Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 1:1--28:68
Context1:1 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 1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey 12 from Horeb 13 to Kadesh Barnea 14 by way of Mount Seir. 15 1:3 However, it was not until 16 the first day of the eleventh month 17 of the fortieth year 18 that Moses addressed the Israelites just as 19 the Lord had instructed him to do. 1:4 This took place after the defeat 20 of King Sihon 21 of the Amorites, whose capital was 22 in Heshbon, 23 and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was 24 in Ashtaroth, 25 specifically in Edrei. 26 1:5 So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: 27
1:6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed 28 in the area of this mountain long enough. 1:7 Get up now, 29 resume your journey, heading for 30 the Amorite hill country, to all its areas 31 including the arid country, 32 the highlands, the Shephelah, 33 the Negev, 34 and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 1:8 Look! I have already given the land to you. 35 Go, occupy the territory that I, 36 the Lord, promised 37 to give to your ancestors 38 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.” 39 1:9 I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself. 1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population 40 to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. 41 1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you 42 just as he said he would! 1:12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? 1:13 Select wise and practical 43 men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.” 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose 44 as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they 45 should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens 46 and judge fairly, 47 whether between one citizen and another 48 or a citizen and a resident foreigner. 49 1:17 They 50 must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly 51 and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.
1:18 So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. 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. 1:20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the Amorite hill country which the Lord our God is about to give 52 us. 1:21 Look, he 53 has placed the land in front of you! 54 Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!” 1:22 So all of you approached me and said, “Let’s send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there.” 1:23 I thought this was a good idea, 55 so I sent 56 twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 1:24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, 57 which they scouted out. 1:25 Then they took 58 some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”
1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. 59 1:27 You complained among yourselves privately 60 and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 61 by describing people who are more numerous 62 and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 63 itself! Moreover, they said they saw 64 Anakites 65 there.” 1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified 66 of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go 67 ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 68 1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him 69 carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.” 1:32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, 1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
1:34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: 70 1:35 “Not a single person 71 of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! 1:36 The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; 72 he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.” 73 1:37 As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, “You also will not be able to go there. 1:38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, 74 will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. 75 1:39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, 76 and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, 77 will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. 1:40 But as for you, 78 turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.” 79
1:41 Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. 1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’” 1:43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord 80 and recklessly went up to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area 81 confronted 82 you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. 83 1:45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he 84 paid no attention to you whatsoever. 85 1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time. 86
2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea 87 just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time. 2:2 At this point the Lord said to me, 2:3 “You have circled around this mountain long enough; now turn north. 2:4 Instruct 88 these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives 89 the descendants of Esau, 90 who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir 91 as an inheritance for Esau. 2:6 You may purchase 92 food to eat and water to drink from them. 2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, 93 have blessed your every effort. 94 I have 95 been attentive to 96 your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have 97 been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”
2:8 So we turned away from our relatives 98 the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, 99 from Elat 100 and Ezion Geber, 101 and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands. 2:9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar 102 to the descendants of Lot 103 as their possession. 2:10 (The Emites 104 used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. 2:11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; 105 the Moabites call them Emites. 2:12 Previously the Horites 106 lived in Seir but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the Lord gave them.) 107 2:13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered.” 108 So we did so. 109 2:14 Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the Lord had vowed to them. 2:15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from within 110 the camp until they were all gone.
2:16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, 111 2:17 the Lord said to me, 2:18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. 112 2:19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants 113 as their possession.
2:20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites. 114 The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 115 2:21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites 116 in advance of the Ammonites, 117 so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 2:22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day. 2:23 As for the Avvites 118 who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites 119 who came from Crete 120 destroyed them and settled down in their place.)
2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, 121 and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! 2:25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth 122 with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.” 123
2:26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth 124 Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: 2:27 “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. 125 I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 2:28 Sell me food for cash 126 so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. 127 Just allow me to go through on foot, 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.” 2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our 128 God had made him obstinate 129 and stubborn 130 so that he might deliver him over to you 131 this very day. 2:31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.” 2:32 When Sihon and all his troops 132 emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, 133 2:33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons 134 and everyone else. 135 2:34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them 136 under divine judgment, 137 including even the women and children; we left no survivors. 2:35 We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. 2:36 From Aroer, 138 which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), 139 all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us. 2:37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, 140 the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.
3:1 Next we set out on 141 the route to Bashan, 142 but King Og of Bashan and his whole army 143 came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 144 3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, 145 and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.” 3:3 So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left. 146 3:4 We captured all his cities at that time – there was not a town we did not take from them – sixty cities, all the region of Argob, 147 the dominion of Og in Bashan. 3:5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; 148 in addition there were a great many open villages. 149 3:6 We put all of these under divine judgment 150 just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon – every occupied city, 151 including women and children. 3:7 But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we kept for ourselves. 3:8 So at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon 152 3:9 (the Sidonians 153 call Hermon Sirion 154 and the Amorites call it Senir), 155 3:10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah 156 and Edrei, 157 cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy 158 that his sarcophagus 159 was made of iron. 160 Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath 161 of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet 162 long and six feet 163 wide according to standard measure.) 164
3:12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: The territory extending from Aroer 165 by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. 166 3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. 167 (All the region of Argob, 168 that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim. 3:14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the Argob region as far as the border with the Geshurites 169 and Maacathites 170 (namely Bashan) and called it by his name, Havvoth-Jair, 171 which it retains to this very day.) 3:15 I gave Gilead to Machir. 172 3:16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated the territory extending from Gilead as far as Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi was a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 3:17 The Arabah and the Jordan River 173 were also a border, from the sea of Chinnereth 174 to the sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea), 175 beneath the watershed 176 of Pisgah 177 to the east.
3:18 At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites 178 equipped for battle. 3:19 But your wives, children, and livestock (of which I know you have many) may remain in the cities I have given you. 3:20 You must fight 179 until the Lord gives your countrymen victory 180 as he did you and they take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own territory that I have given you.” 3:21 I also commanded Joshua at the same time, “You have seen everything the Lord your God did to these two kings; he 181 will do the same to all the kingdoms where you are going. 182 3:22 Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you.”
3:23 Moreover, at that time I pleaded with the Lord, 3:24 “O, Lord God, 183 you have begun to show me 184 your greatness and strength. 185 (What god in heaven or earth can rival your works and mighty deeds?) 3:25 Let me please cross over to see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River – this good hill country and the Lebanon!” 186 3:26 But the Lord was angry at me because of you and would not listen to me. Instead, he 187 said to me, “Enough of that! 188 Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 3:27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and take a good look to the west, north, south, and east, 189 for you will not be allowed to cross the Jordan. 3:28 Commission 190 Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.” 3:29 So we settled down in the valley opposite Beth Peor. 191
4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances 192 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, 193 is giving you. 4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to 194 you. 4:3 You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, 195 how he 196 eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. 197 4:4 But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. 4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in 198 the land you are about to enter and possess. 4:6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding 199 to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise 200 people.” 4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just 201 as this whole law 202 that I am about to share with 203 you today?
4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, 204 lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. 4:10 You 205 stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he 206 said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. 207 Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” 4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it 208 and yet dark with a thick cloud. 209 4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard. 210 4:13 And he revealed to you the covenant 211 he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, 212 writing them on two stone tablets. 4:14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. 213
4:15 Be very careful, 214 then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 4:16 I say this 215 so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, 4:17 any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, 4:18 anything that crawls 216 on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. 217 4:19 When you look up 218 to the sky 219 and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation 220 – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, 221 for the Lord your God has assigned 222 them to all the people 223 of the world. 224 4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, 225 to be his special people 226 as you are today. 4:21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he 227 is about to give you. 228 4:22 So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that 229 good land. 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 230 has forbidden 231 you. 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. 232
4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, 233 if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind 234 and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, 235 4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you 236 today that you will surely and swiftly be removed 237 from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be 238 annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you 239 among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 4:28 There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 4:29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. 240 4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, 241 if you return to the Lord your God and obey him 242 4:31 (for he 243 is a merciful God), he will not let you down 244 or destroy you, for he cannot 245 forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.
4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind 246 on the earth, and ask 247 from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it. 4:33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? 4:34 Or has God 248 ever before tried to deliver 249 a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, 250 signs, wonders, war, strength, power, 251 and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 4:35 You have been taught that the Lord alone is God – there is no other besides him. 4:36 From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire from which you also heard his words. 252 4:37 Moreover, because he loved 253 your ancestors, he chose their 254 descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power 4:38 to dispossess nations greater and stronger than you and brought you here this day to give you their land as your property. 255 4:39 Today realize and carefully consider that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below – there is no other! 4:40 Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth 256 today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you as a permanent possession.
4:41 Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east. 4:42 Anyone who accidentally killed someone 257 without hating him at the time of the accident 258 could flee to one of those cities and be safe. 4:43 These cities are Bezer, in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.
4:44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 259 4:45 These are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites after he had brought them out of Egypt, 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. 4:47 They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan – both of whom were Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east. 4:48 Their territory extended 260 from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon valley as far as Mount Siyon 261 – that is, Hermon – 4:49 including all the Arabah of the Transjordan in the east to the sea of the Arabah, 262 beneath the watershed 263 of Pisgah.)
5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 264 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them! 5:2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 5:3 He 265 did not make this covenant with our ancestors 266 but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now. 5:4 The Lord spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the middle of the fire. 5:5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal to you the message 267 of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said:
5:6 “I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. 5:7 You must not have any other gods 268 besides me. 269 5:8 You must not make for yourself an image 270 of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. 271 5:9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish 272 the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject 273 me, 274 5:10 but I show covenant faithfulness 275 to the thousands 276 who choose 277 me and keep my commandments. 5:11 You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, 278 for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. 279 5:12 Be careful to observe 280 the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 5:13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 5:14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath 281 of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you, 282 so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest. 5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. 283 That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe 284 the Sabbath day. 5:16 Honor 285 your father and your mother just as the Lord your God has commanded you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he 286 is about to give you. 5:17 You must not murder. 287 5:18 You must not commit adultery. 5:19 You must not steal. 5:20 You must not offer false testimony against another. 288 5:21 You must not desire 289 another man’s 290 wife, nor should you crave his 291 house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.” 292
5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. 293 Then he inscribed the words 294 on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 5:23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory 295 and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us 296 that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 5:25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 5:26 Who is there from the entire human race 297 who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 5:27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he 298 says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 5:28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he 299 said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well. 5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey 300 all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 5:30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, 301 statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” 302 5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as he 303 has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long 304 in the land you are going to possess.
6:1 Now these are the commandments, 305 statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 306 6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments 307 that I am giving 308 you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days. 6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number 309 – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, 310 said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.
6:4 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 311 6:5 You must love 312 the Lord your God with your whole mind, 313 your whole being, 314 and all your strength. 315
6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 6:7 and you must teach 316 them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, 317 as you lie down, and as you get up. 6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm 318 and fasten them as symbols 319 on your forehead. 6:9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates. 320
6:10 Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build, 6:11 houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – and you eat your fill, 6:12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. 321 6:13 You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name. 6:14 You must not go after other gods, those 322 of the surrounding peoples, 6:15 for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land. 323
6:16 You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 324 6:17 Keep his 325 commandments very carefully, 326 as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe. 6:18 Do whatever is proper 327 and good before the Lord so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he 328 promised your ancestors, 6:19 and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the Lord said.
6:20 When your children 329 ask you later on, “What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God commanded you?” 6:21 you must say to them, 330 “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way. 331 6:22 And he 332 brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family 333 before our very eyes. 6:23 He delivered us from there so that he could give us the land he had promised our ancestors. 6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him 334 so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day. 6:25 We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments 335 before the Lord our God, just as he demands.” 336
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, 337 Girgashites, 338 Amorites, 339 Canaanites, 340 Perizzites, 341 Hivites, 342 and Jebusites, 343 seven 344 nations more numerous and powerful than you – 7:2 and he 345 delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate 346 them. Make no treaty 347 with them and show them no mercy! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 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. 7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 348 cut down their sacred Asherah poles, 349 and burn up their idols. 7:6 For you are a people holy 350 to the Lord your God. He 351 has chosen you to be his people, prized 352 above all others on the face of the earth.
7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his 353 love 354 for you and his faithfulness to the promise 355 he solemnly vowed 356 to your ancestors 357 that the Lord brought you out with great power, 358 redeeming 359 you from the place of slavery, from the power 360 of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, 361 the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully 362 with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate 363 him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore 364 those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 7:11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.
7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you 365 as he promised 366 your ancestors. 7:13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, 367 with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness 368 among you or your livestock. 7:15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.
7:16 You must destroy 369 all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship 370 their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall 371 what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments 372 you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power 373 by which he 374 brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets 375 among them until the very last ones who hide from you 376 perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He, 377 the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 7:23 The Lord your God will give them over to you; he will throw them into a great panic 378 until they are destroyed. 7:24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. 379 Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them. 7:25 You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent 380 to the Lord your God. 7:26 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath 381 along with it. 382 You must absolutely detest 383 and abhor it, 384 for it is an object of divine wrath.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 385 I am giving 386 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 387 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 388 8:2 Remember the whole way by which he 389 has brought you these forty years through the desert 390 so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. 391 He did this to teach you 392 that humankind 393 cannot live by bread 394 alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. 395 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 8:5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, 396 the Lord your God disciplines you. 8:6 So you must keep his 397 commandments, live according to his standards, 398 and revere him. 8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, 399 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 400 in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron 401 and from whose hills you can mine copper. 8:10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.
8:11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 8:12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 8:13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 8:14 be sure 402 you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents 403 and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow 404 from a flint rock and 8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you 405 and eventually bring good to you. 8:17 Be careful 406 not to say, “My own ability and skill 407 have gotten me this wealth.” 8:18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, 408 even as he has to this day. 8:19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all 409 and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 8:20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you 410 because you would not obey him. 411
9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. 412 9:2 They include the Anakites, 413 a numerous 414 and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?” 9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he 415 has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, 416 that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he 417 made on oath to your ancestors, 418 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 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 419 people!
9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget 420 – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 421 9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there 422 forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger 423 of God, and on them was everything 424 he 425 said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 9:12 And he said to me, “Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.” 426 9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn 427 lot! 9:14 Stand aside 428 and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, 429 and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”
9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it 430 was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 9:16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; 431 you had quickly turned aside from the way he 432 had commanded you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, 433 and shattered them before your very eyes. 9:18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. 9:19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger 434 that threatened to destroy you. But he 435 listened to me this time as well. 9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him 436 too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing 437 that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, 438 ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, 439 Massah, 440 and Kibroth-Hattaavah. 441 9:23 And when he 442 sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God 443 and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebelling against him 444 from the very first day I knew you!
9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, 445 for he 446 had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him: 447 O, Lord God, 448 do not destroy your people, your valued property 449 that you have powerfully redeemed, 450 whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. 451 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land 452 from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” 453 9:29 They are your people, your valued property, 454 whom you brought out with great strength and power. 455
10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 456 10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words 457 that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia 458 wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 10:4 The Lord 459 then wrote on the tablets the same words, 460 the ten commandments, 461 which he 462 had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he 463 gave them to me. 10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.
