Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 14:1--26:19
Context14:1 You are children 1 of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald 2 for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a people holy 3 to the Lord your God. He 4 has chosen you to be his people, prized 5 above all others on the face of the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden 6 thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex, 7 the gazelle, 8 the deer, 9 the wild goat, the antelope, 10 the wild oryx, 11 and the mountain sheep. 12 14:6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. 13 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. 14 (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, 15 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, 16 the vulture, 17 the black vulture, 18 14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah 19 after its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich, 20 the owl, 21 the seagull, the falcon 22 after its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, 23 14:17 the jackdaw, 24 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. 25 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 26 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. 27
14:22 You must be certain to tithe 28 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, 29 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 30 blesses you, if the 31 place where he chooses to locate his name is distant, 14:25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money, 32 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 33 of debts. 15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; 34 he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, 35 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 36 owes you, you must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord 37 will surely bless 38 you in the land that he 39 is giving you as an inheritance, 40 15:5 if you carefully obey 41 him 42 by keeping 43 all these commandments that I am giving 44 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 45 from one of your villages 46 in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 47 to his impoverished condition. 48 15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend 49 him whatever he needs. 50 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 51 be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite 52 and you do not lend 53 him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. 54 15:10 You must by all means lend 55 to him and not be upset by doing it, 56 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 57 your hand to your fellow Israelites 58 who are needy and poor in your land.
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew 59 – whether male or female 60 – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant 61 go free. 62 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously 63 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 64 says to you, “I do not want to leave 65 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. 66 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 67 the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
15:19 You must set apart 68 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 69 chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else 70 – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, 71 whether you are ritually impure or clean, 72 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 73 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 74 he 75 brought you out of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal 76 (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he 77 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 78 for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 79 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages 80 that the Lord your God is giving you, 16:6 but you must sacrifice it 81 in the evening in 82 the place where he 83 chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 16:7 You must cook 84 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. 85
16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them 86 from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 16:10 Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks 87 before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering 88 that you will bring, in proportion to how he 89 has blessed you. 16:11 You shall rejoice before him 90 – you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, 91 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 92 for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 93 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. 94 16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he 95 chooses, for he 96 will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; 97 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 98 empty-handed. 16:17 Every one of you must give as you are able, 99 according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 100 for each tribe in all your villages 101 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 102 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 103 the words of the righteous. 104 16:20 You must pursue justice alone 105 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 106 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 107 a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him 108 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive 109 to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages 110 that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God 111 and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, 112 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 113 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 114 is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates 115 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 116 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 117 must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people 118 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, 119 legal claim, 120 or assault 121 – matters of controversy in your villages 122 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 123 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 124 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 125 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 126 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 127 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 128 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 129 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 130 on a scroll 131 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 132 in Israel.
