (bÿney yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) a Qumran fragment has “sons of God,” while the LXX reads ἀγγέλων θεοῦ (angelwn qeou, “angels of God”), presupposing בְּנֵי אֵל (bÿney ’el) or בְּנֵי אֵלִים (beney ’elim). “Sons of God” is undoubtedly the original reading; the MT and LXX have each interpreted it differently. MT assumes that the expression “sons of God” refers to Israel (cf. Hos. 1:10), while LXX has assumed that the phrase refers to the angelic heavenly assembly (Pss 29:1; 89:6; cf. as well Ps 82). The phrase is also attested in Ugaritic, where it refers to the high god El’s divine assembly. According to the latter view, which is reflected in the translation, the Lord delegated jurisdiction over the nations to his angelic host (cf. Dan. 10:13-21), while reserving for himself Israel, over whom he rules directly. For a defense of the view taken here, see M. S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” BSac 158 (2001): 52-74.