Deuteronomy 12:1-21

Context

The Central Sanctuary

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,¹ has given you to possess.² 12:2 You must by all means destroy³ 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.⁴ 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars,⁵ burn up their sacred Asherah poles,⁶ 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 he⁷ chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence,⁸ 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,⁹ your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families¹⁰ must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he¹¹ has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone¹² doing what seems best to him, 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop¹³ and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River¹⁴ and settle in the land he¹⁵ is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety.¹⁶ 12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing¹⁷ everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared,¹⁸ and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him.¹⁹ 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 villages²⁰ (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you).²¹ 12:13 Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, 12:14 for you may do so²² only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you.²³

Regulations for Profane Slaughter

12:15 On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the Lord your God blesses you²⁴ in all your villages.²⁵ 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 he²⁶ chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites²⁷ in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the Lord your God in all the output of your labor.²⁸ 12:19 Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land.

The Sanctity of Blood

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,”²⁹ you may do so as you wish.³⁰ 12:21 If the place he³¹ chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he³² has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages³³ just as you wish.

[12:1] ¹tn Heb “fathers.”

[12:1] ²tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days which you live in the land.” This adverbial statement modifies “to obey,” not “to possess,” so the order in the translation has been rearranged to make this clear.

[12:2] ³tn 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] ⁴sn 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] ⁵sn 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] ⁶sn 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] ⁷tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[12:5] ⁸tc 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] ⁹tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

[12:7] ¹⁰tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.

[12:7] ¹¹tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:8] ¹²tn Heb “a man.”

[12:9] ¹³tn Heb “rest.”

[12:10] ¹⁴tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:10] ¹⁵tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:10] ¹⁶tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.

[12:11] ¹⁷tn 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] ¹⁸tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

[12:11] ¹⁹tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:12] ²⁰tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”

[12:12] ²¹sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.

[12:14] ²²tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[12:14] ²³sn 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] ²⁴tn 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] ²⁵tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB; likewise in vv. 17, 18).

[12:18] ²⁶tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:18] ²⁷tn See note at Deut 12:12.

[12:18] ²⁸tn Heb “in all the sending forth of your hands.”

[12:20] ²⁹tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”

[12:20] ³⁰tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”

[12:21] ³¹tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:21] ³²tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:21] ³³tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”