18:1 The Levitical priests 133 – 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. 134 18:2 They 135 will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; 136 the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests’ fair allotment 137 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 138 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 139 and serve in his name 140 permanently. 18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 141 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 142 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. 143
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, 144 anyone who practices divination, 145 an omen reader, 146 a soothsayer, 147 a sorcerer, 148 18:11 one who casts spells, 149 one who conjures up spirits, 150 a practitioner of the occult, 151 or a necromancer. 152 18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things 153 the Lord your God is about to drive them out 154 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; 155 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 156 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 157 anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet 158 speaks in my name.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 159 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 160 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 161 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 162 name and the prediction 163 is not fulfilled, 164 then I have 165 not spoken it; 166 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 167 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 168 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 169 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, 170 if he has accidentally killed another 171 without hating him at the time of the accident. 172 19:5 Suppose he goes with someone else 173 to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax 174 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose 175 from the handle and strikes 176 his fellow worker 177 so hard that he dies. The person responsible 178 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 179 19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, 180 and kill him, 181 though this is not a capital case 182 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 183 and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 184 19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments 185 I am giving 186 you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities 187 to these three. 19:10 You must not shed innocent blood 188 in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 189 19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else 190 and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, 191 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 192 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent 193 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 194 which will have been defined 195 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 196
19:15 A single witness may not testify 197 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 198 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false 199 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 200 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 201 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, 202 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 203 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. 204
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry 205 and troops 206 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 207 will approach and say to the soldiers, 208 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.” 209 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, 210 “Who among you 211 has built a new house and not dedicated 212 it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else 213 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 214 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 215 heart as fearful 216 as his own.” 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking, 217 they must appoint unit commanders 218 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 219 and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. 220 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 221 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 222 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 223 to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them 224 – the Hittites, 225 Amorites, 226 Canaanites, 227 Perizzites, 228 Hivites, 229 and Jebusites 230 – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship 231 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, 232 you must not chop down its trees, 233 for you may eat fruit 234 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 235 20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 236 and you may use it to build siege works 237 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
21:1 If a homicide victim 238 should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, 239 and no one knows who killed 240 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. 241 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse 242 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, 243 to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. 244 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests 245 will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, 246 and to decide 247 every judicial verdict 248 ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse 249 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 250 21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we 251 witnessed the crime. 252 21:8 Do not blame 253 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” 254 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 255 the Lord.
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail 256 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them 257 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, 258 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, 259 and stay 260 in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations 261 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 262 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell 263 her; 264 you must not take advantage of 265 her, since you have already humiliated 266 her.
21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, 267 and they both 268 bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife. 21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance 269 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other 270 wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved 271 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion 272 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power 273 – 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, 274 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 275 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 276 wickedness from among you, and all Israel 277 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 278 on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury 279 him that same day, for the one who is left exposed 280 on a tree is cursed by God. 281 You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22:1 When you see 282 your neighbor’s 283 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 284 you must return it without fail 285 to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner 286 does not live 287 near you or you do not know who the owner is, 288 then you must corral the animal 289 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 290 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 291 22:4 When you see 292 your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; 293 instead, you must be sure 294 to help him get the animal on its feet again. 295
22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, 296 nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive 297 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, 298 you must not take the mother from the young. 299 22:7 You must be sure 300 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 301 around your roof to avoid being culpable 302 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. 303 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. 304 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels 305 for the four corners of the clothing you wear.
22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, 306 and then rejects 307 her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety 308 and defaming her reputation 309 by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations 310 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 311 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 312 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 313 before the city’s elders. 22:18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish 314 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 315 ruined the reputation 316 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 317 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge 318 evil from among you.
22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with 319 a married woman 320 both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge 321 evil from Israel.
22:23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets 322 her in the city and has sexual relations with 323 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 324 his neighbor’s fiancée; 325 in this way you will purge 326 evil from among you. 22:25 But if the man came across 327 the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped 328 her, then only the rapist 329 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 330 and murders him, 22:27 for the man 331 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 332 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) 333 A man may not marry 334 his father’s former 335 wife and in this way dishonor his father. 336
23:1 A man with crushed 337 or severed genitals 338 may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 339 23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 340 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 341
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 342 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 343 do so, 344 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired 345 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 346 the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves 347 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; 348 you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner 349 in his land. 23:8 Children of the third generation born to them 350 may enter the assembly of the Lord.
23:9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure. 351 23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, 352 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. 353 23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself 354 outside you must dig a hole with the spade 355 and then turn and cover your excrement. 356 23:14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat 357 your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent 358 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. 359 23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages 360 he prefers; you must not oppress him.
23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute 361 among the young women 362 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 363 among the young men 364 of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute 365 or the wage of a male prostitute 366 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, 367 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 368 will surely 369 hold you accountable as a sinner. 370 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, 371 but you must not take away any in a container. 372 23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, 373 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 374 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 375 she may go and become someone else’s wife. 24:3 If the second husband rejects 376 her and then divorces her, 377 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 378 her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. 379 You must not bring guilt on the land 380 which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into 381 the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to 382 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. 383
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 384 and regards him as mere property 385 and sells him, that kidnapper 386 must die. In this way you will purge 387 evil from among you.
