Deuteronomy 10:13

10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving ¹  you today for your own good?

Deuteronomy 12:19

12:19 Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land.

Deuteronomy 14:27

14:27 As for the Levites in your villages, you must not ignore them, for they have no allotment or inheritance along with you.

Deuteronomy 23:17

Purity in Cultic Personnel

23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute ²  among the young women ³  of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute ⁴  among the young men ⁵  of Israel.

Deuteronomy 29:17

29:17 You have seen their detestable things ⁶  and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) ⁷ 

[10:13]  ¹ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.

[23:17]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “daughters.”

[23:17]  ⁴ tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[29:17]  ³ tn The Hebrew term שִׁקּוּץ (shiquts) refers to anything out of keeping with the nature and character of Yahweh and therefore to be avoided by his people Israel. It is commonly used with or as a synonym for תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “detestable, abhorrent”; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 16:18; Ezek 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; see note on the term “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:243-46.

[29:17]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “which were with them.” Verses 16-17 constitute a parenthetical comment.