10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan 464 to Moserah. 465 There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, 466 and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, 467 a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi 468 to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings 469 in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance 470 among his brothers; 471 the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 10:11 Then he 472 said to me, “Get up, set out leading 473 the people so they may go and possess 474 the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” 475
10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, 476 to obey all his commandments, 477 to love him, to serve him 478 with all your mind and being, 479 10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving 480 you today for your own good? 10:14 The heavens – indeed the highest heavens – belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he 481 show his loving favor, 482 and he chose you, their descendants, 483 from all peoples – as is apparent today. 10:16 Therefore, cleanse 484 your heart and stop being so stubborn! 485 10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 10:18 who justly treats 486 the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 10:20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name. 10:21 He is the one you should praise; 487 he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 10:22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky. 488
11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments 489 at all times. 11:2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking 490 to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments 491 of the Lord your God, which revealed 492 his greatness, strength, and power. 493 11:3 They did not see 494 the awesome deeds he performed 495 in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land, 11:4 or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea 496 overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he 497 annihilated them. 498 11:5 They did not see 499 what he did to you in the desert before you reached this place, 11:6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, 500 sons of Eliab the Reubenite, 501 when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp 502 and swallowed them, their families, 503 their tents, and all the property they brought with them. 504 11:7 I am speaking to you 505 because you are the ones who saw all the great deeds of the Lord!
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 506 I am giving 507 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 508 11:9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors 509 and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 11:10 For the land where you are headed 510 is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand 511 like a vegetable garden. 11:11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy 512 is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, 513 11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. 514 He is constantly attentive to it 515 from the beginning to the end of the year. 516 11:13 Now, if you pay close attention 517 to my commandments that I am giving you today and love 518 the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, 519 11:14 then he promises, 520 “I will send rain for your land 521 in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, 522 so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide pasture 523 for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”
11:16 Make sure you do not turn away to serve and worship other gods! 524 11:17 Then the anger of the Lord will erupt 525 against you and he will close up the sky 526 so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed 527 from the good land that the Lord 528 is about to give you. 11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, 529 and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols 530 on your forehead. 11:19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, 531 as you lie down, and as you get up. 11:20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates 11:21 so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself. 532 11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments 533 I am giving you 534 and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, 535 and remain loyal to him, 11:23 then he 536 will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. 11:24 Every place you set your foot 537 will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea. 538 11:25 Nobody will be able to resist you; the Lord your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.
11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 539 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart 540 the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, 11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention 541 to his 542 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before 543 you today to pursue 544 other gods you have not known. 11:29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 545 11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River, 546 toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal 547 near the oak 548 of Moreh? 11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it. 11:32 Be certain to keep all the statutes and ordinances that I am presenting to you today.
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, 549 has given you to possess. 550 12:2 You must by all means destroy 551 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 552 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 553 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 554 and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. 12:4 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. 12:5 But you must seek only the place he 555 chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, 556 and you must go there. 12:6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 557 your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families 558 must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he 559 has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone 560 doing what seems best to him, 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop 561 and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River 562 and settle in the land he 563 is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. 564 12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing 565 everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 566 and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. 567 12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages 568 (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). 569 12:13 Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, 12:14 for you may do so 570 only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. 571
12:15 On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the Lord your God blesses you 572 in all your villages. 573 Both the ritually pure and impure may eat it, whether it is a gazelle or an ibex. 12:16 However, you must not eat blood – pour it out on the ground like water. 12:17 You will not be allowed to eat in your villages your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, any votive offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings. 12:18 Only in the presence of the Lord your God may you eat these, in the place he 574 chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites 575 in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the Lord your God in all the output of your labor. 576 12:19 Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land.
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,” 577 you may do so as you wish. 578 12:21 If the place he 579 chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he 580 has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages 581 just as you wish. 12:22 Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them. 12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself 582 – you must not eat the life with the meat! 12:24 You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. 12:25 You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight. 583 12:26 Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the Lord will choose. 584 12:27 You must offer your burnt offerings, both meat and blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; the blood of your other sacrifices 585 you must pour out on his 586 altar while you eat the meat. 12:28 Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
12:29 When the Lord your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land. 587 12:30 After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.” 12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! 588 For everything that is abhorrent 589 to him, 590 everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!
12:32 (13:1) 591 You 592 must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! 593 13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams 594 should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, 595 13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.” 13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, 596 for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him 597 with all your mind and being. 598 13:4 You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. 13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, 599 he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. 600
13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 601 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 602 that neither you nor your ancestors 603 have previously known, 604 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth 605 to the other). 13:8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! 606 Your own hand must be the first to strike him, 607 and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death 608 because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. 609
13:12 Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that 13:13 some evil people 610 have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, 611 saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 612 13:14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, 613 13:15 you must by all means 614 slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate 615 with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. 13:16 You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza 616 and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin 617 forever – it must never be rebuilt again. 13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. 618 Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving 619 you today and doing what is right 620 before him. 621
14:1 You are children 622 of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald 623 for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a people holy 624 to the Lord your God. He 625 has chosen you to be his people, prized 626 above all others on the face of the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden 627 thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex, 628 the gazelle, 629 the deer, 630 the wild goat, the antelope, 631 the wild oryx, 632 and the mountain sheep. 633 14:6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. 634 14:7 However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger. 635 (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you). 14:8 Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, 636 it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains. 14:9 These you may eat from among water creatures: anything with fins and scales you may eat, 14:10 but whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is ritually impure to you. 14:11 All ritually clean birds you may eat. 14:12 These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, 637 the vulture, 638 the black vulture, 639 14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah 640 after its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich, 641 the owl, 642 the seagull, the falcon 643 after its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, 644 14:17 the jackdaw, 645 the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 14:18 the stork, the heron after its species, the hoopoe, the bat, 14:19 and any winged thing on the ground are impure to you – they may not be eaten. 646 14:20 You may eat any clean bird. 14:21 You may not eat any corpse, though you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your villages 647 and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 648
14:22 You must be certain to tithe 649 all the produce of your seed that comes from the field year after year. 14:23 In the presence of the Lord your God you must eat from the tithe of your grain, your new wine, 650 your olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the place he chooses to locate his name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. 14:24 When he 651 blesses you, if the 652 place where he chooses to locate his name is distant, 14:25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money, 653 and travel to the place the Lord your God chooses for himself. 14:26 Then you may spend the money however you wish for cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and enjoy it. 14:27 As for the Levites in your villages, you must not ignore them, for they have no allotment or inheritance along with you. 14:28 At the end of every three years you must bring all the tithe of your produce, in that very year, and you must store it up in your villages. 14:29 Then the Levites (because they have no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows of your villages may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work you do.
15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation 654 of debts. 15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; 655 he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, 656 for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 15:3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite 657 owes you, you must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord 658 will surely bless 659 you in the land that he 660 is giving you as an inheritance, 661 15:5 if you carefully obey 662 him 663 by keeping 664 all these commandments that I am giving 665 you today. 15:6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you.
15:7 If a fellow Israelite 666 from one of your villages 667 in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 668 to his impoverished condition. 669 15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend 670 him whatever he needs. 671 15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude 672 be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite 673 and you do not lend 674 him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. 675 15:10 You must by all means lend 676 to him and not be upset by doing it, 677 for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open 678 your hand to your fellow Israelites 679 who are needy and poor in your land.
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew 680 – whether male or female 681 – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant 682 go free. 683 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously 684 from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. 15:16 However, if the servant 685 says to you, “I do not want to leave 686 you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, 15:17 you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door. 687 Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). 15:18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice 688 the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
15:19 You must set apart 689 for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 15:20 You and your household must eat them annually before the Lord your God in the place he 690 chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else 691 – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, 692 whether you are ritually impure or clean, 693 just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. 15:23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.
16:1 Observe the month Abib 694 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 695 he 696 brought you out of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal 697 (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he 698 chooses to locate his name. 16:3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 16:4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land 699 for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 700 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages 701 that the Lord your God is giving you, 16:6 but you must sacrifice it 702 in the evening in 703 the place where he 704 chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 16:7 You must cook 705 and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents. 16:8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day. 706
16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them 707 from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 16:10 Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks 708 before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering 709 that you will bring, in proportion to how he 710 has blessed you. 16:11 You shall rejoice before him 711 – you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, 712 the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you – in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name. 16:12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes.
16:13 You must celebrate the Festival of Temporary Shelters 713 for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 714 16:14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. 715 16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he 716 chooses, for he 717 will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; 718 so you will indeed rejoice! 16:16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him 719 empty-handed. 16:17 Every one of you must give as you are able, 720 according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 721 for each tribe in all your villages 722 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 723 16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort 724 the words of the righteous. 725 16:20 You must pursue justice alone 726 so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.
16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole 727 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 728 a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him 729 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive 730 to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages 731 that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God 732 and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, 733 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 734 17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing 735 is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates 736 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 737 17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses 738 must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people 739 are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.
17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, 740 legal claim, 741 or assault 742 – matters of controversy in your villages 743 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 744 17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention 745 to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.
17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,” 17:15 you must select without fail 746 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 747 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 748 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 749 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 750 wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 17:18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law 751 on a scroll 752 given to him by the Levitical priests. 17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. 17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom 753 in Israel.
18:1 The Levitical priests 754 – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. 755 18:2 They 756 will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; 757 the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests’ fair allotment 758 from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep – they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. 18:4 You must give them the best of your 759 grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. 18:5 For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand 760 and serve in his name 761 permanently. 18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 762 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 763 to the place the Lord chooses 18:7 and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. 18:8 He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family’s inheritance. 764
18:9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. 18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, 765 anyone who practices divination, 766 an omen reader, 767 a soothsayer, 768 a sorcerer, 769 18:11 one who casts spells, 770 one who conjures up spirits, 771 a practitioner of the occult, 772 or a necromancer. 773 18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things 774 the Lord your God is about to drive them out 775 from before you. 18:13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 18:14 Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things.
18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you – from your fellow Israelites; 776 you must listen to him. 18:16 This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: “Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our 777 God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die.” 18:17 The Lord then said to me, “What they have said is good. 18:18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. 18:19 I will personally hold responsible 778 anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet 779 speaks in my name.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 780 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 781 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 782 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 783 name and the prediction 784 is not fulfilled, 785 then I have 786 not spoken it; 787 the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”
19:1 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he 788 is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses, 19:2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities 789 in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. 19:3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent 790 of your land that the Lord your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities. 19:4 Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, 791 if he has accidentally killed another 792 without hating him at the time of the accident. 793 19:5 Suppose he goes with someone else 794 to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax 795 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose 796 from the handle and strikes 797 his fellow worker 798 so hard that he dies. The person responsible 799 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 800 19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, 801 and kill him, 802 though this is not a capital case 803 since he did not hate him at the time of the accident. 19:7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities. 19:8 If the Lord your God enlarges your borders as he promised your ancestors 804 and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 805 19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments 806 I am giving 807 you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities 808 to these three. 19:10 You must not shed innocent blood 809 in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 810 19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else 811 and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, 812 and then flees to one of these cities. 19:12 The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger 813 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent 814 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 815 which will have been defined 816 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 817
19:15 A single witness may not testify 818 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 819 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false 820 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 821 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 822 who will be in office in those days. 19:18 The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused, 823 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 824 evil from among you. 19:20 The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you. 19:21 You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. 825
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry 826 and troops 827 who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you. 20:2 As you move forward for battle, the priest 828 will approach and say to the soldiers, 829 20:3 “Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward to do battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them, 20:4 for the Lord your God goes with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory.” 830 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, 831 “Who among you 832 has built a new house and not dedicated 833 it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else 834 dedicate it. 20:6 Or who among you has planted a vineyard and not benefited from it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else benefit from it. 20:7 Or who among you 835 has become engaged to a woman but has not married her? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marry her.” 20:8 In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s 836 heart as fearful 837 as his own.” 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking, 838 they must appoint unit commanders 839 to lead the troops.
20:10 When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace. 20:11 If it accepts your terms 840 and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. 841 20:12 If it does not accept terms of peace but makes war with you, then you are to lay siege to it. 20:13 The Lord your God will deliver it over to you 842 and you must kill every single male by the sword. 20:14 However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything else in the city – all its plunder – you may take for yourselves as spoil. You may take from your enemies the plunder that the Lord your God has given you. 20:15 This is how you are to deal with all those cities located far from you, those that do not belong to these nearby nations.
20:16 As for the cities of these peoples that 843 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 844 to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them 845 – the Hittites, 846 Amorites, 847 Canaanites, 848 Perizzites, 849 Hivites, 850 and Jebusites 851 – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship 852 their gods, causing you to sin against the Lord your God. 20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, 853 you must not chop down its trees, 854 for you may eat fruit 855 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 856 20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 857 and you may use it to build siege works 858 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
21:1 If a homicide victim 859 should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, 860 and no one knows who killed 861 him, 21:2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse. 862 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse 863 must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked – that has never pulled with the yoke – 21:4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, 864 to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. 865 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests 866 will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, 867 and to decide 868 every judicial verdict 869 ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse 870 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 871 21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we 872 witnessed the crime. 873 21:8 Do not blame 874 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” 875 Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed. 21:9 In this manner you will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before 876 the Lord.
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail 877 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them 878 an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife, 21:12 you may bring her back to your house. She must shave her head, 879 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, 880 and stay 881 in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations 882 with her and become her husband and she your wife. 21:14 If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go 883 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell 884 her; 885 you must not take advantage of 886 her, since you have already humiliated 887 her.
21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, 888 and they both 889 bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife. 21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance 890 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other 891 wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved 892 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion 893 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power 894 – to him should go the right of the firstborn.
21:18 If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail, 895 21:19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city. 21:20 They must declare to the elders 896 of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say – he is a glutton and drunkard.” 21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out 897 wickedness from among you, and all Israel 898 will hear about it and be afraid.
21:22 If a person commits a sin punishable by death and is executed, and you hang the corpse 899 on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury 900 him that same day, for the one who is left exposed 901 on a tree is cursed by God. 902 You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22:1 When you see 903 your neighbor’s 904 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 905 you must return it without fail 906 to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner 907 does not live 908 near you or you do not know who the owner is, 909 then you must corral the animal 910 at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 22:3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor 911 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 912 22:4 When you see 913 your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; 914 instead, you must be sure 915 to help him get the animal on its feet again. 916
22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, 917 nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive 918 to the Lord your God.
22:6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them, 919 you must not take the mother from the young. 920 22:7 You must be sure 921 to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.
22:8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail 922 around your roof to avoid being culpable 923 in the event someone should fall from it.
22:9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. 924 22:10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 22:11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together. 925 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels 926 for the four corners of the clothing you wear.
22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, 927 and then rejects 928 her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety 929 and defaming her reputation 930 by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations 931 with her I discovered she was not a virgin!” 22:15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity 932 for the elders of the city at the gate. 22:16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected 933 her. 22:17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out 934 before the city’s elders. 22:18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish 935 him. 22:19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation 936 ruined the reputation 937 of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
22:20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing 938 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge 939 evil from among you.
22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with 940 a married woman 941 both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge 942 evil from Israel.
22:23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets 943 her in the city and has sexual relations with 944 her, 22:24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated 945 his neighbor’s fiancée; 946 in this way you will purge 947 evil from among you. 22:25 But if the man came across 948 the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped 949 her, then only the rapist 950 must die. 22:26 You must not do anything to the young woman – she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person 951 and murders him, 22:27 for the man 952 met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
22:28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers and rapes 953 her and they are discovered. 22:29 The man who has raped her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
22:30 (23:1) 954 A man may not marry 955 his father’s former 956 wife and in this way dishonor his father. 957
23:1 A man with crushed 958 or severed genitals 959 may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 960 23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 961 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 962
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 963 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 964 do so, 965 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired 966 Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 23:5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed 967 the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves 968 you. 23:6 You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come. 23:7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative; 969 you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner 970 in his land. 23:8 Children of the third generation born to them 971 may enter the assembly of the Lord.
23:9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure. 972 23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, 973 he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately. 23:11 When evening arrives he must wash himself with water and then at sunset he may reenter the camp.
