Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 32:1
Context32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Deuteronomy 5:1-33
Context5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 1 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them! 5:2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 5:3 He 2 did not make this covenant with our ancestors 3 but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now. 5:4 The Lord spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the middle of the fire. 5:5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal to you the message 4 of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said:
5:6 “I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. 5:7 You must not have any other gods 5 besides me. 6 5:8 You must not make for yourself an image 7 of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. 8 5:9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish 9 the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject 10 me, 11 5:10 but I show covenant faithfulness 12 to the thousands 13 who choose 14 me and keep my commandments. 5:11 You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, 15 for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. 16 5:12 Be careful to observe 17 the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 5:13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 5:14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath 18 of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you, 19 so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest. 5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. 20 That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe 21 the Sabbath day. 5:16 Honor 22 your father and your mother just as the Lord your God has commanded you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he 23 is about to give you. 5:17 You must not murder. 24 5:18 You must not commit adultery. 5:19 You must not steal. 5:20 You must not offer false testimony against another. 25 5:21 You must not desire 26 another man’s 27 wife, nor should you crave his 28 house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.” 29
5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. 30 Then he inscribed the words 31 on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 5:23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory 32 and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us 33 that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 5:25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 5:26 Who is there from the entire human race 34 who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 5:27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he 35 says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 5:28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he 36 said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well. 5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey 37 all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 5:30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, 38 statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” 39 5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as he 40 has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long 41 in the land you are going to possess.
Deuteronomy 26:1-19
Context26:1 When 42 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 43 chooses to locate his name. 44 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your 45 God that I have come into the land that the Lord 46 promised 47 to our ancestors 48 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you 49 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering 50 Aramean 51 was my ancestor, 52 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, 53 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 54 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 55 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. 56 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, 57 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
26:12 When you finish tithing all 58 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 59 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 60 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering 61 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 62 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; 63 I have obeyed you 64 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. 65 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 66 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. 67 You will 68 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
[5:1] 1 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
[5:3] 1 tn Heb “the
[5:5] 1 tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”
[5:7] 1 tn Heb “there must not be for you other gods.” The expression “for you” indicates possession.
[5:7] 2 tn Heb “upon my face,” or “before me” (עַל־פָּנָיַ, ’al-panaya). Some understand this in a locative sense: “in my sight.” The translation assumes that the phrase indicates exclusion. The idea is that of placing any other god before the
[5:8] 1 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
[5:8] 2 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”
[5:9] 1 tn In the Hebrew text the form is a participle, which is subordinated to what precedes. For the sake of English style, the translation divides this lengthy verse into two sentences.
[5:9] 2 tn Heb “who hate” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). Just as “to love” (אָהַב, ’ahav) means in a covenant context “to choose, obey,” so “to hate” (שָׂנֵא, sane’) means “to reject, disobey” (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37; see also 5:10).
[5:9] 3 tn Heb “visiting the sin of fathers upon sons and upon a third (generation) and upon a fourth (generation) of those who hate me.” God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9). On the principle of corporate solidarity and responsibility in OT thought see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). In the idiom of the text, the father is the first generation and the “sons” the second generation, making grandsons the third and great-grandsons the fourth. The reference to a third and fourth generation is a way of emphasizing that the sinner’s punishment would last throughout his lifetime. In this culture, where men married and fathered children at a relatively young age, it would not be unusual for one to see his great-grandsons. In an Aramaic tomb inscription from Nerab dating to the seventh century b.c., Agbar observes that he was surrounded by “children of the fourth generation” as he lay on his death bed (see ANET 661). The language of the text differs from Exod 34:7, the sons are the first generation, the grandsons (literally, “sons of the sons”) the second, great-grandsons the third, and great-great-grandsons the fourth. One could argue that formulation in Deut 5:9 (see also Exod 20:50) is elliptical/abbreviated or that it suffers from textual corruption (the repetition of the words “sons” would invite accidental omission).