24:8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely 388 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 389 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. 390 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. 391 24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 392 24:13 You must by all means 393 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 394 deed by the Lord your God.
24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites 395 or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 396 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 397 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, 398 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. 399 24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; 400 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; 401 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, 402 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 403 hear the case, they shall exonerate 404 the innocent but condemn 405 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 406 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 407 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 408 25:3 The judge 409 may sentence him to forty blows, 410 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 411 with contempt.
25:4 You must not muzzle your 412 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, 413 and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. 414 25:6 Then 415 the first son 416 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 417 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. 418 She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!” 419 25:10 His family name will be referred to 420 in Israel as “the family 421 of the one whose sandal was removed.” 422
25:11 If two men 423 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, 424 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, 425 a heavy and a light one. 426 25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, 427 a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct 428 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 429 to the Lord your God.
25:17 Remember what the Amalekites 430 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. 431 25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he 432 is giving you as an inheritance, 433 you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven 434 – do not forget! 435
26:1 When 436 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 437 chooses to locate his name. 438 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your 439 God that I have come into the land that the Lord 440 promised 441 to our ancestors 442 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you 443 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering 444 Aramean 445 was my ancestor, 446 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, 447 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 448 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 449 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. 450 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, 451 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
26:12 When you finish tithing all 452 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 453 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 454 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering 455 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 456 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; 457 I have obeyed you 458 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. 459 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 460 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. 461 You will 462 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
[14:1] 1 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”
[14:1] 2 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] 4 tn Heb “The
[14:2] 5 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] 5 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the
[14:5] 7 tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (’ayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ’ayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”
[14:5] 8 tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (tsÿvi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).
[14:5] 9 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] 10 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] 11 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] 12 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] 9 tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:7] 11 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] 13 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] 15 tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”
[14:12] 16 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] 17 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] 17 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] 19 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] 20 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] 21 tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).
[14:16] 21 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] 23 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] 25 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] 27 tn Heb “gates” (also in vv. 27, 28, 29).
[14:21] 28 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] 29 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “be certain.”
[14:23] 31 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] 33 tn Heb “the
[14:24] 34 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] 35 tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”
[15:1] 37 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] 39 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
[15:2] 40 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] 41 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:4] 43 tc After the phrase “the
[15:4] 44 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] 45 tn Heb “the
[15:4] 46 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
[15:5] 45 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] 46 tn Heb “the
[15:5] 47 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
[15:5] 48 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
[15:7] 47 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] 49 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
[15:7] 50 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
[15:8] 49 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] 50 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:9] 52 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
[15:9] 53 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
[15:9] 54 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
[15:10] 53 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
[15:10] 54 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] 55 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
[15:11] 56 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:12] 57 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] 58 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
[15:12] 59 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
[15:12] 60 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
[15:14] 59 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
[15:16] 61 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 62 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
[15:17] 63 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] 65 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] 67 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the
[15:20] 69 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
[15:21] 71 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
[15:22] 73 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[15:22] 74 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] 75 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
[16:1] 76 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:1] 77 tn Heb “the
[16:2] 77 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[16:2] 78 tn Heb “the
[16:4] 79 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
[16:4] 80 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:6] 83 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:6] 84 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] 85 tn Heb “the
[16:7] 85 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] 87 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] 89 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:10] 91 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] 92 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
[16:10] 93 tn Heb “the
[16:11] 93 tn Heb “the
[16:13] 95 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] 96 tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
[16:14] 97 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[16:15] 99 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 100 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 101 tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”
[16:16] 101 tn Heb “the
[16:17] 103 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] 105 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] 107 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
[16:19] 107 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
[16:19] 108 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
[16:20] 109 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
[16:21] 111 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
[16:22] 113 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] 115 tn Heb “to the
[17:1] 116 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] 118 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
[17:3] 119 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] 120 tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:4] 121 tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.