23:12 You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine. 974 23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself 975 outside you must dig a hole with the spade 976 and then turn and cover your excrement. 977 23:14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat 978 your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent 979 among you and turn away from you.
23:15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. 980 23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages 981 he prefers; you must not oppress him.
23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute 982 among the young women 983 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 984 among the young men 985 of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute 986 or the wage of a male prostitute 987 into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.
23:19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, 988 whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 23:20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 23:21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he 989 will surely 990 hold you accountable as a sinner. 991 23:22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23:23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 23:24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please, 992 but you must not take away any in a container. 993 23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, 994 but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.
24:1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive 995 in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 24:2 When she has left him 996 she may go and become someone else’s wife. 24:3 If the second husband rejects 997 her and then divorces her, 998 gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 24:4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry 999 her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. 1000 You must not bring guilt on the land 1001 which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into 1002 the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to 1003 the wife he has married.
24:6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security. 1004
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 1005 and regards him as mere property 1006 and sells him, that kidnapper 1007 must die. In this way you will purge 1008 evil from among you.
24:8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely 1009 all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do. 24:9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam 1010 along the way after you left Egypt.
24:10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security. 1011 24:11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security. 1012 24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 1013 24:13 You must by all means 1014 return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just 1015 deed by the Lord your God.
24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites 1016 or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 1017 24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
24:16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children 1018 do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.
24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 24:19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, 1019 you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. 1020 24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; 1021 the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; 1022 they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.
25:1 If controversy arises between people, 1023 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 1024 hear the case, they shall exonerate 1025 the innocent but condemn 1026 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 1027 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 1028 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 1029 25:3 The judge 1030 may sentence him to forty blows, 1031 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 1032 with contempt.
25:4 You must not muzzle your 1033 ox when it is treading grain.
25:5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her, 1034 and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. 1035 25:6 Then 1036 the first son 1037 she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel. 25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she 1038 must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!” 25:8 Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I don’t want to marry her,” 25:9 then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. 1039 She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!” 1040 25:10 His family name will be referred to 1041 in Israel as “the family 1042 of the one whose sandal was removed.” 1043
25:11 If two men 1044 get into a hand-to-hand fight, and the wife of one of them gets involved to help her husband against his attacker, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, 1045 25:12 then you must cut off her hand – do not pity her.
25:13 You must not have in your bag different stone weights, 1046 a heavy and a light one. 1047 25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, 1048 a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct 1049 stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the Lord your God is about to give you. 25:16 For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent 1050 to the Lord your God.
25:17 Remember what the Amalekites 1051 did to you on your way from Egypt, 25:18 how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and tired; they were unafraid of God. 1052 25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he 1053 is giving you as an inheritance, 1054 you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven 1055 – do not forget! 1056
26:1 When 1057 you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 26:2 you must take the first of all the ground’s produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he 1058 chooses to locate his name. 1059 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your 1060 God that I have come into the land that the Lord 1061 promised 1062 to our ancestors 1063 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you 1064 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering 1065 Aramean 1066 was my ancestor, 1067 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, 1068 but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. 26:7 So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he 1069 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 1070 as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. 26:9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 26:10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him. 1071 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, 1072 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
26:12 When you finish tithing all 1073 your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows 1074 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 1075 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering 1076 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 1077 I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; 1078 I have obeyed you 1079 and have done everything you have commanded me. 26:15 Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors – a land flowing with milk and honey.”
26:16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul. 1080 26:17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments. 26:19 Then 1081 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. 1082 You will 1083 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
27:1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Pay attention to all the commandments 1084 I am giving 1085 you today. 27:2 When you cross the Jordan River 1086 to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover 1087 them with plaster. 27:3 Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 1088 said to you. 27:4 So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal 1089 these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover them with plaster. 27:5 Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones – do not use an iron tool on them. 27:6 You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 27:7 Also you must offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God. 27:8 You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear.”
27:9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 27:10 You must obey him 1090 and keep his commandments and statutes that I am giving you today.” 27:11 Moreover, Moses commanded the people that day: 27:12 “The following tribes 1091 must stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 27:13 And these other tribes must stand for the curse on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
27:14 “The Levites will call out to every Israelite 1092 with a loud voice: 27:15 ‘Cursed is the one 1093 who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent 1094 to the Lord, the work of the craftsman 1095 – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 1096 27:16 ‘Cursed 1097 is the one who disrespects 1098 his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:18 ‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with 1099 his father’s former wife, 1100 for he dishonors his father.’ 1101 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:21 ‘Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.’ 1102 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:22 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:23 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:24 ‘Cursed is the one who kills 1103 his neighbor in private.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
28:1 “If you indeed 1104 obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving 1105 you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance 1106 if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. 1107 28:4 Your children 1108 will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 1109 28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack 1110 you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction 1111 but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he 1112 is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments 1113 and obey him. 1114 28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, 1115 and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, 1116 the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he 1117 promised your ancestors 1118 he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; 1119 you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his 1120 commandments which I am urging 1121 you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving 1122 you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship 1123 them.
28:15 “But if you ignore 1124 the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 1125 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children 1126 will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 1127
28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you 1128 in everything you undertake 1129 until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. 1130 28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases 1131 until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He 1132 will afflict you with weakness, 1133 fever, inflammation, infection, 1134 sword, 1135 blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 28:23 The 1136 sky 1137 above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror 1138 to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. 1139 28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; 1140 you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape 1141 her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. 1142 28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this. 28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The Lord will force you and your king 1143 whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.
28:38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. 1144 28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts 1145 will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 28:43 The foreigners 1146 who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail!
28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given 1147 you. 28:46 These curses 1148 will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. 1149
28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty 1150 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They 1151 will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth 1152 as the eagle flies, 1153 a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 28:51 They 1154 will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, 1155 or lambs of your flocks 1156 until they have destroyed you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages 1157 until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, 1158 the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege 1159 by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict 1160 you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most 1161 tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, 1162 will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth 1163 and her newborn children 1164 (since she has nothing else), 1165 because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.
28:58 “If you refuse to obey 1166 all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt 1167 that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. 1168 28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, 1169 until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, 1170 because you will have disobeyed 1171 the Lord your God. 28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he 1172 will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. 1173 28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 28:68 Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
[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.
[1:2] 12 sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).
[1:2] 13 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] 14 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] 15 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.”
[1:3] 23 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] 24 sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
[1:3] 25 sn The fortieth year would be 1406
[1:3] 26 tn Heb “according to all which.”
[1:4] 34 tn Heb “when he struck [or “smote”].”
[1:4] 35 sn See Deut 2:26–3:22.
[1:4] 37 sn Heshbon is probably modern Tell Hesban, about 7.5 mi (12 km) south southwest of Amman, Jordan.
[1:4] 39 sn Ashtaroth is probably Tell àAshtarah, about 22 mi (35 km) due east of the Sea of Galilee.
[1:4] 40 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31).
[1:5] 45 tn Heb “this instruction”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “this law”; TEV “God’s laws and teachings.” The Hebrew noun תוֹרָה (torah) is derived from the verb יָרָה (yarah, “to teach”) and here it refers to the Book of Deuteronomy, not the Pentateuch as a whole.
[1:6] 56 tn Heb “lived”; “dwelled.”
[1:7] 67 tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”
[1:7] 69 tn Heb “its dwelling places.”
[1:7] 70 tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:7] 71 tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”
[1:7] 72 sn The Hebrew term Negev means literally “desert” or “south” (so KJV, ASV). It refers to the area south of Beer Sheba and generally west of the Arabah Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.
[1:8] 78 tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”
[1:8] 79 tn Heb “the
[1:8] 80 tn Heb “swore” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to God’s promise, made by solemn oath, to give the patriarchs the land.
[1:8] 81 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).
[1:8] 82 tn Heb “their seed after them.”
[1:10] 89 tn Heb “multiplied you.”
[1:10] 90 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[1:11] 100 tn Heb “may he bless you.”
[1:13] 111 tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).
[1:15] 122 tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”
[1:16] 133 tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[1:16] 134 tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.
[1:16] 135 tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).
[1:16] 136 tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”
[1:16] 137 tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”
[1:17] 144 tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[1:17] 145 tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.
[1:20] 155 tn The Hebrew participle has an imminent future sense here, although many English versions treat it as a present tense (“is giving us,” NAB, NIV, NRSV) or a predictive future (“will give us,” NCV).
[1:21] 166 tn Heb “the
[1:21] 167 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:23] 177 tn Heb “the thing was good in my eyes.”
[1:23] 178 tn Or “selected” (so NIV, NRSV, TEV); Heb “took.”
[1:24] 188 tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).
[1:25] 199 tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.
[1:26] 210 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[1:27] 221 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
[1:28] 232 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”
[1:28] 233 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).
[1:28] 234 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[1:28] 235 tn Heb “we have seen.”
[1:28] 236 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”
[1:29] 243 tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.
[1:30] 254 tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).
[1:30] 255 tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
[1:31] 265 tn Heb “the
[1:34] 276 tn Heb “and swore,” i.e., made an oath or vow.
[1:35] 287 tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”
[1:36] 298 sn Caleb had, with Joshua, brought back to Israel a minority report from Canaan urging a conquest of the land, for he was confident of the
[1:36] 299 tn Heb “the
[1:38] 309 tn Heb “the one who stands before you”; NAB “your aide”; TEV “your helper.”
[1:38] 310 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:39] 320 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
[1:39] 321 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
[1:40] 331 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, as are the following verbs, indicating that Moses and the people are addressed (note v. 41).
[1:40] 332 tn Heb “the Reed Sea.” “Reed” is a better translation of the Hebrew סוּף (suf), traditionally rendered “red.” The name “Red Sea” is based on the LXX which referred to it as ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης (eruqra" qalassh", “red sea”). Nevertheless, because the body of water in question is known in modern times as the Red Sea, this term was used in the translation. The part of the Red Sea in view here is not the one crossed in the exodus but its eastern arm, now known as the Gulf of Eilat or Gulf of Aqaba.
[1:43] 342 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[1:44] 353 tn Heb “in that hill country,” repeating the end of v. 43.
[1:44] 354 tn Heb “came out to meet.”
[1:44] 355 sn Hormah is probably Khirbet el-Meshash, 5.5 mi (9 km) west of Arad and 7.5 mi (12 km) SE of Beer Sheba. Its name is a derivative of the verb חָרָם (kharam, “to ban; to exterminate”). See Num 21:3.
[1:45] 364 tn Heb “the
[1:45] 365 tn Heb “did not hear your voice and did not turn an ear to you.”
[1:46] 375 tn Heb “like the days which you lived.” This refers to the rest of the forty-year period in the desert before Israel arrived in Moab.
[2:1] 386 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.
[2:4] 397 tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”
[2:4] 398 tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”
[2:4] 399 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).
[2:5] 408 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.
[2:6] 419 tn Heb includes “with silver.”
[2:7] 430 tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).
[2:7] 431 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
[2:7] 432 tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.
[2:7] 433 tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”
[2:7] 434 tn Heb “the
[2:8] 441 tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”
[2:8] 442 tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”
[2:8] 443 sn Elat was a port city at the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba (or Gulf of Eilat). Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28), Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22), and Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:5-6) used it as a port but eventually it became permanently part of Edom. It may be what is known today as Tell el-Kheleifeh. Modern Eilat is located further west along the northern coast. See G. Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal,” BASOR 259 (1985): 1-32.
[2:8] 444 sn Ezion Geber. A place near the Gulf of Aqaba, Ezion-geber must be distinguished from Elat (cf. 1 Kgs 9:26-28; 2 Chr 8:17-18). It was, however, also a port city (1 Kgs 22:48-49). It may be the same as the modern site Gezirat al-Fauran, 15 mi (24 km) south-southwest from Tell el-Kheleifah.
[2:9] 452 sn Ar was a Moabite city on the Arnon River east of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned elsewhere in the “Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num 21:15; cf. 21:28; Isa 15:1). Here it is synonymous with the whole land of Moab.
[2:9] 453 sn The descendants of Lot. Following the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, as God’s judgment, Lot fathered two sons by his two daughters, namely, Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38). Thus, these descendants of Lot in and around Ar were the Moabites.
[2:10] 463 sn Emites. These giant people, like the Anakites (Deut 1:28), were also known as Rephaites (v. 11). They appear elsewhere in the narrative of the invasion of the kings of the east where they are said to have lived around Shaveh Kiriathaim, perhaps 9 to 11 mi (15 to 18 km) east of the north end of the Dead Sea (Gen 14:5).
[2:11] 474 sn Rephaites. The earliest reference to this infamous giant race is, again, in the story of the invasion of the eastern kings (Gen 14:5). They lived around Ashteroth Karnaim, probably modern Tell Ashtarah (cf. Deut 1:4), in the Bashan plateau east of the Sea of Galilee. Og, king of Bashan, was a Rephaite (Deut 3:11; Josh 12:4; 13:12). Other texts speak of them or their kinfolk in both Transjordan (Deut 2:20; 3:13) and Canaan (Josh 11:21-22; 14:12, 15; 15:13-14; Judg 1:20; 1 Sam 17:4; 1 Chr 20:4-8). They also appear in extra-biblical literature, especially in connection with the city state of Ugarit. See C. L’Heureux, “Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim,” HTR 67 (1974): 265-74.
[2:12] 485 sn Horites. Most likely these are the same as the well-known people of ancient Near Eastern texts described as Hurrians. They were geographically widespread and probably non-Semitic. Genesis speaks of them as the indigenous peoples of Edom that Esau expelled (Gen 36:8-19, 31-43) and also as among those who confronted the kings of the east (Gen 14:6).
[2:12] 486 tn Most modern English versions, beginning with the ASV (1901), regard vv. 10-12 as parenthetical to the narrative.
[2:13] 496 sn Wadi Zered. Now known as Wadi el-H£esa, this valley marked the boundary between Moab to the north and Edom to the south.
[2:13] 497 tn Heb “we crossed the Wadi Zered.” This has been translated as “we did so” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[2:15] 507 tn Heb “from the middle of.” Although many recent English versions leave this expression untranslated, the point seems to be that these soldiers did not die in battle but “within the camp.”
[2:16] 518 tn Heb “and it was when they were eliminated, all the men of war, to die from the midst of the people.”
[2:18] 529 sn Ar. See note on this word in Deut 2:9.
[2:19] 540 sn Lot’s descendants. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:9.
[2:20] 551 sn Rephaites. See note on this word in Deut 2:11.
[2:20] 552 sn Zamzummites. Just as the Moabites called Rephaites by the name Emites, the Ammonites called them Zamzummites (or Zazites; Gen 14:5).
[2:21] 562 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:21] 563 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:23] 573 sn Avvites. Otherwise unknown, these people were probably also Anakite (or Rephaite) giants who lived in the lower Mediterranean coastal plain until they were expelled by the Caphtorites.
[2:23] 574 sn Caphtorites. These peoples are familiar from both the OT (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7) and ancient Near Eastern texts (Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:37-38; ANET 138). They originated in Crete (OT “Caphtor”) and are identified as the ancestors of the Philistines (Gen 10:14; Jer 47:4).
[2:23] 575 tn Heb “Caphtor”; the modern name of the island of Crete is used in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
[2:24] 584 sn Heshbon is the name of a prominent site (now Tell Hesba„n, about 7.5 mi [12 km] south southwest of Amman, Jordan). Sihon made it his capital after having driven Moab from the area and forced them south to the Arnon (Num 21:26-30). Heshbon is also mentioned in Deut 1:4.
[2:25] 595 tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).
[2:25] 596 tn Heb “from before you.”
[2:26] 606 sn Kedemoth. This is probably Aleiyan, about 8 mi (13 km) north of the Arnon and between Dibon and Mattanah.
