Deuteronomy 10:1

The Opportunity to Begin Again

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. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 16:18

Provision for Justice

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants ²  for each tribe in all your villages ³  that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 16:21

Examples of Legal Cases

16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole ⁵  near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.

Deuteronomy 20:11

20:11 If it accepts your terms ⁶  and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 22:7

22:7 You must be sure ⁸  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.

Deuteronomy 28:31

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.

Deuteronomy 28:53

28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, ⁹  the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege ¹⁰  by which your enemies will constrict you.

[10:1]  ¹ 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.

[16:18]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “gates.”

[16:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”

[16:21]  ³ tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”

[20:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”

[20:11]  ⁵ 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).

[22:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”

[28:53]  ⁶ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”

[28:53]  ⁷ tn Heb “siege and stress.”