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 4:16

4:16 I say this ⁵  so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female,

Deuteronomy 31:29

31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ⁶  corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly ⁷  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 4:25

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ⁹  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ¹⁰  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 4:31

4:31 (for he ¹²  is a merciful God), he will not let you down ¹³  or destroy you, for he cannot ¹⁴  forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.

Deuteronomy 9:26

9:26 I prayed to him: ¹⁵  O, Lord God, ¹⁶  do not destroy your people, your valued property ¹⁷  that you have powerfully redeemed, ¹⁸  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ¹⁹ 

Deuteronomy 9:12

9:12 And he said to me, “Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.” ²⁰ 

Deuteronomy 10:10

10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you.

Deuteronomy 20:19-20

20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, ²¹  you must not chop down its trees, ²²  for you may eat fruit ²³  from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! ²⁴  20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, ²⁵  and you may use it to build siege works ²⁶  against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.

[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.

[4:16]  ⁵ tn The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[31:29]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[4:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.

[4:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”

[4:25]  ¹⁵ tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.

[4:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:31]  ¹⁹ tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.

[9:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ²² tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

[9:26]  ²³ tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

[9:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

[9:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

[9:12]  ²⁵ tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads מַסֵּכָה (massekhah, “a cast thing”) but some mss and Smr add עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”), “a molten calf” or the like (Exod 32:8). Perhaps Moses here omits reference to the calf out of contempt for it.

[20:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”

[20:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).

[20:19]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”

[20:20]  ³³ tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”

[20:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “[an] enclosure.” The term מָצוֹר (matsor) may refer to encircling ditches or to surrounding stagings. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238.