[17:5] 124 tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”
[17:7] 125 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] 126 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
[17:8] 127 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
[17:8] 128 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
[17:8] 129 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
[17:8] 131 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] 129 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
[17:15] 131 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
[17:15] 132 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] 133 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
[17:16] 133 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] 135 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
[17:18] 137 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] 138 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] 139 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] 141 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] 142 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[18:2] 143 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
[18:2] 144 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
[18:3] 145 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
[18:4] 147 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
[18:5] 149 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the
[18:5] 150 tn Heb “the name of the
[18:6] 151 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
[18:6] 152 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
[18:8] 153 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] 155 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] 156 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] 157 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] 158 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] 159 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] 157 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] 158 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] 159 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] 160 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] 159 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] 160 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.
[18:15] 161 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] 163 tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”
[18:19] 165 tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”
[18:19] 166 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:20] 167 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[18:21] 169 tn Heb “in your heart.”
[18:21] 170 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] 171 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 172 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
[18:22] 173 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
[18:22] 174 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 175 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
[19:1] 173 tn Heb “the
[19:2] 175 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
[19:4] 179 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
[19:4] 180 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
[19:4] 181 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] 181 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
[19:5] 182 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
[19:5] 183 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
[19:5] 185 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:5] 186 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:6] 183 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
[19:6] 184 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
[19:6] 185 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
[19:8] 186 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
[19:9] 187 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] 188 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
[19:9] 189 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] 189 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] 190 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
[19:11] 191 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:11] 192 tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”
[19:12] 193 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] 195 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] 197 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
[19:14] 198 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
[19:14] 199 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
[19:15] 199 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
[19:15] 200 tn Heb “may stand.”
[19:16] 201 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] 202 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 203 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 205 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 207 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] 209 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] 211 tn Heb “horse and chariot.”
[20:2] 213 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] 214 tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”
[20:4] 215 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
[20:5] 217 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
[20:5] 218 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
[20:5] 219 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] 220 tn Heb “another man.”
[20:7] 219 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
[20:8] 221 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
[20:9] 223 tn The Hebrew text includes “to the people,” but this phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 224 tn Heb “princes of hosts.”
[20:11] 225 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
[20:11] 226 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] 227 tn Heb “to your hands.”
[20:16] 229 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
[20:16] 230 tn Heb “any breath.”
[20:17] 231 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] 232 sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[20:17] 233 sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[20:17] 234 sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[20:17] 235 sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[20:17] 236 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] 237 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] 233 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
[20:19] 235 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
[20:19] 236 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
[20:19] 237 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] 238 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
[20:20] 237 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
[20:20] 238 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] 239 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] 240 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:1] 241 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
[21:2] 241 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
[21:3] 243 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:4] 245 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] 246 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.
[21:5] 247 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
[21:5] 248 tn Heb “in the name of the
[21:5] 249 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
[21:5] 250 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
[21:6] 249 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:6] 250 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
[21:7] 251 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] 252 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:8] 253 tn Heb “Atone for.”
[21:8] 254 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
[21:9] 255 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
[21:10] 257 tn Heb “gives him into your hands.”
[21:11] 259 tn Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:12] 261 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] 263 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
[21:13] 264 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
[21:13] 265 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
[21:14] 265 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] 266 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
[21:14] 267 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:14] 268 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
[21:14] 269 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] 267 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] 268 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] 269 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
[21:16] 270 tn Heb “the hated.”
