Deuteronomy 1:2

1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey ¹  from Horeb ²  to Kadesh Barnea ³  by way of Mount Seir. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 23:17

Purity in Cultic Personnel

23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute ⁵  among the young women ⁶  of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute ⁷  among the young men ⁸  of Israel.

Deuteronomy 26:19

26:19 Then ⁹  he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. ¹⁰  You will ¹¹  be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ¹²  to Israel ¹³  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ¹⁴  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ¹⁵ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ¹⁶  to them.

Deuteronomy 1:19

1:19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea.

Deuteronomy 32:51

32:51 for both of you ¹⁷  rebelled against me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the desert of Zin when you did not show me proper respect ¹⁸  among the Israelites.

[1:2]  ¹ sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).

[1:2]  ² sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.

[1:2]  ³ sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.

[1:2]  ⁴ sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”

[23:17]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qÿdeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah).

[23:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “daughters.”

[23:17]  ⁷ tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[26:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).

[26:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”

[26:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.

[33:2]  ¹³ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

[33:2]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.

[33:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[33:2]  ¹⁶ tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.

[33:2]  ¹⁷ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

[32:51]  ¹⁷ tn The use of the plural (“you”) in the Hebrew text suggests that Moses and Aaron are both in view here, since both had rebelled at some time or other, if not at Meribah Kadesh then elsewhere (cf. Num 20:24; 27:14).

[32:51]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “did not esteem me holy.” Cf. NIV “did not uphold my holiness”; NLT “failed to demonstrate my holiness.”