[2:27] 617 tn Heb “in the way in the way” (בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, baderekh baderekh). The repetition lays great stress on the idea of resolute determination to stick to the path. IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
[2:28] 629 tn Heb “and water for silver give to me so that I may drink.”
[2:30] 639 tc The translation follows the LXX in reading the first person pronoun. The MT, followed by many English versions, has a second person masculine singular pronoun, “your.”
[2:30] 640 tn Heb “hardened his spirit” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “made his spirit stubborn.”
[2:30] 641 tn Heb “made his heart obstinate” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “made his heart defiant.”
[2:30] 642 tn Heb “into your hand.”
[2:32] 651 sn Jahaz. This is probably Khirbet el-Medeiyineh. See J. Dearman, “The Levitical Cities of Reuben and Moabite Toponymy,” BASOR 276 (1984): 55-57.
[2:33] 661 tc The translation follows the Qere or marginal reading; the Kethib (consonantal text) has the singular, “his son.”
[2:33] 662 tn Heb “all his people.”
[2:34] 672 tn Heb “every city of men.” This apparently identifies the cities as inhabited.
[2:34] 673 tn Heb “under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). The verb employed is חָרַם (kharam, usually in the Hiphil) and the associated noun is חֵרֶם (kherem). See J. Naudé, NIDOTTE, 2:276-77, and, for a more thorough discussion, Susan Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible, 28-77.
[2:36] 683 sn Aroer. Now known as àAraáir on the northern edge of the Arnon river, Aroer marked the southern limit of Moab and, later, of the allotment of the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:9, 16).
[2:36] 684 tn Heb “the city in the wadi.” This enigmatic reference may refer to Ar or, more likely, to Aroer itself. Epexegetically the text might read, “From Aroer…, that is, the city in the wadi.” See D. L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1–11 (WBC), 49.
[2:37] 694 sn Wadi Jabbok. Now known as the Zerqa River, this is a major tributary of the Jordan that normally served as a boundary between Ammon and Gad (Deut 3:16).
[3:1] 705 tn Heb “turned and went up.”
[3:1] 706 sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.
[3:1] 708 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).
[3:3] 727 tn Heb “was left to him.” The final phrase “to him” is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
[3:4] 738 sn Argob. This is a subdistrict of Bashan, perhaps north of the Yarmuk River. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 314.
[3:5] 749 tn Or “high walls and barred gates” (NLT); Heb “high walls, gates, and bars.” Since “bars” could be understood to mean “saloons,” the qualifying adjective “locking” has been supplied in the translation.
[3:5] 750 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (pÿraziy) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
[3:6] 760 tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.
[3:6] 761 tn Heb “city of men.”
[3:8] 771 sn Mount Hermon. This is the famous peak at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range known today as Jebel es-Sheik.
[3:9] 782 sn Sidonians were Phoenician inhabitants of the city of Sidon (now in Lebanon), about 47 mi (75 km) north of Mount Carmel.
[3:9] 783 sn Sirion. This name is attested in the Ugaritic texts as sryn. See UT 495.
[3:9] 784 sn Senir. Probably this was actually one of the peaks of Hermon and not the main mountain (Song of Songs 4:8; 1 Chr 5:23). It is mentioned in a royal inscription of Shalmaneser III of Assyria (saniru; see ANET 280).
[3:10] 793 sn Salecah. Today this is known as Salkhad, in Jordan, about 31 mi (50 km) east of the Jordan River in the Hauran Desert.
[3:10] 794 sn Edrei. See note on this term in 3:1.
[3:11] 804 tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
[3:11] 805 tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”
[3:11] 806 tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.
[3:11] 807 sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.
[3:11] 808 tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.
[3:11] 809 tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.
[3:11] 810 tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).
[3:12] 815 tn The words “the territory extending” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[3:12] 816 sn Reubenites and Gadites. By the time of Moses’ address the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had already been granted permission to settle in the Transjordan, provided they helped the other tribes subdue the occupants of Canaan (cf. Num 32:28-42).
[3:13] 826 sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).
[3:13] 827 sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.
[3:14] 837 sn Geshurites. Geshur was a city and its surrounding area somewhere northeast of Bashan (cf. Josh 12:5 ; 13:11, 13). One of David’s wives was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur and mother of Absalom (cf. 2 Sam 13:37; 15:8; 1 Chr 3:2).
[3:14] 838 sn Maacathites. These were the people of a territory southwest of Mount Hermon on the Jordan River. The name probably has nothing to do with David’s wife from Geshur (see note on “Geshurites” earlier in this verse).
[3:14] 839 sn Havvoth-Jair. The Hebrew name means “villages of Jair,” the latter being named after a son (i.e., descendant) of Manasseh who took the area by conquest.
[3:15] 848 sn Machir was the name of another descendant of Manasseh (cf. Num 32:41; 1 Chr 7:14-19). Eastern Manasseh was thus divided between the Jairites and the Machirites.
[3:17] 859 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in vv. 20, 25).
[3:17] 860 tn Heb “from Chinnereth.” The words “the sea of” have been supplied in the translation as a clarification.
[3:17] 861 sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea (cf. Gen 14:3; Josh 3:16).
[3:17] 862 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV) or “watershed” (NEB).
[3:17] 863 sn Pisgah. This appears to refer to a small range of mountains, the most prominent peak of which is Mount Nebo (Num 21:20; 23:14; Deut 3:27; cf. 34:1).
[3:18] 870 tn Heb “your brothers, the sons of Israel.”
[3:20] 881 tn The words “you must fight” are not present in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[3:20] 882 tn Heb “gives your brothers rest.”
[3:21] 892 tn Heb “the
[3:21] 893 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there.”
[3:24] 903 tn Heb “Lord
[3:24] 904 tn Heb “your servant.” The pronoun is used in the translation to clarify that Moses is speaking of himself, since in contemporary English one does not usually refer to oneself in third person.
[3:24] 905 tn Heb “your strong hand” (so NIV), a symbol of God’s activity.
[3:25] 914 tn The article is retained in the translation (“the Lebanon,” cf. also NAB, NRSV) to indicate that a region (rather than the modern country of Lebanon) is referred to here. Other recent English versions accomplish this by supplying “mountains” after “Lebanon” (TEV, CEV, NLT).
[3:26] 925 tn Heb “the
[3:26] 926 tn Heb “much to you” (an idiom).
[3:27] 936 tn Heb “lift your eyes to the west, north, south, and east and see with your eyes.” The translation omits the repetition of “your eyes” for stylistic reasons.
[3:28] 947 tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”
[3:29] 958 sn Beth Peor. This is probably the spot near Pisgah where Balaam attempted to curse the nation Israel (Num 23:28). The Moabites also worshiped Baal there by the name “Baal [of] Peor” (Num 25:1-5).
[4:1] 969 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] 970 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
[4:2] 980 tn Heb “commanding.”
[4:3] 991 tc The LXX and Syriac read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in Deut 3:29.
[4:3] 992 tn Heb “the
[4:3] 993 tn Or “
[4:5] 1002 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).
[4:6] 1013 tn Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”
[4:6] 1014 tn Heb “wise and understanding.”
[4:8] 1024 tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”
[4:8] 1025 tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.
[4:8] 1026 tn Heb “place before.”
[4:9] 1035 tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
[4:10] 1046 tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
[4:10] 1047 tn Heb “the
[4:10] 1048 tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
[4:11] 1057 tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[4:11] 1058 tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
[4:12] 1068 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
[4:13] 1079 sn This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, TDOT 2:255.
[4:13] 1080 tn Heb “the ten words.”
[4:14] 1090 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”
[4:15] 1101 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
[4:16] 1112 tn The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
[4:18] 1123 tn Heb “creeping thing.”
[4:18] 1124 tn Heb “under the earth.”
[4:19] 1134 tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
[4:19] 1135 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[4:19] 1136 tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”
[4:19] 1137 tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.
[4:19] 1140 tn Heb “under all the heaven.”
[4:20] 1145 tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.
[4:20] 1146 tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.
[4:21] 1156 tn Heb “the
[4:21] 1157 tn The Hebrew text includes “(as) an inheritance,” or “(as) a possession.”
[4:22] 1167 tn Heb “this.” The translation uses “that” to avoid confusion; earlier in the verse Moses refers to Transjordan as “this land.”
[4:23] 1178 tn Heb “the
[4:23] 1179 tn Heb “commanded.”
[4:24] 1189 tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the
[4:25] 1200 tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.
[4:25] 1201 tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”
[4:25] 1202 tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.
[4:26] 1211 sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the
[4:26] 1212 tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”
[4:26] 1213 tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.
[4:27] 1222 tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”
[4:29] 1233 tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.
[4:30] 1244 sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.
[4:30] 1245 tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.
[4:31] 1255 tn Heb “the
[4:31] 1256 tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[4:31] 1257 tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.
[4:32] 1266 tn The Hebrew term אָדָם (’adam) may refer either to Adam or, more likely, to “man” in the sense of the human race (“mankind,” “humankind”). The idea here seems more universal in scope than reference to Adam alone would suggest.
[4:32] 1267 tn The verb is not present in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification. The challenge has both temporal and geographical dimensions. The people are challenged to (1) inquire about the entire scope of past history and (2) conduct their investigation on a worldwide scale.
[4:34] 1277 tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).
[4:34] 1278 tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”
[4:34] 1279 tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).
[4:34] 1280 tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”
[4:36] 1288 tn Heb “and his words you heard from the midst of the fire.”
[4:37] 1299 tn The concept of love here is not primarily that of emotional affection but of commitment or devotion. This verse suggests that God chose Israel to be his special people because he loved the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and had promised to bless their descendants. See as well Deut 7:7-9.
[4:37] 1300 tc The LXX, Smr, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read a third person masculine plural suffix for the MT’s 3rd person masculine singular, “his descendants.” Cf. Deut 10:15. Quite likely the MT should be emended in this instance.
[4:38] 1310 tn Heb “(as) an inheritance,” that is, landed property that one can pass on to one’s descendants.
[4:40] 1321 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).
[4:42] 1332 tn Heb “the slayer who slew his neighbor without knowledge.”
[4:42] 1333 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day).” The point is that there was no animosity between the two parties at the time of the accident and therefore no motive for the killing.
[4:44] 1343 tn Heb “the sons of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).
[4:48] 1354 tn The words “their territory extended” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 47-49 are all one sentence, but for the sake of English style and readability the translation divides the text into two sentences.
[4:48] 1355 sn Mount Siyon (the Hebrew name is שִׂיאֹן [si’on], not to be confused with Zion [צִיּוֹן, tsiyyon]) is another name for Mount Hermon, also called Sirion and Senir (cf. Deut 3:9).
[4:49] 1365 sn The sea of the Arabah refers to the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea in OT times (cf. Deut 3:17).
[4:49] 1366 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or “watershed” (NEB).
[5:1] 1376 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
[5:3] 1387 tn Heb “the
[5:5] 1398 tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”
[5:7] 1409 tn Heb “there must not be for you other gods.” The expression “for you” indicates possession.
[5:7] 1410 tn Heb “upon my face,” or “before me” (עַל־פָּנָיַ, ’al-panaya). Some understand this in a locative sense: “in my sight.” The translation assumes that the phrase indicates exclusion. The idea is that of placing any other god before the
[5:8] 1420 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
[5:8] 1421 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”
[5:9] 1431 tn In the Hebrew text the form is a participle, which is subordinated to what precedes. For the sake of English style, the translation divides this lengthy verse into two sentences.
[5:9] 1432 tn Heb “who hate” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). Just as “to love” (אָהַב, ’ahav) means in a covenant context “to choose, obey,” so “to hate” (שָׂנֵא, sane’) means “to reject, disobey” (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37; see also 5:10).
[5:9] 1433 tn Heb “visiting the sin of fathers upon sons and upon a third (generation) and upon a fourth (generation) of those who hate me.” God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9). On the principle of corporate solidarity and responsibility in OT thought see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). In the idiom of the text, the father is the first generation and the “sons” the second generation, making grandsons the third and great-grandsons the fourth. The reference to a third and fourth generation is a way of emphasizing that the sinner’s punishment would last throughout his lifetime. In this culture, where men married and fathered children at a relatively young age, it would not be unusual for one to see his great-grandsons. In an Aramaic tomb inscription from Nerab dating to the seventh century b.c., Agbar observes that he was surrounded by “children of the fourth generation” as he lay on his death bed (see ANET 661). The language of the text differs from Exod 34:7, the sons are the first generation, the grandsons (literally, “sons of the sons”) the second, great-grandsons the third, and great-great-grandsons the fourth. One could argue that formulation in Deut 5:9 (see also Exod 20:50) is elliptical/abbreviated or that it suffers from textual corruption (the repetition of the words “sons” would invite accidental omission).
[5:10] 1442 tn This theologically rich term (חֶסֶד, khesed) describes God’s loyalty to those who keep covenant with him. Sometimes it is used synonymously with בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”; Deut 7:9), and sometimes interchangeably with it (Deut 7:12). See H.-J. Zobel, TDOT 5:44-64.
[5:10] 1443 tc By a slight emendation (לַאֲלּוּפִים [la’allufim] for לַאֲלָפִים [la’alafim]) “clans” could be read in place of the MT reading “thousands.” However, no
[5:10] 1444 tn Heb “love.” See note on the word “reject” in v. 9.
[5:11] 1453 tn Heb “take up the name of the Lord your God to emptiness”; KJV “take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The idea here is not cursing or profanity in the modern sense of these terms but rather the use of the divine Name for unholy, mundane purposes, that is, for meaningless (the Hebrew term is שָׁוְא) and empty ends. In ancient Israel this would include using the Lord’s name as a witness in vows one did not intend to keep.
[5:11] 1454 tn Heb “who takes up his name to emptiness.”
[5:12] 1464 tn Heb “to make holy,” that is, to put to special use, in this case, to sacred purposes (cf. vv. 13-15).
[5:14] 1475 tn There is some degree of paronomasia (wordplay) here: “the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי, hashÿvi’i) day is the Sabbath (שַׁבָּת, shabbat).” Otherwise, the words have nothing in common, since “Sabbath” is derived from the verb שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease”).
[5:14] 1476 tn Heb “in your gates”; NRSV, CEV “in your towns”; TEV “in your country.”
[5:15] 1486 tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”
[5:15] 1487 tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).
[5:16] 1497 tn The imperative here means, literally, “regard as heavy” (כַּבֵּד, kabbed). The meaning is that great importance must be ascribed to parents by their children.
[5:16] 1498 tn Heb “the
[5:17] 1508 tn Traditionally “kill” (so KJV, ASV, RSV, NAB). The verb here (רָצַח, ratsakh) is generic for homicide but in the OT both killing in war and capital punishment were permitted and even commanded (Deut 13:5, 9; 20:13, 16-17), so the technical meaning here is “murder.”
[5:20] 1519 tn Heb “your neighbor.” Clearly this is intended generically, however, and not to be limited only to those persons who live nearby (frequently the way “neighbor” is understood in contemporary contexts). So also in v. 20.
[5:21] 1530 tn The Hebrew verb used here (חָמַד, khamad) is different from the one translated “crave” (אָוַה, ’avah) in the next line. The former has sexual overtones (“lust” or the like; cf. Song of Sol 2:3) whereas the latter has more the idea of a desire or craving for material things.
[5:21] 1531 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” See note on the term “fellow man” in v. 19.
[5:21] 1532 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” The pronoun is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[5:21] 1533 tn Heb “or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
[5:22] 1541 tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”
[5:22] 1542 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the
[5:24] 1552 tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
[5:24] 1553 tn Heb “this day we have seen.”
