Deuteronomy 1:1

The Covenant Setting

1:1 This is what ¹  Moses said to the assembly of Israel ²  in the Transjordanian ³  wastelands, the arid country opposite ⁴  Suph, ⁵  between ⁶  Paran ⁷  and Tophel, ⁸  Laban, ⁹  Hazeroth, ¹⁰  and Di Zahab ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 1:3

1:3 However, it was not until ¹²  the first day of the eleventh month ¹³  of the fortieth year ¹⁴  that Moses addressed the Israelites just as ¹⁵  the Lord had instructed him to do.

Deuteronomy 4:46

4:46 in the Transjordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. (It is he whom Moses and the Israelites attacked after they came out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 5:1

The Opening Exhortation

5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: ¹⁶  “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!

Deuteronomy 15:2

15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; ¹⁷  he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, ¹⁸  for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.”

Deuteronomy 29:1-2

Narrative Interlude

29:1 (28:69) ¹⁹  These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. ²⁰ 

The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed

29:2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did ²¹  in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land.

Deuteronomy 31:7

31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua ²²  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ²³  and you will enable them to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 31:9

The Deposit of the Covenant Text

31:9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.

Deuteronomy 31:16

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ²⁴  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ²⁵  are going. They ²⁶  will reject ²⁷  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ²⁸ 

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. ²⁹  The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan,

[1:1]  ¹ tn Heb “These are the words.”

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[1:1]  ³ tn Heb “on the other side of the Jordan.” This would appear to favor authorship by someone living on the west side of the Jordan, that is, in Canaan, whereas the biblical tradition locates Moses on the east side (cf. v. 5). However the Hebrew phrase בְּעֵבֶר הַיּרְדֵּן (bÿ’ever hayyrÿden) is a frozen form meaning “Transjordan,” a name appropriate from any geographical vantage point. To this day, one standing east of the Jordan can describe himself as being in Transjordan.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[1:1]  ⁵ sn This place is otherwise unattested and its location is unknown. Perhaps it is Khirbet Sufah, 4 mi (6 km) SSE of Madaba, Jordan.

[1:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”

[1:1]  ⁷ sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).

[1:1]  ⁸ sn Tophel refers possibly to et£-T£afîleh, 15 mi (25 km) SE of the Dead Sea, or to Da‚bîlu, another name for Paran. See H. Cazelles, “Tophel (Deut. 1:1),” VT 9 (1959): 412-15.

[1:1]  ⁹ sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).

[1:1]  ¹⁰ sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.

[1:1]  ¹¹ sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.

[1:3]  ¹² tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.

[1:3]  ¹³ sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ sn The fortieth year would be 1406 b.c. according to the “early” date of the exodus. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66-75.

[1:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[5:1]  ²³ tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”

[15:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.

[15:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”

[29:1]  ⁴⁵ sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[29:1]  ⁴⁶ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[29:2]  ⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew text includes “to your eyes,” but this is redundant in English style (cf. the preceding “you have seen”) and is omitted in the translation.

[31:7]  ⁶⁷ tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:7]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).

[31:16]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

[31:16]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

[31:16]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:16]  ⁸¹ tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

[31:16]  ⁸² tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[34:1]  ⁸⁹ sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.