Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:10
Context4:10 You 1 stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he 2 said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. 3 Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.”
Deuteronomy 4:12
Context4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard. 4
Deuteronomy 4:1
Context4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances 5 I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 6 is giving you.
Deuteronomy 1:1--27:26
Context1:1 This is what 7 Moses said to the assembly of Israel 8 in the Transjordanian 9 wastelands, the arid country opposite 10 Suph, 11 between 12 Paran 13 and Tophel, 14 Laban, 15 Hazeroth, 16 and Di Zahab 17 1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey 18 from Horeb 19 to Kadesh Barnea 20 by way of Mount Seir. 21 1:3 However, it was not until 22 the first day of the eleventh month 23 of the fortieth year 24 that Moses addressed the Israelites just as 25 the Lord had instructed him to do. 1:4 This took place after the defeat 26 of King Sihon 27 of the Amorites, whose capital was 28 in Heshbon, 29 and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was 30 in Ashtaroth, 31 specifically in Edrei. 32 1:5 So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: 33
1:6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed 34 in the area of this mountain long enough. 1:7 Get up now, 35 resume your journey, heading for 36 the Amorite hill country, to all its areas 37 including the arid country, 38 the highlands, the Shephelah, 39 the Negev, 40 and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 1:8 Look! I have already given the land to you. 41 Go, occupy the territory that I, 42 the Lord, promised 43 to give to your ancestors 44 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.” 45 1:9 I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself. 1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population 46 to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. 47 1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you 48 just as he said he would! 1:12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? 1:13 Select wise and practical 49 men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.” 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose 50 as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they 51 should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens 52 and judge fairly, 53 whether between one citizen and another 54 or a citizen and a resident foreigner. 55 1:17 They 56 must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly 57 and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.
1:18 So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. 1:19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea. 1:20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the Amorite hill country which the Lord our God is about to give 58 us. 1:21 Look, he 59 has placed the land in front of you! 60 Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!” 1:22 So all of you approached me and said, “Let’s send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there.” 1:23 I thought this was a good idea, 61 so I sent 62 twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 1:24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, 63 which they scouted out. 1:25 Then they took 64 some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”
1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. 65 1:27 You complained among yourselves privately 66 and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 67 by describing people who are more numerous 68 and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 69 itself! Moreover, they said they saw 70 Anakites 71 there.” 1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified 72 of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go 73 ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 74 1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him 75 carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.” 1:32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, 1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
1:34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: 76 1:35 “Not a single person 77 of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! 1:36 The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; 78 he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.” 79 1:37 As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, “You also will not be able to go there. 1:38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, 80 will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. 81 1:39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, 82 and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, 83 will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. 1:40 But as for you, 84 turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.” 85
1:41 Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. 1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’” 1:43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord 86 and recklessly went up to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area 87 confronted 88 you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. 89 1:45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he 90 paid no attention to you whatsoever. 91 1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time. 92
2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea 93 just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time. 2:2 At this point the Lord said to me, 2:3 “You have circled around this mountain long enough; now turn north. 2:4 Instruct 94 these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives 95 the descendants of Esau, 96 who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir 97 as an inheritance for Esau. 2:6 You may purchase 98 food to eat and water to drink from them. 2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, 99 have blessed your every effort. 100 I have 101 been attentive to 102 your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have 103 been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”
2:8 So we turned away from our relatives 104 the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, 105 from Elat 106 and Ezion Geber, 107 and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands. 2:9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar 108 to the descendants of Lot 109 as their possession. 2:10 (The Emites 110 used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. 2:11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; 111 the Moabites call them Emites. 2:12 Previously the Horites 112 lived in Seir but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the Lord gave them.) 113 2:13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered.” 114 So we did so. 115 2:14 Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the Lord had vowed to them. 2:15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from within 116 the camp until they were all gone.
2:16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, 117 2:17 the Lord said to me, 2:18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. 118 2:19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants 119 as their possession.
2:20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites. 120 The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 121 2:21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites 122 in advance of the Ammonites, 123 so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 2:22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day. 2:23 As for the Avvites 124 who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites 125 who came from Crete 126 destroyed them and settled down in their place.)
