Deuteronomy 12:20

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,” ¹  you may do so as you wish. ² 

Deuteronomy 17:14

Provision for Kingship

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,”

Deuteronomy 26:3

26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your ³  God that I have come into the land that the Lord ⁴  promised ⁵  to our ancestors ⁶  to give us.”

Deuteronomy 26:5

26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering ⁷  Aramean ⁸  was my ancestor, ⁹  and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, ¹⁰  but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.

Deuteronomy 26:13

26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering ¹¹  from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. ¹²  I have not violated or forgotten your commandments.

[12:20]  ¹ tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”

[12:20]  ² tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”

[26:3]  ³ tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX mss have “my God,” a contextually superior rendition followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, TEV). Perhaps the text reflects dittography of the kaf (כ) at the end of the word with the following preposition כִּי (ki).

[26:3]  ⁴ tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.

[26:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

[26:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).

[26:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “father.”

[26:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[26:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away.

[26:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.