[5:26] 1563 tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
[5:27] 1574 tn Heb “the
[5:28] 1585 tn Heb “the
[5:29] 1596 tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:31] 1607 tn Heb “commandment.” The MT actually has the singular (הַמִּצְוָה, hammitsvah), suggesting perhaps that the following terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) are in epexegetical apposition to “commandment.” That is, the phrase could be translated “the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances.” This would essentially make מִצְוָה (mitsvah) synonymous with תּוֹרָה (torah), the usual term for the whole collection of law.
[5:31] 1608 tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”
[5:33] 1618 tn Heb “the
[5:33] 1619 tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”
[6:1] 1629 tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.
[6:1] 1630 tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”
[6:2] 1640 tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.
[6:2] 1641 tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
[6:3] 1651 tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:3] 1652 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).
[6:4] 1662 tn Heb “the
[6:5] 1673 tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) in this setting communicates not so much an emotional idea as one of covenant commitment. To love the
[6:5] 1674 tn Heb “heart.” In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart. See A. Luc, NIDOTTE 2:749-54.
[6:5] 1675 tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 10-25; D. Fredericks, NIDOTTE 3:133-34.
[6:5] 1676 sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.
[6:7] 1684 tn Heb “repeat” (so NLT). If from the root I שָׁנַן (shanan), the verb means essentially to “engrave,” that is, “to teach incisively” (Piel); note NAB “Drill them into your children.” Cf. BDB 1041-42 s.v.
[6:7] 1685 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[6:8] 1695 sn Tie them as a sign on your forearm. Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin. They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; Deut 6:5-9; 11:13-21. The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.
[6:8] 1696 sn Fasten them as symbols on your forehead. These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5).
[6:9] 1706 sn The Hebrew term מְזוּזֹת (mÿzuzot) refers both to the door frames and to small cases attached on them containing scripture texts (always Deut 6:4-9 and 11:13-21; and sometimes the decalogue; Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; and Num 10:35-36). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 443-44.
[6:12] 1717 tn Heb “out of the house of slavery” (so NASB, NRSV).
[6:14] 1728 tn Heb “from the gods.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[6:15] 1739 tn Heb “lest the anger of the
[6:16] 1750 sn The place name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) derives from a root (נָסָה, nasah) meaning “to test; to try.” The reference here is to the experience in the Sinai desert when Moses struck the rock to obtain water (Exod 17:1-2). The complaining Israelites had, thus, “tested” the
[6:17] 1761 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[6:17] 1762 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb to emphasize the statement. The imperfect verbal form is used here with an obligatory nuance that can be captured in English through the imperative. Cf. NASB, NRSV “diligently keep (obey NLT).”
[6:18] 1773 tn Heb “the
[6:20] 1783 tn Heb “your son.”
[6:21] 1794 tn Heb “to your son.”
[6:21] 1795 tn Heb “by a strong hand.” The image is that of a warrior who, with weapon in hand, overcomes his enemies. The
[6:22] 1805 tn Heb “the
[6:22] 1806 tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.
[6:24] 1816 tn Heb “the
[6:25] 1827 tn The term “commandment” (מִצְוָה, mitsvah), here in the singular, refers to the entire body of covenant stipulations.
[6:25] 1828 tn Heb “as he has commanded us” (so NIV, NRSV).
[7:1] 1838 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[7:1] 1839 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).
[7:1] 1840 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[7:1] 1841 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[7:1] 1842 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[7:1] 1843 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).
[7:1] 1844 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).
[7:1] 1845 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.
[7:2] 1849 tn Heb “the
[7:2] 1850 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”
[7:2] 1851 tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”
[7:5] 1860 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the
[7:5] 1861 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[7:6] 1871 tn That is, “set apart.”
[7:6] 1872 tn Heb “the
[7:6] 1873 tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.
[7:8] 1882 tn Heb “the
[7:8] 1883 tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[7:8] 1884 tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
[7:8] 1885 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[7:8] 1886 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).
[7:8] 1887 tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”
[7:8] 1888 sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the
[7:8] 1889 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.
[7:9] 1893 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
[7:9] 1894 tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).
[7:10] 1904 tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).
[7:10] 1905 tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”
[7:12] 1915 tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.
[7:12] 1916 tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”
[7:13] 1926 tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[7:14] 1937 sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.
[7:16] 1948 tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”
[7:16] 1949 tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[7:18] 1959 tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”
[7:19] 1970 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
[7:19] 1971 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
[7:19] 1972 tn Heb “the
[7:20] 1981 tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).
[7:20] 1982 tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”
[7:22] 1992 tn Heb “the
[7:23] 2003 tn Heb “he will confuse them (with) great confusion.” The verb used here means “shake, stir up” (see Ruth 1:19; 1 Sam 4:5; 1 Kgs 1:45; Ps 55:2); the accompanying cognate noun refers to confusion, unrest, havoc, or panic (1 Sam 5:9, 11; 14:20; 2 Chr 15:5; Prov 15:16; Isa 22:5; Ezek 7:7; 22:5; Amos 3:9; Zech 14:13).
[7:24] 2014 tn Heb “you will destroy their name from under heaven” (cf. KJV); NRSV “blot out their name from under heaven.”
[7:25] 2025 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abhorrent; detestable”) describes anything detestable to the
[7:26] 2036 tn Heb “come under the ban” (so NASB); NRSV “be set apart for destruction.” The same phrase occurs again at the end of this verse.
[7:26] 2037 tn Or “like it is.”
[7:26] 2038 tn This Hebrew verb (שָׁקַץ, shaqats) is essentially synonymous with the next verb (תָעַב, ta’av; cf. תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah; see note on the word “abhorrent” in v. 25), though its field of meaning is more limited to cultic abomination (cf. Lev 11:11, 13; Ps 22:25).
[7:26] 2039 tn Heb “detesting you must detest and abhorring you must abhor.” Both verbs are preceded by a cognate infinitive absolute indicating emphasis.
[8:1] 2047 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
[8:1] 2048 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
[8:1] 2049 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
[8:1] 2050 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
[8:2] 2058 tn Heb “the
[8:2] 2059 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.
[8:3] 2069 tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).
[8:3] 2070 tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 2071 tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).
[8:3] 2072 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).
[8:3] 2073 sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).
[8:5] 2080 tn Heb “just as a man disciplines his son.” The Hebrew text reflects the patriarchal idiom of the culture.
[8:6] 2091 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[8:6] 2092 tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” The “ways” of the Lord refer here to his moral standards as reflected in his commandments. The verb “walk” is used frequently in the Bible (both OT and NT) for one’s moral and ethical behavior.
[8:9] 2113 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] 2114 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.
[8:14] 2124 tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection.
[8:15] 2135 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
[8:15] 2136 tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.
[8:16] 2146 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
[8:17] 2157 tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.
[8:17] 2158 tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”
[8:18] 2168 tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.
[8:19] 2179 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
[8:20] 2190 tn Heb “so you will perish.”
[8:20] 2191 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the
[9:1] 2201 tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.
[9:2] 2212 sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.
[9:2] 2213 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).
[9:3] 2223 tn Heb “the
[9:5] 2234 tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the
[9:5] 2235 tn Heb “the
[9:6] 2245 tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
[9:7] 2256 tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.
[9:7] 2257 tn Heb “the
[9:9] 2267 tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:10] 2278 sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself – not Moses in any way – was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).
[9:10] 2279 tn Heb “according to all the words.”
[9:10] 2280 tn Heb “the
[9:12] 2289 tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads מַסֵּכָה (massekhah, “a cast thing”) but some
[9:13] 2300 tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.
[9:14] 2311 tn Heb “leave me alone.”
[9:14] 2312 tn Heb “from under heaven.”
[9:15] 2322 tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[9:16] 2333 tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
[9:16] 2334 tn Heb “the
[9:17] 2344 tn The Hebrew text includes “from upon my two hands,” but as this seems somewhat obvious and redundant, it has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[9:19] 2355 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” Although many English versions translate as two terms, this construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion (cf. NAB, TEV “fierce anger”).
[9:19] 2356 tn Heb “the
[9:20] 2366 tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[9:21] 2377 tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).
[9:21] 2378 tn Heb “burned it with fire.”
[9:22] 2388 sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the
[9:22] 2389 sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.
[9:22] 2390 sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).
[9:23] 2399 tn Heb “the
[9:23] 2400 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
[9:24] 2410 tn Heb “the
[9:25] 2421 tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.
[9:25] 2422 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 2432 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 2433 tn Heb “Lord
[9:26] 2434 tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.
[9:26] 2435 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
[9:26] 2436 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
[9:28] 2443 tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:28] 2444 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
[9:29] 2454 tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.
[9:29] 2455 tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”
[10:1] 2465 tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.
[10:2] 2476 sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the
[10:3] 2487 sn Acacia wood (Heb “shittim wood”). This is wood from the acacia, the most common timber tree of the Sinai region. Most likely it is the species Acacia raddiana because this has the largest trunk. See F. N. Hepper, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, 63.
[10:4] 2498 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:4] 2499 tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.
[10:4] 2500 tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”
[10:4] 2501 tn Heb “the
[10:4] 2502 tn Heb “the
[10:6] 2509 sn Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan. This Hebrew name could be translated “the wells of Bene-Yaaqan” or “the wells of the sons of Yaaqan,” a site whose location cannot be determined (cf. Num 33:31-32; 1 Chr 1:42).
[10:6] 2510 sn Moserah. Since Aaron in other texts (Num 20:28; 33:38) is said to have died on Mount Hor, this must be the Arabah region in which Hor was located.
[10:7] 2520 sn Gudgodah. This is probably the same as Haggidgad, which is also associated with Jotbathah (Num 33:33).
[10:7] 2521 sn Jotbathah. This place, whose Hebrew name can be translated “place of wadis,” is possibly modern Ain Tabah, just north of Eilat, or Tabah, 6.5 mi (11 km) south of Eilat on the west shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.
[10:8] 2531 sn The
[10:8] 2532 sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.
[10:9] 2542 sn Levi has no allotment or inheritance. As the priestly tribe, Levi would have no land allotment except for forty-eight towns set apart for their use (Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-42). But theirs was a far greater inheritance, for the
[10:9] 2543 tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.
[10:11] 2553 tn Heb “the
[10:11] 2554 tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”
[10:11] 2555 tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.
[10:11] 2556 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).
[10:12] 2564 tn Heb “the
[10:12] 2565 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”
[10:12] 2566 tn Heb “the
[10:12] 2567 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[10:13] 2575 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
[10:15] 2586 tn Heb “the
[10:15] 2587 tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the
[10:15] 2588 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
[10:16] 2597 tn Heb “circumcise the foreskin of” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). Reference to the Abrahamic covenant prompts Moses to recall the sign of that covenant, namely, physical circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). Just as that act signified total covenant obedience, so spiritual circumcision (cleansing of the heart) signifies more internally a commitment to be pliable and obedient to the will of God (cf. Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; 9:26).
[10:16] 2598 tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
[10:18] 2608 tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.”
[10:21] 2619 tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).
[10:22] 2630 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:1] 2641 tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).
[11:2] 2652 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[11:2] 2653 tn Heb “who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord.” The collocation of the verbs “know” and “see” indicates that personal experience (knowing by seeing) is in view. The term translated “discipline” (KJV, ASV “chastisement”) may also be rendered “instruction,” but vv. 2b-6 indicate that the referent of the term is the various acts of divine judgment the Israelites had witnessed.
[11:2] 2654 tn The words “which revealed” have been supplied in the translation to show the logical relationship between the terms that follow and the divine judgments. In the Hebrew text the former are in apposition to the latter.
[11:2] 2655 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
[11:3] 2663 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 2-7 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the English translation divides the passage into three sentences. To facilitate this stylistic decision the words “They did not see” are supplied at the beginning of both v. 3 and v. 5, and “I am speaking” at the beginning of v. 7.
[11:3] 2664 tn Heb “his signs and his deeds which he did” (NRSV similar). The collocation of “signs” and “deeds” indicates that these acts were intended to make an impression on observers and reveal something about God’s power (cf. v. 2b). The word “awesome” has been employed to bring out the force of the word “signs” in this context.
[11:4] 2674 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.
[11:4] 2675 tn Heb “the
[11:4] 2676 tn Heb “and the Lord destroyed them to this day” (cf. NRSV); NLT “he has kept them devastated to this very day.” The translation uses the verb “annihilated” to indicate the permanency of the action.
[11:5] 2685 tn See note on these same words in v. 3.
[11:6] 2696 sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).
[11:6] 2697 tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
[11:6] 2698 tn Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.
[11:6] 2699 tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”
[11:6] 2700 tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
[11:7] 2707 tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.
[11:8] 2718 tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).
[11:8] 2719 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).
[11:8] 2720 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:9] 2729 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
[11:10] 2740 tn Heb “you are going there to possess it”; NASB “into which you are about to cross to possess it”; NRSV “that you are crossing over to occupy.”
[11:10] 2741 tn Heb “with your foot” (so NASB, NLT). There is a two-fold significance to this phrase. First, Egypt had no rain so water supply depended on human efforts at irrigation. Second, the Nile was the source of irrigation waters but those waters sometimes had to be pumped into fields and gardens by foot-power, perhaps the kind of machinery (Arabic shaduf) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians, 181). Nevertheless, the translation uses “by hand,” since that expression is the more common English idiom for an activity performed by manual labor.
[11:11] 2751 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:11] 2752 tn Heb “rain of heaven.”
[11:12] 2762 tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
[11:12] 2763 tn Heb “the eyes of the
[11:12] 2764 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.
[11:13] 2773 tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”
[11:13] 2774 tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).
[11:13] 2775 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:14] 2784 tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.
[11:14] 2785 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
[11:14] 2786 sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.
[11:15] 2795 tn Heb “grass in your field.”
[11:16] 2806 tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[11:17] 2817 tn Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”
[11:17] 2818 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:17] 2819 tn Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”
[11:17] 2820 tn Heb “the
[11:18] 2828 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:18] 2829 tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.
[11:19] 2839 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[11:21] 2850 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
[11:22] 2861 tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.
[11:22] 2862 tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.
[11:22] 2863 tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”
[11:23] 2872 tn Heb “the
[11:24] 2883 tn Heb “the sole of your foot walks.” The placing of the foot symbolizes conquest and dominion, especially on land or on the necks of enemies (cf. Deut 1:36; Ps 7:13; Isa 63:3 Hab 3:19; Zech 9:13). See E. H. Merrill, NIDOTTE 1:992.
[11:24] 2884 tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”
[11:26] 2894 sn A blessing and a curse. Every extant treaty text of the late Bronze Age attests to a section known as the “blessings and curses,” the former for covenant loyalty and the latter for covenant breach. Blessings were promised rewards for obedience; curses were threatened judgments for disobedience. In the Book of Deuteronomy these are fully developed in 27:1–28:68. Here Moses adumbrates the whole by way of anticipation.
[11:27] 2905 tn Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.
[11:28] 2916 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
[11:28] 2917 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[11:28] 2918 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[11:28] 2919 tn Heb “walk after”; NIV “by following”; NLT “by worshiping.” This is a violation of the first commandment, the most serious of the covenant violations (Deut 5:6-7).
[11:29] 2927 sn Mount Gerizim…Mount Ebal. These two mountains are near the ancient site of Shechem and the modern city of Nablus. The valley between them is like a great amphitheater with the mountain slopes as seating sections. The place was sacred because it was there that Abraham pitched his camp and built his first altar after coming to Canaan (Gen 12:6). Jacob also settled at Shechem for a time and dug a well from which Jesus once requested a drink of water (Gen 33:18-20; John 4:5-7). When Joshua and the Israelites finally brought Canaan under control they assembled at Shechem as Moses commanded and undertook a ritual of covenant reaffirmation (Josh 8:30-35; 24:1, 25). Half the tribes stood on Mt. Gerizim and half on Mt. Ebal and in antiphonal chorus pledged their loyalty to the
[11:30] 2938 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:30] 2939 sn Gilgal. From a Hebrew verb root גָלַל (galal, “to roll”) this place name means “circle” or “rolling,” a name given because God had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (Josh 5:9). It is perhaps to be identified with Khirbet el-Metjir, 1.2 mi (2 km) northeast of OT Jericho.
