Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 16:18--22:8
Context16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 1 for each tribe in all your villages 2 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 3 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 4 the words of the righteous. 5 16:20 You must pursue justice alone 6 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 7 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 8 a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him 9 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive 10 to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages 11 that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God 12 and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, 13 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 14 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 15 is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates 16 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 17 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 18 must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people 19 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, 20 legal claim, 21 or assault 22 – matters of controversy in your villages 23 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 24 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 25 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 26 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 27 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 28 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 29 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 30 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 31 on a scroll 32 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 33 in Israel.
18:1 The Levitical priests 34 – 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. 35 18:2 They 36 will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; 37 the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests’ fair allotment 38 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 39 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 40 and serve in his name 41 permanently. 18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 42 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 43 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. 44
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, 45 anyone who practices divination, 46 an omen reader, 47 a soothsayer, 48 a sorcerer, 49 18:11 one who casts spells, 50 one who conjures up spirits, 51 a practitioner of the occult, 52 or a necromancer. 53 18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things 54 the Lord your God is about to drive them out 55 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; 56 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 57 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 58 anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet 59 speaks in my name.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 60 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 61 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 62 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 63 name and the prediction 64 is not fulfilled, 65 then I have 66 not spoken it; 67 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 68 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 69 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 70 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, 71 if he has accidentally killed another 72 without hating him at the time of the accident. 73 19:5 Suppose he goes with someone else 74 to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax 75 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose 76 from the handle and strikes 77 his fellow worker 78 so hard that he dies. The person responsible 79 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 80 19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, 81 and kill him, 82 though this is not a capital case 83 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 84 and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 85 19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments 86 I am giving 87 you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities 88 to these three. 19:10 You must not shed innocent blood 89 in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 90 19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else 91 and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, 92 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 93 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent 94 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 95 which will have been defined 96 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 97
19:15 A single witness may not testify 98 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 99 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false 100 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 101 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 102 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, 103 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 104 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. 105
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry 106 and troops 107 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 108 will approach and say to the soldiers, 109 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.” 110 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, 111 “Who among you 112 has built a new house and not dedicated 113 it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else 114 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 115 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 116 heart as fearful 117 as his own.” 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking, 118 they must appoint unit commanders 119 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 120 and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. 121 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 122 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 123 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 124 to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them 125 – the Hittites, 126 Amorites, 127 Canaanites, 128 Perizzites, 129 Hivites, 130 and Jebusites 131 – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship 132 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, 133 you must not chop down its trees, 134 for you may eat fruit 135 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 136 20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 137 and you may use it to build siege works 138 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
21:1 If a homicide victim 139 should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, 140 and no one knows who killed 141 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. 142 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse 143 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, 144 to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. 145 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests 146 will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, 147 and to decide 148 every judicial verdict 149 ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse 150 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 151 21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we 152 witnessed the crime. 153 21:8 Do not blame 154 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” 155 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 156 the Lord.
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail 157 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them 158 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, 159 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, 160 and stay 161 in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations 162 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 163 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell 164 her; 165 you must not take advantage of 166 her, since you have already humiliated 167 her.
21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, 168 and they both 169 bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife. 21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance 170 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other 171 wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved 172 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion 173 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power 174 – 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, 175 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 176 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 177 wickedness from among you, and all Israel 178 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 179 on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury 180 him that same day, for the one who is left exposed 181 on a tree is cursed by God. 182 You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22:1 When you see 183 your neighbor’s 184 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 185 you must return it without fail 186 to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner 187 does not live 188 near you or you do not know who the owner is, 189 then you must corral the animal 190 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 191 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 192 22:4 When you see 193 your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; 194 instead, you must be sure 195 to help him get the animal on its feet again. 196
22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, 197 nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive 198 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, 199 you must not take the mother from the young. 200 22:7 You must be sure 201 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 202 around your roof to avoid being culpable 203 in the event someone should fall from it.
[16:18] 1 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
[16:18] 3 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
[16:19] 4 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
[16:19] 5 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
[16:20] 6 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
[16:21] 7 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
[16:22] 8 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] 9 tn Heb “to the
[17:1] 10 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] 12 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
[17:3] 13 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] 14 tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:4] 15 tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.