[5:10] 1 tn This theologically rich term (חֶסֶד, khesed) describes God’s loyalty to those who keep covenant with him. Sometimes it is used synonymously with בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”; Deut 7:9), and sometimes interchangeably with it (Deut 7:12). See H.-J. Zobel, TDOT 5:44-64.
[5:10] 2 tc By a slight emendation (לַאֲלּוּפִים [la’allufim] for לַאֲלָפִים [la’alafim]) “clans” could be read in place of the MT reading “thousands.” However, no
[5:10] 3 tn Heb “love.” See note on the word “reject” in v. 9.
[5:11] 1 tn Heb “take up the name of the Lord your God to emptiness”; KJV “take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The idea here is not cursing or profanity in the modern sense of these terms but rather the use of the divine Name for unholy, mundane purposes, that is, for meaningless (the Hebrew term is שָׁוְא) and empty ends. In ancient Israel this would include using the Lord’s name as a witness in vows one did not intend to keep.
[5:11] 2 tn Heb “who takes up his name to emptiness.”
[5:12] 1 tn Heb “to make holy,” that is, to put to special use, in this case, to sacred purposes (cf. vv. 13-15).
[5:14] 1 tn There is some degree of paronomasia (wordplay) here: “the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי, hashÿvi’i) day is the Sabbath (שַׁבָּת, shabbat).” Otherwise, the words have nothing in common, since “Sabbath” is derived from the verb שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease”).
[5:14] 2 tn Heb “in your gates”; NRSV, CEV “in your towns”; TEV “in your country.”
[5:15] 1 tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”
[5:15] 2 tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).
[5:16] 1 tn The imperative here means, literally, “regard as heavy” (כַּבֵּד, kabbed). The meaning is that great importance must be ascribed to parents by their children.
[5:16] 2 tn Heb “the
[5:17] 1 tn Traditionally “kill” (so KJV, ASV, RSV, NAB). The verb here (רָצַח, ratsakh) is generic for homicide but in the OT both killing in war and capital punishment were permitted and even commanded (Deut 13:5, 9; 20:13, 16-17), so the technical meaning here is “murder.”
[5:20] 1 tn Heb “your neighbor.” Clearly this is intended generically, however, and not to be limited only to those persons who live nearby (frequently the way “neighbor” is understood in contemporary contexts). So also in v. 20.
[5:21] 1 tn The Hebrew verb used here (חָמַד, khamad) is different from the one translated “crave” (אָוַה, ’avah) in the next line. The former has sexual overtones (“lust” or the like; cf. Song of Sol 2:3) whereas the latter has more the idea of a desire or craving for material things.
[5:21] 2 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” See note on the term “fellow man” in v. 19.
[5:21] 3 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” The pronoun is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[5:21] 4 tn Heb “or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
[5:22] 1 tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”
[5:22] 2 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the
[5:24] 1 tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
[5:24] 2 tn Heb “this day we have seen.”
[5:26] 1 tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
[5:27] 1 tn Heb “the
[5:28] 1 tn Heb “the
[5:29] 1 tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:31] 1 tn Heb “commandment.” The MT actually has the singular (הַמִּצְוָה, hammitsvah), suggesting perhaps that the following terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) are in epexegetical apposition to “commandment.” That is, the phrase could be translated “the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances.” This would essentially make מִצְוָה (mitsvah) synonymous with תּוֹרָה (torah), the usual term for the whole collection of law.
[5:31] 2 tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”
[5:33] 1 tn Heb “the
[5:33] 2 tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”
[26:1] 1 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
[26:2] 1 tn Heb “the
[26:2] 2 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] 1 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
[26:3] 2 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
[26:3] 3 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[26:3] 4 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
[26:5] 1 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] 2 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] 4 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] 1 tn Heb “the
[26:8] 1 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] 1 tn Heb “the
[26:11] 1 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
[26:12] 1 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[26:12] 2 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
[26:13] 1 tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the
[26:13] 2 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:14] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “the
[26:16] 1 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
[26:19] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
[26:19] 3 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
