Deuteronomy 32:5

32:5 His people have been unfaithful ¹  to him;

they have not acted like his children ²  – this is their sin. ³ 

They are a perverse ⁴  and deceitful generation.

Deuteronomy 23:8

23:8 Children of the third generation born to them ⁵  may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 7:9

7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, ⁶  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully ⁷  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Deuteronomy 23:2-3

23:2 A person of illegitimate birth ⁸  may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. ⁹ 

23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite ¹⁰  may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever ¹¹  do so, ¹² 

Deuteronomy 32:7

32:7 Remember the ancient days;

bear in mind ¹³  the years of past generations. ¹⁴ 

Ask your father and he will inform you,

your elders, and they will tell you.

Deuteronomy 32:20

32:20 He said, “I will reject them, ¹⁵ 

I will see what will happen to them;

for they are a perverse generation,

children ¹⁶  who show no loyalty.

[32:5]  ¹ tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).

[32:5]  ² tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”

[32:5]  ³ tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.

[32:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.

[23:8]  ⁵ 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.

[7:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).

[23:2]  ¹³ tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”

[23:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[23:3]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[32:7]  ²¹ tc The Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read 2nd person masculine singular whereas the MT has 2nd person masculine plural. The former is preferred, the latter perhaps being a misreading (בִּינוּ [binu] for בִּינָה [binah]). Both the preceding (“remember”) and following (“ask”) imperatives are singular forms in the Hebrew text.

[32:7]  ²² tn Heb “generation and generation.” The repetition of the singular noun here singles out each of the successive past generations. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3b.

[32:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”

[32:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”