[11:30] 2940 tc The MT plural “oaks” (אֵלוֹנֵי, ’eloney) should probably be altered (with many Greek texts) to the singular “oak” (אֵלוֹן, ’elon; cf. NRSV) in line with the only other occurrence of the phrase (Gen 12:6). The Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J. read mmrá, confusing this place with the “oaks of Mamre” near Hebron (Gen 13:18). Smr also appears to confuse “Moreh” with “Mamre” (reading mwr’, a combined form), adding the clarification mwl shkm (“near Shechem”) apparently to distinguish it from Mamre near Hebron.
[12:1] 2950 tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the
[12:2] 2960 tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”
[12:2] 2961 sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.
[12:3] 2971 sn Sacred pillars. These are the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
[12:3] 2972 sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.
[12:5] 2982 tn Heb “the
[12:5] 2983 tc Some scholars, on the basis of v. 11, emend the MT reading שִׁכְנוֹ (shikhno, “his residence”) to the infinitive construct לְשָׁכֵן (lÿshakhen, “to make [his name] to dwell”), perhaps with the 3rd person masculine singular sf לְשַׁכְּנוֹ (lÿshakÿno, “to cause it to dwell”). Though the presupposed nounשֵׁכֶן (shekhen) is nowhere else attested, the parallel here with שַׁמָּה (shammah, “there”) favors retaining the MT as it stands.
[12:6] 2993 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:7] 3004 tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.
[12:7] 3005 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 3037 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:10] 3038 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 3039 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.
[12:11] 3048 tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”
[12:11] 3049 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:11] 3050 tn Heb “the
[12:12] 3059 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”
[12:12] 3060 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.
[12:14] 3070 tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[12:14] 3071 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).
[12:15] 3081 tn Heb “only in all the desire of your soul you may sacrifice and eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given to you.”
[12:15] 3082 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB; likewise in vv. 17, 18).
[12:18] 3092 tn Heb “the
[12:18] 3093 tn See note at Deut 12:12.
[12:18] 3094 tn Heb “in all the sending forth of your hands.”
[12:20] 3103 tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”
[12:20] 3104 tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”
[12:21] 3114 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 3115 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 3116 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”
[12:23] 3125 sn The blood is life itself. This is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which the cause or means (the blood) stands for the result or effect (life). That is, life depends upon the existence and circulation of blood, a truth known empirically but not scientifically tested and proved until the 17th century
[12:25] 3136 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
[12:26] 3147 tc Again, to complete a commonly attested wording the LXX adds after “choose” the phrase “to place his name there.” This shows insensitivity to deliberate departures from literary stereotypes. The MT reading is to be preferred.
[12:27] 3158 sn These other sacrifices would be so-called peace or fellowship offerings whose ritual required a different use of the blood from that of burnt (sin and trespass) offerings (cf. Lev 3; 7:11-14, 19-21).
[12:27] 3159 tn Heb “on the altar of the
[12:29] 3169 tn Heb “dwell in their land” (so NASB). In the Hebrew text vv. 29-30 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides it into two.
[12:31] 3180 tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the
[12:31] 3181 tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.
[12:31] 3182 tn Heb “every abomination of the
[12:32] 3191 sn Beginning with 12:32, the verse numbers through 13:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 12:32 ET = 13:1 HT, 13:1 ET = 13:2 HT, 13:2 ET = 13:3 HT, etc., through 13:18 ET = 13:19 HT. With 14:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[12:32] 3192 tn This verse highlights a phenomenon found throughout Deuteronomy, but most especially in chap. 12, namely, the alternation of grammatical singular and plural forms of the pronoun (known as Numeruswechsel in German scholarship). Critical scholarship in general resolves the “problem” by suggesting varying literary traditions – one favorable to the singular pronoun and the other to the plural – which appear in the (obviously rough) redacted text at hand. Even the ancient versions were troubled by the lack of harmony of grammatical number and in this verse, for example, offered a number of alternate readings. The MT reads “Everything I am commanding you (plural) you (plural) must be careful to do; you (singular) must not add to it nor should you (singular) subtract form it.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate suggest singular for the first two pronouns but a few Smr
[12:32] 3193 sn Do not add to it or subtract from it. This prohibition makes at least two profound theological points: (1) This work by Moses is of divine origination (i.e., it is inspired) and therefore can tolerate no human alteration; and (2) the work is complete as it stands (i.e., it is canonical).
[13:1] 3202 tn Heb “or a dreamer of dreams” (so KJV, ASV, NASB). The difference between a prophet (נָבִיא, navi’) and one who foretells by dreams (חֹלֵם אוֹ, ’o kholem) was not so much one of office – for both received revelation by dreams (cf. Num 12:6) – as it was of function or emphasis. The prophet was more a proclaimer and interpreter of revelation whereas the one who foretold by dreams was a receiver of revelation. In later times the role of the one who foretold by dreams was abused and thus denigrated as compared to that of the prophet (cf. Jer 23:28).
[13:1] 3203 tn The expression אוֹת אוֹ מוֹפֵת (’ot ’o mofet) became a formulaic way of speaking of ways of authenticating prophetic messages or other works of God (cf. Deut 28:46; Isa 20:3). The NT equivalent is the Greek term σημεῖον (shmeion), a sign performed (used frequently in the Gospel of John, cf. 2:11, 18; 20:30-31). They could, however, be counterfeited or (as here) permitted to false prophets by the
[13:3] 3213 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:3] 3214 tn Heb “the
[13:3] 3215 tn Heb “all your heart and soul” (so NRSV, CEV, NLT); or “heart and being” (NCV “your whole being”). See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[13:5] 3224 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:5] 3225 tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
[13:6] 3235 tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.
[13:6] 3236 tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”
[13:6] 3237 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).
[13:6] 3238 tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).
[13:7] 3246 tn Or “land” (so NIV, NCV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “land” or “earth.”
[13:9] 3257 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).
[13:9] 3258 tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.
[13:10] 3268 sn Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).
[13:11] 3279 sn Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
[13:13] 3290 tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”
[13:13] 3291 tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”
[13:13] 3292 tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.
[13:14] 3301 tc Theodotian adds “in Israel,” perhaps to broaden the matter beyond the local village.
[13:15] 3312 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “by all means.” Cf. KJV, NASB “surely”; NIV “certainly.”
[13:15] 3313 tn Or “put under divine judgment. The Hebrew word (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to placing persons or things under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction.Though primarily applied against the heathen, this severe judgment could also fall upon unrepentant Israelites (cf. the story of Achan in Josh 7). See also the note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[13:16] 3324 tn Heb “mound”; NAB “a heap of ruins.” The Hebrew word תֵּל (tel) refers to this day to a ruin represented especially by a built-up mound of dirt or debris (cf. Tel Aviv, “mound of grain”).
[13:17] 3334 tn Or “anything that has been put under the divine curse”; Heb “anything of the ban” (cf. NASB). See note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[13:18] 3345 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[13:18] 3346 tc The LXX and Smr add “and good” to bring the phrase in line with a familiar cliché (cf. Deut 6:18; Josh 9:25; 2 Kgs 10:3; 2 Chr 14:1; etc.). This is an unnecessary and improper attempt to force a text into a preconceived mold.
[13:18] 3347 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[14:1] 3356 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”
[14:1] 3357 sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.
[14:2] 3367 tn Or “set apart.”
[14:2] 3368 tn Heb “The
[14:2] 3369 tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.
[14:3] 3378 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the
[14:5] 3389 tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (’ayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ’ayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”
[14:5] 3390 tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (tsÿvi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).
[14:5] 3391 tn The Hebrew term יַחְמוּר (yakhmur) may refer to a “fallow deer”; cf. Arabic yahmur (“deer”). Cf. NAB, NIV, NCV “roe deer”; NEB, NRSV, NLT “roebuck.”
[14:5] 3392 tn The Hebrew term דִּישֹׁן (dishon) is a hapax legomenon. Its referent is uncertain but the animal is likely a variety of antelope (cf. NEB “white-rumped deer”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “ibex”).
[14:5] 3393 tn The Hebrew term תְּאוֹ (tÿ’o; a variant is תּוֹא, to’) could also refer to another species of antelope. Cf. NEB “long-horned antelope”; NIV, NRSV “antelope.”
[14:5] 3394 tn The Hebrew term זֶמֶר (zemer) is another hapax legomenon with the possible meaning “wild sheep.” Cf. KJV, ASV “chamois”; NEB “rock-goat”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “mountain sheep.”
[14:6] 3400 tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:7] 3411 tn The Hebrew term שָׁפָן (shafan) may refer to the “coney” (cf. KJV, NIV) or hyrax (“rock badger,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
[14:8] 3422 tc The MT lacks (probably by haplography) the phrase וְשֹׁסַע שֶׁסַע פַּרְסָה (vÿshosa’ shesa’ parsah, “and is clovenfooted,” i.e., “has parted hooves”), a phrase found in the otherwise exact parallel in Lev 11:7. The LXX and Smr attest the longer reading here. The meaning is, however, clear without it.
[14:12] 3433 tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”
[14:12] 3434 tn The Hebrew term פֶּרֶס (peres) describes a large vulture otherwise known as the ossifrage (cf. KJV). This largest of the vultures takes its name from its habit of dropping skeletal remains from a great height so as to break the bones apart.
[14:12] 3435 tn The Hebrew term עָזְנִיָּה (’ozniyyah) may describe the black vulture (so NIV) or it may refer to the osprey (so NAB, NRSV, NLT), an eagle-like bird subsisting mainly on fish.
[14:13] 3444 tn The Hebrew term is דַּיָּה (dayyah). This, with the previous two terms (רָאָה [ra’ah] and אַיָּה [’ayyah]), is probably a kite of some species but otherwise impossible to specify.
[14:15] 3455 tn Or “owl.” The Hebrew term בַּת הַיַּעֲנָה (bat hayya’anah) is sometimes taken as “ostrich” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but may refer instead to some species of owl (cf. KJV “owl”; NEB “desert-owl”; NIV “horned owl”).
[14:15] 3456 tn The Hebrew term תַּחְמָס (takhmas) is either a type of owl (cf. NEB “short-eared owl”; NIV “screech owl”) or possibly the nighthawk (so NRSV, NLT).
[14:15] 3457 tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).
[14:16] 3466 tn The Hebrew term תִּנְשֶׁמֶת (tinshemet) may refer to a species of owl (cf. ASV “horned owl”; NASB, NIV, NLT “white owl”) or perhaps even to the swan (so KJV); cf. NRSV “water hen.”
[14:17] 3477 tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qa’at) may also refer to a type of owl (NAB, NIV, NRSV “desert owl”) or perhaps the pelican (so KJV, NASB, NLT).
[14:19] 3488 tc The MT reads the Niphal (passive) for expected Qal (“you [plural] must not eat”); cf. Smr, LXX. However, the harder reading should stand.
[14:21] 3499 tn Heb “gates” (also in vv. 27, 28, 29).
[14:21] 3500 sn Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. This strange prohibition – one whose rationale is unclear but probably related to pagan ritual – may seem out of place here but actually is not for the following reasons: (1) the passage as a whole opens with a prohibition against heathen mourning rites (i.e., death, vv. 1-2) and closes with what appear to be birth and infancy rites. (2) In the other two places where the stipulation occurs (Exod 23:19 and Exod 34:26) it similarly concludes major sections. (3) Whatever the practice signified it clearly was abhorrent to the
[14:22] 3510 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “be certain.”
[14:23] 3521 tn This refers to wine in the early stages of fermentation. In its later stages it becomes wine (יַיִן, yayin) in its mature sense.
[14:24] 3532 tn Heb “the
[14:24] 3533 tn The Hebrew text includes “way is so far from you that you are unable to carry it because the.” These words have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because they are redundant.
[14:25] 3543 tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”
[15:1] 3554 tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”
[15:2] 3565 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
[15:2] 3566 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.”
[15:3] 3576 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:4] 3587 tc After the phrase “the
[15:4] 3588 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “surely.” Note however, that the use is rhetorical, for the next verse attaches a condition.
[15:4] 3589 tn Heb “the
[15:4] 3590 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
[15:5] 3598 tn Heb “if listening you listen to the voice of.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “carefully.” The idiom “listen to the voice” means “obey.”
[15:5] 3599 tn Heb “the
[15:5] 3600 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
[15:5] 3601 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
[15:7] 3609 tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.
[15:7] 3611 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
[15:7] 3612 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
[15:8] 3620 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.
[15:8] 3621 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:9] 3631 tn Heb “your eye.”
[15:9] 3632 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
[15:9] 3633 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
[15:9] 3634 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
[15:10] 3642 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
[15:10] 3643 tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.
[15:11] 3653 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
[15:11] 3654 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:12] 3664 sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.
[15:12] 3665 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
[15:12] 3666 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
[15:12] 3667 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
[15:14] 3675 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
[15:16] 3686 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 3687 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
[15:17] 3697 sn When the bondslave’s ear was drilled through to the door, the door in question was that of the master’s house. In effect, the bondslave is declaring his undying and lifelong loyalty to his creditor. The scar (or even hole) in the earlobe would testify to the community that the slave had surrendered independence and personal rights. This may be what Paul had in mind when he said “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).
[15:18] 3708 tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.
[15:19] 3719 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the
[15:20] 3730 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
[15:21] 3741 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
[15:22] 3752 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[15:22] 3753 tc The LXX adds ἐν σοί (en soi, “among you”) to make clear that the antecedent is the people and not the animals. That is, the people, whether ritually purified or not, may eat such defective animals.
[16:1] 3763 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
[16:1] 3764 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:1] 3765 tn Heb “the
[16:2] 3774 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[16:2] 3775 tn Heb “the
[16:4] 3785 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
[16:4] 3786 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:6] 3807 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:6] 3808 tc The MT reading אֶל (’el, “unto”) before “the place” should, following Smr, Syriac, Targums, and Vulgate, be omitted in favor of ב (bet; בַּמָּקוֹם, bammaqom), “in the place.”
[16:6] 3809 tn Heb “the
[16:7] 3818 tn The rules that governed the Passover meal are found in Exod 12:1-51, and Deut 16:1-8. The word translated “cook” (בָּשַׁל, bashal) here is translated “boil” in other places (e.g. Exod 23:19, 1 Sam 2:13-15). This would seem to contradict Exod 12:9 where the Israelites are told not to eat the Passover sacrifice raw or boiled. However, 2 Chr 35:13 recounts the celebration of a Passover feast during the reign of Josiah, and explains that the people “cooked (בָּשַׁל, bashal) the Passover sacrifices over the open fire.” The use of בָּשַׁל (bashal) with “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) suggests that the word could be used to speak of boiling or roasting.
[16:8] 3829 tn The words “on that day” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for clarification (cf. TEV, NLT).
[16:9] 3840 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:10] 3851 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג שָׁבֻעוֹת (khag shavu’ot) is otherwise known in the OT (Exod 23:16) as קָצִיר (qatsir, “harvest”) and in the NT as πεντηχοστή (penthcosth, “Pentecost”).
[16:10] 3852 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
[16:10] 3853 tn Heb “the
[16:11] 3862 tn Heb “the
[16:13] 3873 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכֹּת (khag hassukot, “festival of huts” or “festival of shelters”) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is now preferable to the traditional “tabernacles” (KJV, ASV, NIV) in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. Clearer is the English term “shelters” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but this does not reflect the temporary nature of the living arrangement. This feast was a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt, suggesting that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
[16:13] 3874 tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
[16:14] 3884 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[16:15] 3895 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 3896 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 3897 tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”
[16:16] 3906 tn Heb “the
[16:17] 3917 tn Heb “a man must give according to the gift of his hand.” This has been translated as second person for stylistic reasons, in keeping with the second half of the verse, which is second person rather than third.