[17:5] 17 tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”
[17:7] 18 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] 19 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
[17:8] 20 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
[17:8] 21 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
[17:8] 22 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
[17:8] 24 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] 25 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
[17:15] 26 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
[17:15] 27 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] 28 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
[17:16] 29 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] 30 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
[17:18] 31 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] 32 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] 33 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] 34 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] 35 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[18:2] 36 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
[18:2] 37 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
[18:3] 38 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
[18:4] 39 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
[18:5] 40 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the
[18:5] 41 tn Heb “the name of the
[18:6] 42 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
[18:6] 43 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
[18:8] 44 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] 45 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] 46 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] 47 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] 48 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] 49 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] 50 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] 51 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] 52 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] 53 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] 54 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] 55 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.
[18:15] 56 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] 57 tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”
[18:19] 58 tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”
[18:19] 59 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:20] 60 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[18:21] 61 tn Heb “in your heart.”
[18:21] 62 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] 63 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 64 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
[18:22] 65 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
[18:22] 66 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 67 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
[19:1] 68 tn Heb “the
[19:2] 69 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
[19:4] 71 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
[19:4] 72 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
[19:4] 73 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] 74 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
[19:5] 75 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
[19:5] 76 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
[19:5] 78 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:5] 79 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:6] 81 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
[19:6] 82 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
[19:6] 83 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
[19:8] 85 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
[19:9] 86 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] 87 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
[19:9] 88 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] 89 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] 90 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
[19:11] 91 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:11] 92 tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”
[19:12] 93 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] 94 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] 95 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
[19:14] 96 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
[19:14] 97 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
[19:15] 98 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
[19:15] 99 tn Heb “may stand.”
[19:16] 100 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] 101 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 102 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 103 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 104 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] 105 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] 106 tn Heb “horse and chariot.”
[20:2] 108 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] 109 tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”
[20:4] 110 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
[20:5] 111 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
[20:5] 112 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
[20:5] 113 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] 114 tn Heb “another man.”
[20:7] 115 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
[20:8] 116 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
[20:9] 118 tn The Hebrew text includes “to the people,” but this phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 119 tn Heb “princes of hosts.”
[20:11] 120 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
[20:11] 121 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] 122 tn Heb “to your hands.”
[20:16] 123 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
[20:16] 124 tn Heb “any breath.”
[20:17] 125 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] 126 sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[20:17] 127 sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[20:17] 128 sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[20:17] 129 sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[20:17] 130 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] 131 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] 132 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
[20:19] 133 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
[20:19] 134 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
[20:19] 135 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] 136 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
[20:20] 137 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
[20:20] 138 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] 139 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] 140 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:1] 141 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
[21:2] 142 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
[21:3] 143 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:4] 144 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] 145 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.
[21:5] 146 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
[21:5] 147 tn Heb “in the name of the
[21:5] 148 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
[21:5] 149 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
[21:6] 150 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:6] 151 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
[21:7] 152 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] 153 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:8] 154 tn Heb “Atone for.”
[21:8] 155 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
[21:9] 156 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
[21:10] 157 tn Heb “gives him into your hands.”
[21:11] 158 tn Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:12] 159 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] 160 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
[21:13] 161 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
[21:13] 162 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
[21:14] 163 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] 164 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
[21:14] 165 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:14] 166 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
[21:14] 167 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] 168 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] 169 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] 170 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
[21:16] 171 tn Heb “the hated.”
[21:17] 172 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
[21:17] 173 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] 174 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] 175 tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”
[21:20] 176 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] 177 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] 178 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] 180 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
[21:23] 181 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] 182 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] 183 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
[22:1] 184 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] 185 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
[22:1] 186 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
[22:2] 187 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
[22:2] 188 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
[22:2] 189 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
[22:2] 190 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:3] 191 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
[22:3] 192 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
[22:4] 193 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
[22:4] 194 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
[22:4] 195 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
[22:4] 196 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] 197 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
[22:5] 198 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] 199 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
[22:6] 200 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
[22:7] 201 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
[22:8] 202 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
[22:8] 203 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