[21:17] 271 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
[21:17] 272 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] 273 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] 273 tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”
[21:20] 275 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] 277 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] 278 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] 281 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
[21:23] 282 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] 283 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] 283 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
[22:1] 284 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] 285 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
[22:1] 286 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
[22:2] 285 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
[22:2] 286 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
[22:2] 287 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
[22:2] 288 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:3] 287 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
[22:3] 288 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
[22:4] 289 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
[22:4] 290 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
[22:4] 291 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
[22:4] 292 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] 291 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
[22:5] 292 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] 293 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
[22:6] 294 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
[22:7] 295 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
[22:8] 297 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
[22:8] 298 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
[22:9] 299 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] 301 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] 303 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] 305 tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.
[22:13] 306 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] 307 tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”
[22:14] 308 tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”
[22:14] 309 tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.
[22:15] 309 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] 311 tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[22:17] 313 tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”
[22:18] 315 tn Heb “discipline.”
[22:19] 317 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] 318 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
[22:21] 319 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] 320 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.
[22:22] 321 tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.
[22:22] 322 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
[22:22] 323 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:23] 324 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:24] 327 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:25] 327 tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.
[22:25] 328 tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.
[22:25] 329 tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”
[22:26] 329 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[22:27] 331 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:28] 333 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:30] 335 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] 336 tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
[22:30] 337 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] 338 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] 337 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] 338 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] 339 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] 339 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
[23:2] 340 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:3] 341 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] 342 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] 343 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:4] 343 tn Heb “hired against you.”
[23:5] 345 tn Heb “the
[23:5] 346 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] 348 tn Heb “sojourner.”
[23:8] 349 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] 351 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] 353 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] 355 tn Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 357 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 358 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] 359 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
[23:14] 359 tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”
[23:14] 360 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] 361 tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.
[23:17] 365 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] 366 tn Heb “daughters.”
[23:17] 367 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] 367 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] 368 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] 369 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] 371 tn Heb “the
[23:21] 372 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”
[23:21] 373 tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”
[23:24] 373 tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”
[23:24] 374 tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”
[23:25] 375 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] 377 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] 379 tn Heb “his house.”
[24:3] 381 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[24:3] 382 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
[24:4] 383 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
[24:4] 384 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] 385 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
[24:5] 385 tn Heb “go out with.”
[24:5] 386 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
[24:6] 387 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] 389 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] 390 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
[24:7] 391 tn Heb “that thief.”
[24:7] 392 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
[24:8] 391 tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
[24:9] 393 sn What the
[24:10] 395 tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
[24:11] 397 tn Heb “his pledge.”
[24:12] 399 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] 401 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
[24:13] 402 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
[24:14] 403 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”
[24:14] 404 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 405 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
[24:19] 407 tn Heb “in the field.”
[24:19] 408 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] 409 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
[24:21] 411 tn Heb “glean after you.”
[25:1] 414 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:1] 415 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
[25:1] 416 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
[25:2] 415 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[25:2] 416 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
[25:2] 417 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
[25:3] 417 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:3] 418 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] 419 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
[25:4] 419 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
[25:5] 421 tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
[25:5] 422 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] 423 tn Heb “and it will be that.”
[25:6] 424 tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.
[25:7] 425 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] 427 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] 428 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] 429 tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.”
[25:10] 431 tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.”
[25:11] 431 tn Heb “a man and his brother.”
[25:11] 432 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] 433 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] 434 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] 435 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] 437 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
[25:16] 439 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] 441 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] 443 sn See Exod 17:8-16.
[25:19] 445 tn Heb “ the
[25:19] 446 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”
[25:19] 447 tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[25:19] 448 sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.
[26:1] 447 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
[26:2] 449 tn Heb “the
[26:2] 450 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] 451 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
[26:3] 452 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
[26:3] 453 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[26:3] 454 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
[26:4] 453 tn Heb “your hand.”
[26:5] 455 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] 456 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] 458 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] 457 tn Heb “the
[26:8] 459 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] 461 tn Heb “the
[26:11] 463 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
[26:12] 465 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[26:12] 466 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
[26:13] 467 tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the
[26:13] 468 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:14] 469 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] 470 tn Heb “the
[26:16] 471 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
[26:19] 473 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] 474 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
[26:19] 475 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