[16:18] 3928 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
[16:18] 3930 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
[16:19] 3939 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
[16:19] 3940 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
[16:20] 3950 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
[16:21] 3961 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
[16:22] 3972 sn Sacred pillar. This refers to the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
[17:1] 3983 tn Heb “to the
[17:1] 3984 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.
[17:2] 3995 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
[17:3] 4005 tc The MT reads “and to the sun,” thus including the sun, the moon, and other heavenly spheres among the gods. However, Theodotion and Lucian read “or to the sun,” suggesting perhaps that the sun and the other heavenly bodies are not in the category of actual deities.
[17:3] 4006 tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:4] 4016 tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.
[17:5] 4028 tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”
[17:7] 4038 tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[17:7] 4039 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
[17:8] 4049 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
[17:8] 4050 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
[17:8] 4051 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
[17:8] 4053 tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.
[17:12] 4060 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
[17:15] 4071 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
[17:15] 4072 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not referring to siblings (cf. NIV “your brother Israelites”; NLT “a fellow Israelite”). The same phrase also occurs in v. 20.
[17:15] 4073 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
[17:16] 4082 tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).
[17:17] 4093 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
[17:18] 4104 tn Or “instruction.” The LXX reads here τὸ δευτερονόμιον τοῦτο (to deuteronomion touto, “this second law”). From this Greek phrase the present name of the book, “Deuteronomy” or “second law” (i.e., the second giving of the law), is derived. However, the MT’s expression מִשְׁנֶה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (mishneh hattorah hazzo’t) is better rendered “copy of this law.” Here the term תּוֹרָה (torah) probably refers only to the book of Deuteronomy and not to the whole Pentateuch.
[17:18] 4105 tn The Hebrew term סֵפֶר (sefer) means a “writing” or “document” and could be translated “book” (so KJV, ASV, TEV). However, since “book” carries the connotation of a modern bound book with pages (an obvious anachronism) it is preferable to render the Hebrew term “scroll” here and elsewhere.
[17:20] 4115 tc Heb “upon his kingship.” Smr supplies כִּסֵא (kise’, “throne”) so as to read “upon the throne of his kingship.” This overliteralizes what is a clearly understood figure of speech.
[18:1] 4126 tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.
[18:1] 4127 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[18:2] 4137 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
[18:2] 4138 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
[18:3] 4148 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
[18:4] 4159 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
[18:5] 4170 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the
[18:5] 4171 tn Heb “the name of the
[18:6] 4181 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
[18:6] 4182 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
[18:8] 4192 tn Presumably this would not refer to a land inheritance, since that was forbidden to the descendants of Levi (v. 1). More likely it referred to some family possessions (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV) or other private property (cf. NLT “a private source of income”), or even support sent by relatives (cf. TEV “whatever his family sends him”).
[18:10] 4203 tn Heb “who passes his son or his daughter through the fire.” The expression “pass…through the fire” is probably a euphemism for human sacrifice (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). See also Deut 12:31.
[18:10] 4204 tn Heb “a diviner of divination” (קֹסֵם קְסָמִים, qosem qÿsamim). This was a means employed to determine the future or the outcome of events by observation of various omens and signs (cf. Num 22:7; 23:23; Josh 13:22; 1 Sam 6:2; 15:23; 28:8; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 3:945-51.
[18:10] 4205 tn Heb “one who causes to appear” (מְעוֹנֵן, mÿ’onen). Such a practitioner was thought to be able to conjure up spirits or apparitions (cf. Lev 19:26; Judg 9:37; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 2:6; 57:3; Jer 27:9; Mic 5:11).
[18:10] 4206 tn Heb “a seeker of omens” (מְנַחֵשׁ, mÿnakhesh). This is a subset of divination, one illustrated by the use of a “divining cup” in the story of Joseph (Gen 44:5).
[18:10] 4207 tn Heb “a doer of sorcery” (מְכַשֵּׁף, mikhashef). This has to do with magic or the casting of spells in order to manipulate the gods or the powers of nature (cf. Lev 19:26-31; 2 Kgs 17:15b-17; 21:1-7; Isa 57:3, 5; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 2:735-38.
[18:11] 4214 tn Heb “a binder of binding” (חֹבֵר חָבֶר, khover khaver). The connotation is that of immobilizing (“binding”) someone or something by the use of magical words (cf. Ps 58:6; Isa 47:9, 12).
[18:11] 4215 tn Heb “asker of a [dead] spirit” (שֹׁאֵל אוֹב, sho’el ’ov). This is a form of necromancy (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6; 1 Sam 28:8, 9; Isa 8:19; 19:3; 29:4).
[18:11] 4216 tn Heb “a knowing [or “familiar”] [spirit]” (יִדְּעֹנִי, yiddÿ’oniy), i.e., one who is expert in mantic arts (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Sam 28:3, 9; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 8:19; 19:3).
[18:11] 4217 tn Heb “a seeker of the dead.” This is much the same as “one who conjures up spirits” (cf. 1 Sam 28:6-7).
[18:12] 4225 tn Heb “these abhorrent things.” The repetition is emphatic. For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the same term used earlier in the verse has been translated “detestable” here.
[18:12] 4226 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.
[18:15] 4236 tc The MT expands here on the usual formula by adding “from among you” (cf. Deut 17:15; 18:18; Smr; a number of Greek texts). The expansion seems to be for the purpose of emphasis, i.e., the prophet to come must be not just from Israel but an Israelite by blood.
[18:16] 4247 tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”
[18:19] 4258 tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”
[18:19] 4259 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:20] 4269 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[18:21] 4280 tn Heb “in your heart.”
[18:21] 4281 tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.
[18:22] 4291 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 4292 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
[18:22] 4293 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
[18:22] 4294 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 4295 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
[19:1] 4302 tn Heb “the
[19:2] 4313 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
[19:4] 4335 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
[19:4] 4336 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
[19:4] 4337 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day)” (likewise in v. 6). The point is that there was no animosity between the two parties at the time of the accident and therefore no motive for the killing. Cf. NAB “had previously borne no malice”; NRSV “had not been at enmity before.”
[19:5] 4346 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
[19:5] 4347 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
[19:5] 4348 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
[19:5] 4350 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:5] 4351 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:5] 4352 tn Heb “and live.”
[19:6] 4357 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
[19:6] 4358 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
[19:6] 4359 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
[19:8] 4369 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
[19:9] 4379 tn Heb “all this commandment.” This refers here to the entire covenant agreement of the Book of Deuteronomy as encapsulated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
[19:9] 4380 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
[19:9] 4381 sn You will add three more cities. Since these are alluded to nowhere else and thus were probably never added, this must be a provision for other cities of refuge should they be needed (cf. v. 8). See P. C. Craigie, Deuteronomy (NICOT), 267.
[19:10] 4390 tn Heb “innocent blood must not be shed.” The Hebrew phrase דָּם נָקִי (dam naqiy) means the blood of a person to whom no culpability or responsibility adheres because what he did was without malice aforethought (HALOT 224 s.v דָּם 4.b).
[19:10] 4391 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
[19:11] 4401 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:11] 4402 tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”
[19:12] 4412 tn The גֹאֵל הַדָּם (go’el haddam, “avenger of blood”) would ordinarily be a member of the victim’s family who, after due process of law, was invited to initiate the process of execution (cf. Num 35:16-28). See R. Hubbard, NIDOTTE 1:789-94.
[19:13] 4423 sn Purge out the blood of the innocent. Because of the corporate nature of Israel’s community life, the whole community shared in the guilt of unavenged murder unless and until vengeance occurred. Only this would restore spiritual and moral equilibrium (Num 35:33).
[19:14] 4434 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
[19:14] 4435 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
[19:14] 4436 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
[19:15] 4445 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
[19:15] 4446 tn Heb “may stand.”
[19:16] 4456 tn Heb “violent” (חָמָס, khamas). This is a witness whose motivation from the beginning is to do harm to the accused and who, therefore, resorts to calumny and deceit. See I. Swart and C. VanDam, NIDOTTE 2:177-80.
[19:16] 4457 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 4467 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 4478 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 4489 tn Heb “you will burn out” (בִּעַרְתָּ, bi’arta). Like a cancer, unavenged sin would infect the whole community. It must, therefore, be excised by the purging out of its perpetrators who, presumably, remained unrepentant (cf. Deut 13:6; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7).
[19:21] 4500 sn This kind of justice is commonly called lex talionis or “measure for measure” (cf. Exod 21:23-25; Lev 24:19-20). It is likely that it is the principle that is important and not always a strict application. That is, the punishment should fit the crime and it may do so by the payment of fines or other suitable and equitable compensation (cf. Exod 22:21; Num 35:31). See T. S. Frymer-Kensky, “Tit for Tat: The Principle of Equal Retribution in Near Eastern and Biblical Law,” BA 43 (1980): 230-34.
[20:1] 4511 tn Heb “horse and chariot.”
[20:2] 4522 sn The reference to the priest suggests also the presence of the ark of the covenant, the visible sign of God’s presence. The whole setting is clearly that of “holy war” or “Yahweh war,” in which God himself takes initiative as the true commander of the forces of Israel (cf. Exod 14:14-18; 15:3-10; Deut 3:22; 7:18-24; 31:6, 8).
[20:2] 4523 tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”
[20:4] 4533 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
[20:5] 4544 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
[20:5] 4545 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
[20:5] 4546 tn The Hebrew term חָנַךְ (khanakh) occurs elsewhere only with respect to the dedication of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 8:63 = 2 Chr 7:5). There it has a religious connotation which, indeed, may be the case here as well. The noun form (חָנֻכָּה, khanukah) is associated with the consecration of the great temple altar (2 Chr 7:9) and of the postexilic wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27). In Maccabean times the festival of Hanukkah was introduced to celebrate the rededication of the temple following its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 Macc 4:36-61).
[20:5] 4547 tn Heb “another man.”
[20:7] 4555 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
[20:8] 4566 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
[20:9] 4577 tn The Hebrew text includes “to the people,” but this phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 4578 tn Heb “princes of hosts.”
[20:11] 4588 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
[20:11] 4589 tn Heb “become as a vassal and will serve you.” The Hebrew term translated slaves (מַס, mas) refers either to Israelites who were pressed into civil service, especially under Solomon (1 Kgs 5:27; 9:15, 21; 12:18), or (as here) to foreigners forced as prisoners of war to become slaves to Israel. The Gibeonites exemplify this type of servitude (Josh 9:3-27; cf. Josh 16:10; 17:13; Judg 1:28, 30-35; Isa 31:8; Lam 1:1).
[20:13] 4599 tn Heb “to your hands.”
[20:16] 4610 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
[20:16] 4611 tn Heb “any breath.”
[20:17] 4621 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “utterly.” Cf. CEV “completely wipe out.”
[20:17] 4622 sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[20:17] 4623 sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[20:17] 4624 sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[20:17] 4625 sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[20:17] 4626 sn Hivite. 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 “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
[20:17] 4627 tc The LXX adds “Girgashites” here at the end of the list in order to list the full (and usual) complement of seven (see note on “seven” in Deut 7:1).
[20:18] 4632 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
[20:19] 4643 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
[20:19] 4644 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
[20:19] 4645 tn Heb “you may eat from them.” The direct object is not expressed; the word “fruit” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[20:19] 4646 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
[20:20] 4654 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
[20:20] 4655 tn Heb “[an] enclosure.” The term מָצוֹר (matsor) may refer to encircling ditches or to surrounding stagings. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238.
[21:1] 4665 tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).
[21:1] 4666 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:1] 4667 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
[21:2] 4676 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
[21:3] 4687 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:4] 4698 tn The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.
[21:4] 4699 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.
[21:5] 4709 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
[21:5] 4710 tn Heb “in the name of the
[21:5] 4711 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
[21:5] 4712 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
[21:6] 4720 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:6] 4721 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
[21:7] 4731 tn Heb “our eyes.” This is a figure of speech known as synecdoche in which the part (the eyes) is put for the whole (the entire person).
[21:7] 4732 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:8] 4742 tn Heb “Atone for.”
[21:8] 4743 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
[21:9] 4753 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
[21:10] 4764 tn Heb “gives him into your hands.”
[21:11] 4775 tn Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:12] 4786 sn This requirement for the woman to shave her head may symbolize the putting away of the old life and customs in preparation for being numbered among the people of the
[21:13] 4797 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
[21:13] 4798 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
[21:13] 4799 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
[21:14] 4808 sn Heb “send her off.” The Hebrew term שִׁלַּחְתָּה (shillakhtah) is a somewhat euphemistic way of referring to divorce, the matter clearly in view here (cf. Deut 22:19, 29; 24:1, 3; Jer 3:1; Mal 2:16). This passage does not have the matter of divorce as its principal objective, so it should not be understood as endorsing divorce generally. It merely makes the point that if grounds for divorce exist (see Deut 24:1-4), and then divorce ensues, the husband could in no way gain profit from it.
[21:14] 4809 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
[21:14] 4810 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:14] 4811 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
[21:14] 4812 sn You have humiliated her. Since divorce was considered rejection, the wife subjected to it would “lose face” in addition to the already humiliating event of having become a wife by force (21:11-13). Furthermore, the Hebrew verb translated “humiliated” here (עָנָה, ’anah), commonly used to speak of rape (cf. Gen 34:2; 2 Sam 13:12, 14, 22, 32; Judg 19:24), likely has sexual overtones as well. The woman may not be enslaved or abused after the divorce because it would be double humiliation (see also E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy [NAC], 291).
[21:15] 4819 tn Heb “one whom he loves and one whom he hates.” For the idea of שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) meaning to be rejected or loved less (cf. NRSV “disliked”), see Gen 29:31, 33; Mal 1:2-3. Cf. A. Konkel, NIDOTTE 3:1256-60.
[21:15] 4820 tn Heb “both the one whom he loves and the one whom he hates.” On the meaning of the phrase “one whom he loves and one whom he hates” see the note on the word “other” earlier in this verse. The translation has been simplified for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:16] 4830 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
[21:16] 4831 tn Heb “the hated.”
[21:17] 4841 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
[21:17] 4842 tn Heb “measure of two.” The Hebrew expression פִּי שְׁנַיִם (piy shÿnayim) suggests a two-thirds split; that is, the elder gets two parts and the younger one part. Cf. 2 Kgs 2:9; Zech 13:8. The practice is implicit in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen 25:31-34) and Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim (Gen 48:8-22).
[21:17] 4843 tn Heb “his generative power” (אוֹן, ’on; cf. HALOT 22 s.v.). Cf. NAB “the first fruits of his manhood”; NRSV “the first issue of his virility.”
[21:18] 4852 tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”
[21:20] 4863 tc The LXX and Smr read “to the men,” probably to conform to this phrase in v. 21. However, since judicial cases were the responsibility of the elders in such instances (cf. Deut 19:12; 21:3, 6; 25:7-8) the reading of the MT is likely original and correct here.
[21:21] 4874 tn The Hebrew term בִּעַרְתָּה (bi’artah), here and elsewhere in such contexts (cf. Deut 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:9), suggests God’s anger which consumes like fire (thus בָעַר, ba’ar, “to burn”). See H. Ringgren, TDOT 2:203-4.
[21:21] 4875 tc Some LXX traditions read הַנִּשְׁאָרִים (hannish’arim, “those who remain”) for the MT’s יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”), understandable in light of Deut 19:20. However, the more difficult reading found in the MT is more likely original.
[21:23] 4896 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
[21:23] 4897 tn Heb “hung,” but this could convey the wrong image in English (hanging with a rope as a means of execution). Cf. NCV “anyone whose body is displayed on a tree.”
[21:23] 4898 sn The idea behind the phrase cursed by God seems to be not that the person was impaled because he was cursed but that to leave him exposed there was to invite the curse of God upon the whole land. Why this would be so is not clear, though the rabbinic idea that even a criminal is created in the image of God may give some clue (thus J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 198). Paul cites this text (see Gal 3:13) to make the point that Christ, suspended from a cross, thereby took upon himself the curse associated with such a display of divine wrath and judgment (T. George, Galatians [NAC], 238-39).
[22:1] 4907 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
[22:1] 4908 tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”
[22:1] 4909 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
[22:1] 4910 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
[22:2] 4918 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
[22:2] 4919 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
[22:2] 4920 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
[22:2] 4921 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:3] 4929 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
[22:3] 4930 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
[22:4] 4940 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
[22:4] 4941 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
[22:4] 4942 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
[22:4] 4943 tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.
[22:5] 4951 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
[22:5] 4952 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “offense”) speaks of anything that runs counter to ritual or moral order, especially (in the OT) to divine standards. Cross-dressing in this covenant context may suggest homosexuality, fertility cult ritual, or some other forbidden practice.
[22:6] 4962 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
[22:6] 4963 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
[22:7] 4973 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
[22:8] 4984 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
[22:8] 4985 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
[22:9] 4995 tn Heb “set apart.” The verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) in the Qal verbal stem (as here) has the idea of being holy or being treated with special care. Some take the meaning as “be off-limits, forfeited,” i.e., the total produce of the vineyard, both crops and grapes, have to be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Exod 29:37; 30:29; Lev 6:18, 27; Num 16:37-38; Hag 2:12).
[22:11] 5006 tn The Hebrew term שַׁעַטְנֵז (sha’atnez) occurs only here and in Lev 19:19. HALOT 1610-11 s.v. takes it to be a contraction of words (שַׁשׁ [shash, “headdress”] + עַטְנַז [’atnaz, “strong”]). BDB 1043 s.v. שַׁעַטְנֵז offers the translation “mixed stuff” (cf. NEB “woven with two kinds of yarn”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “woven together”). The general meaning is clear even if the etymology is not.
[22:12] 5017 tn Heb “twisted threads” (גְּדִלִים, gÿdilim) appears to be synonymous with צִיצִת (tsitsit) which, in Num 15:38, occurs in a passage instructing Israel to remember the covenant. Perhaps that is the purpose of the tassels here as well. Cf. KJV, ASV “fringes”; NAB “twisted cords.”
[22:13] 5028 tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.
[22:13] 5029 tn Heb “hate.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15. Cf. NAB “comes to dislike”; NASB “turns against”; TEV “decides he doesn’t want.”
[22:14] 5039 tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”
[22:14] 5040 tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”
[22:14] 5041 tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.
[22:15] 5050 sn In light of v. 17 this would evidently be blood-stained sheets indicative of the first instance of intercourse. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 302-3.
[22:16] 5061 tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[22:17] 5072 tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”
[22:18] 5083 tn Heb “discipline.”
[22:19] 5094 tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.
[22:19] 5095 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
[22:21] 5105 tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”
[22:21] 5106 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.
[22:22] 5116 tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.
[22:22] 5117 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
[22:22] 5118 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:23] 5128 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:24] 5138 tn Heb “humbled.”
[22:24] 5140 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:25] 5149 tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.
[22:25] 5150 tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.
[22:25] 5151 tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”
[22:26] 5160 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[22:27] 5171 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:28] 5182 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:30] 5193 sn Beginning with 22:30, the verse numbers through 23:25 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:30 ET = 23:1 HT, 23:1 ET = 23:2 HT, 23:2 ET = 23:3 HT, etc., through 23:25 ET = 23:26 HT. With 24:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[22:30] 5194 tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
[22:30] 5195 sn This presupposes either the death of the father or their divorce since it would be impossible for one to marry his stepmother while his father was still married to her.
[22:30] 5196 tn Heb “uncover his father’s skirt” (so ASV, NASB). This appears to be a circumlocution for describing the dishonor that would come to a father by having his own son share his wife’s sexuality (cf. NAB, NIV “dishonor his father’s bed”).
[23:1] 5204 tn Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”
[23:1] 5205 tn Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”
[23:1] 5206 sn The Hebrew term translated “assembly” (קָהָל, qahal) does not refer here to the nation as such but to the formal services of the tabernacle or temple. Since emasculated or other sexually abnormal persons were commonly associated with pagan temple personnel, the thrust here may be primarily polemical in intent. One should not read into this anything having to do with the mentally and physically handicapped as fit to participate in the life and ministry of the church.
[23:2] 5215 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
[23:2] 5216 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:3] 5226 sn An Ammonite or Moabite. These descendants of Lot by his two daughters (cf. Gen 19:30-38) were thereby the products of incest and therefore excluded from the worshiping community. However, these two nations also failed to show proper hospitality to Israel on their way to Canaan (v. 4).
[23:3] 5227 tn The Hebrew term translated “ever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ’ad-’olam) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.
[23:3] 5228 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:4] 5237 tn Heb “hired against you.”
[23:5] 5248 tn Heb “the
[23:5] 5249 tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”) here and commonly elsewhere in the Book of Deuteronomy speaks of God’s elective grace toward Israel. See note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[23:7] 5260 tn Heb “sojourner.”
[23:8] 5270 sn Concessions were made to the Edomites and Egyptians (as compared to the others listed in vv. 1-6) because the Edomites (i.e., Esauites) were full “brothers” of Israel and the Egyptians had provided security and sustenance for Israel for more than four centuries.
[23:9] 5281 tn Heb “evil.” The context makes clear that this is a matter of ritual impurity, not moral impurity, so it is “evil” in the sense that it disbars one from certain religious activity.
[23:10] 5292 tn Heb “nocturnal happening.” The Hebrew term קָרֶה (qareh) merely means “to happen” so the phrase here is euphemistic (a “night happening”) for some kind of bodily emission such as excrement or semen. Such otherwise normal physical functions rendered one ritually unclean whether accidental or not. See Lev 15:16-18; 22:4.
[23:12] 5303 tn Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 5314 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 5315 tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:13] 5316 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
[23:14] 5325 tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”
[23:14] 5326 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing”; NLT “any shameful thing.” The expression עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers specifically to sexual organs and, by extension, to any function associated with them. There are some aspects of human life that are so personal and private that they ought not be publicly paraded. Cultically speaking, even God is offended by such impropriety (cf. Gen 9:22-23; Lev 18:6-12, 16-19; 20:11, 17-21). See B. Seevers, NIDOTTE 3:528-30.
[23:15] 5336 tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.
[23:17] 5358 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] 5359 tn Heb “daughters.”
[23:17] 5360 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).
[23:18] 5369 tn Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה (zonah) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17.
[23:18] 5370 tn Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17.
[23:19] 5380 tn Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).
[23:21] 5391 tn Heb “the
[23:21] 5392 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”
[23:21] 5393 tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”
[23:24] 5402 tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”
[23:24] 5403 tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”
[23:25] 5413 sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
[24:1] 5424 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10).
[24:2] 5435 tn Heb “his house.”
[24:3] 5446 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[24:3] 5447 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
[24:4] 5457 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
[24:4] 5458 sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.
[24:4] 5459 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
[24:5] 5468 tn Heb “go out with.”
[24:5] 5469 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
[24:6] 5479 sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.
[24:7] 5490 tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.
[24:7] 5491 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
[24:7] 5492 tn Heb “that thief.”
[24:7] 5493 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
[24:8] 5501 tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
[24:9] 5512 sn What the
[24:10] 5523 tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
[24:11] 5534 tn Heb “his pledge.”
[24:12] 5545 tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”
[24:13] 5556 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
[24:13] 5557 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
[24:14] 5567 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”
[24:14] 5568 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 5578 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
[24:19] 5589 tn Heb “in the field.”
[24:19] 5590 tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).
[24:20] 5600 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
[24:21] 5611 tn Heb “glean after you.”
[25:1] 5623 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:1] 5624 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
[25:1] 5625 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
[25:2] 5633 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[25:2] 5634 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
[25:2] 5635 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
[25:3] 5644 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:3] 5645 tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
[25:3] 5646 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
[25:4] 5655 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
[25:5] 5666 tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
[25:5] 5667 sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6).
[25:6] 5677 tn Heb “and it will be that.”
[25:6] 5678 tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.
[25:7] 5688 tn Heb “want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister in law.” In the second instance the pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[25:9] 5699 sn The removal of the sandal was likely symbolic of the relinquishment by the man of any claim to his dead brother’s estate since the sandal was associated with the soil or land (cf. Ruth 4:7-8). Spitting in the face was a sign of utmost disgust or disdain, an emotion the rejected widow would feel toward her uncooperative brother-in-law (cf. Num 12:14; Lev 15:8). See W. Bailey, NIDOTTE 2:544.
[25:9] 5700 tn Heb “build the house of his brother”; TEV “refuses to give his brother a descendant”; NLT “refuses to raise up a son for his brother.”
[25:10] 5710 tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.”
[25:10] 5712 tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.”
[25:11] 5721 tn Heb “a man and his brother.”
[25:11] 5722 tn Heb “shameful parts.” Besides the inherent indelicacy of what she has done, the woman has also threatened the progenitive capacity of the injured man. The level of specificity given this term in modern translations varies: “private parts” (NAB, NIV, CEV); “genitals” (NASB, NRSV, TEV); “sex organs” (NCV); “testicles” (NLT).
[25:13] 5732 tn Heb “a stone and a stone.” The repetition of the singular noun here expresses diversity, as the following phrase indicates. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
[25:13] 5733 tn Heb “a large and a small,” but since the issue is the weight, “a heavy and a light one” conveys the idea better in English.
[25:14] 5743 tn Heb “an ephah and an ephah.” An ephah refers to a unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to five U.S. gallons (just under 20 liters). On the repetition of the term to indicate diversity, see IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
[25:15] 5754 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
[25:16] 5765 tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
[25:17] 5776 tn Heb “what Amalek” (so NAB, NRSV). Here the individual ancestor, the namesake of the tribe, is cited as representative of the entire tribe at the time Israel was entering Canaan. Consistent with this, singular pronouns are used in v. 18 and the singular name appears again in v. 19. Since readers unfamiliar with the tribe of Amalekites might think this refers to an individual, the term “Amalekites” and the corresponding plural pronouns have been used throughout these verses (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[25:18] 5787 sn See Exod 17:8-16.
[25:19] 5798 tn Heb “ the
[25:19] 5799 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”
[25:19] 5800 tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[25:19] 5801 sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.
[26:1] 5809 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
[26:2] 5820 tn Heb “the
[26:2] 5821 sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14.
[26:3] 5831 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
[26:3] 5832 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
[26:3] 5833 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[26:3] 5834 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
[26:4] 5842 tn Heb “your hand.”
[26:5] 5853 tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.
[26:5] 5854 sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).
[26:5] 5856 tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
[26:7] 5864 tn Heb “the
[26:8] 5875 tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[26:10] 5886 tn Heb “the
[26:11] 5897 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
[26:12] 5908 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[26:12] 5909 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
[26:13] 5919 tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the
[26:13] 5920 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:14] 5930 sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.
[26:14] 5931 tn Heb “the
[26:16] 5941 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
[26:19] 5952 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] 5953 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
[26:19] 5954 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
[27:1] 5963 tn Heb “the whole commandment.” See note at 5:31.
[27:1] 5964 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 10).
[27:2] 5974 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 5975 tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.
[27:4] 5996 tc Smr reads “Mount Gerizim” for the MT reading “Mount Ebal” to justify the location of the Samaritan temple there in the postexilic period. This reading is patently self-serving and does not reflect the original. In the NT when the Samaritan woman of Sychar referred to “this mountain” as the place of worship for her community she obviously had Gerizim in mind (cf. John 4:20).
[27:10] 6007 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the
[27:12] 6018 tn The word “tribes” has been supplied here and in the following verse in the translation for clarity.
[27:14] 6029 tn Heb “Israelite man.”
[27:15] 6040 tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.
[27:15] 6041 tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
[27:15] 6042 tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”
[27:15] 6043 tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.
[27:16] 6051 tn The Levites speak again at this point; throughout this pericope the Levites pronounce the curse and the people respond with “Amen.”
[27:16] 6052 tn The Hebrew term קָלָה (qalah) means to treat with disdain or lack of due respect (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “dishonors”; NLT “despises”). It is the opposite of כָּבֵד (kaved, “to be heavy,” that is, to treat with reverence and proper deference). To treat a parent lightly is to dishonor him or her and thus violate the fifth commandment (Deut 5:16; cf. Exod 21:17).
[27:20] 6062 tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).
[27:20] 6063 tn See note at Deut 22:30.
[27:20] 6064 tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.
[27:21] 6073 tn Heb “lies with any animal” (so NASB, NRSV). “To lie with” is a Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations with someone (or in this case, some animal).
[27:24] 6084 tn Or “strikes down” (so NRSV).
[28:1] 6095 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”
[28:1] 6096 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).
[28:2] 6106 tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”
[28:3] 6117 tn Or “in the country” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). This expression also occurs in v. 15.
[28:4] 6128 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[28:6] 6139 sn Come in…go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.
[28:7] 6150 tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).
[28:7] 6151 tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).
[28:8] 6161 tn Heb “the
[28:9] 6172 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[28:9] 6173 tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[28:10] 6183 tn Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).
[28:11] 6194 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”
[28:11] 6195 tn Heb “the
[28:11] 6196 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).
[28:12] 6205 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
[28:13] 6216 tn Heb “the
[28:13] 6217 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”
[28:14] 6227 tn Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”
[28:14] 6228 tn Heb “in order to serve.”
[28:15] 6238 tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”
[28:15] 6239 tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”
[28:18] 6249 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[28:19] 6260 sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.
[28:20] 6271 tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”
[28:20] 6272 tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”
[28:20] 6273 tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.
[28:21] 6282 tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”
[28:22] 6293 tn Heb “The
[28:22] 6294 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
[28:22] 6295 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
[28:22] 6296 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[28:23] 6304 tc The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”
[28:23] 6305 tn Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[28:25] 6315 tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).
[28:28] 6326 tn Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).
[28:29] 6337 tn Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”
[28:30] 6348 tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.
[28:32] 6359 tn Heb “and there will be no power in your hand”; NCV “there will be nothing you can do.”
[28:36] 6370 tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
[28:40] 6381 tn Heb “your olives will drop off” (נָשַׁל, nashal), referring to the olives dropping off before they ripen.
[28:42] 6392 tn The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).
[28:43] 6403 tn Heb “the foreigner.” This is a collective singular and has therefore been translated as plural; this includes the pronouns in the following verse, which are also singular in the Hebrew text.
[28:45] 6414 tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”
[28:46] 6425 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:46] 6426 tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
[28:48] 6436 tn Heb “lack of everything.”
[28:48] 6437 tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the
[28:49] 6447 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
[28:49] 6448 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
[28:51] 6458 tn Heb “it” (so NRSV), a collective singular referring to the invading nation (several times in this verse and v. 52).
[28:51] 6459 tn Heb “increase of herds.”
[28:51] 6460 tn Heb “growth of flocks.”
[28:52] 6469 tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.
[28:53] 6480 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”
[28:53] 6481 tn Heb “siege and stress.”
[28:55] 6491 tn Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”
[28:56] 6502 tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.
[28:56] 6503 tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”
[28:57] 6513 tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”
[28:57] 6514 tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”
[28:57] 6515 tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”
[28:58] 6524 tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”
[28:60] 6535 sn These are the plagues the
[28:60] 6536 tn Heb “will cling to you” (so NIV); NLT “will claim you.”
[28:61] 6546 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”
[28:62] 6557 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[28:62] 6558 tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”
[28:63] 6568 tn Heb “the
[28:66] 6579 tn Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.