2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, 127 and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! 2:25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth 128 with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.” 129
2:26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth 130 Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: 2:27 “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. 131 I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 2:28 Sell me food for cash 132 so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. 133 Just allow me to go through on foot, 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.” 2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our 134 God had made him obstinate 135 and stubborn 136 so that he might deliver him over to you 137 this very day. 2:31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.” 2:32 When Sihon and all his troops 138 emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, 139 2:33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons 140 and everyone else. 141 2:34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them 142 under divine judgment, 143 including even the women and children; we left no survivors. 2:35 We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. 2:36 From Aroer, 144 which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), 145 all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us. 2:37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, 146 the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.
3:1 Next we set out on 147 the route to Bashan, 148 but King Og of Bashan and his whole army 149 came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 150 3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, 151 and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.” 3:3 So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left. 152 3:4 We captured all his cities at that time – there was not a town we did not take from them – sixty cities, all the region of Argob, 153 the dominion of Og in Bashan. 3:5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; 154 in addition there were a great many open villages. 155 3:6 We put all of these under divine judgment 156 just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon – every occupied city, 157 including women and children. 3:7 But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we kept for ourselves. 3:8 So at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon 158 3:9 (the Sidonians 159 call Hermon Sirion 160 and the Amorites call it Senir), 161 3:10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah 162 and Edrei, 163 cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy 164 that his sarcophagus 165 was made of iron. 166 Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath 167 of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet 168 long and six feet 169 wide according to standard measure.) 170
3:12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: The territory extending from Aroer 171 by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. 172 3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. 173 (All the region of Argob, 174 that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim. 3:14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the Argob region as far as the border with the Geshurites 175 and Maacathites 176 (namely Bashan) and called it by his name, Havvoth-Jair, 177 which it retains to this very day.) 3:15 I gave Gilead to Machir. 178 3:16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated the territory extending from Gilead as far as Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi was a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 3:17 The Arabah and the Jordan River 179 were also a border, from the sea of Chinnereth 180 to the sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea), 181 beneath the watershed 182 of Pisgah 183 to the east.
3:18 At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites 184 equipped for battle. 3:19 But your wives, children, and livestock (of which I know you have many) may remain in the cities I have given you. 3:20 You must fight 185 until the Lord gives your countrymen victory 186 as he did you and they take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own territory that I have given you.” 3:21 I also commanded Joshua at the same time, “You have seen everything the Lord your God did to these two kings; he 187 will do the same to all the kingdoms where you are going. 188 3:22 Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you.”
3:23 Moreover, at that time I pleaded with the Lord, 3:24 “O, Lord God, 189 you have begun to show me 190 your greatness and strength. 191 (What god in heaven or earth can rival your works and mighty deeds?) 3:25 Let me please cross over to see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River – this good hill country and the Lebanon!” 192 3:26 But the Lord was angry at me because of you and would not listen to me. Instead, he 193 said to me, “Enough of that! 194 Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 3:27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and take a good look to the west, north, south, and east, 195 for you will not be allowed to cross the Jordan. 3:28 Commission 196 Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.” 3:29 So we settled down in the valley opposite Beth Peor. 197
4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances 198 I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 199 is giving you. 4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to 200 you. 4:3 You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, 201 how he 202 eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. 203 4:4 But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. 4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in 204 the land you are about to enter and possess. 4:6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding 205 to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise 206 people.” 4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just 207 as this whole law 208 that I am about to share with 209 you today?
4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, 210 lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. 4:10 You 211 stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he 212 said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. 213 Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” 4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it 214 and yet dark with a thick cloud. 215 4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard. 216 4:13 And he revealed to you the covenant 217 he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, 218 writing them on two stone tablets. 4:14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. 219
4:15 Be very careful, 220 then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 4:16 I say this 221 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, 4:17 any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, 4:18 anything that crawls 222 on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. 223 4:19 When you look up 224 to the sky 225 and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation 226 – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, 227 for the Lord your God has assigned 228 them to all the people 229 of the world. 230 4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, 231 to be his special people 232 as you are today. 4:21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he 233 is about to give you. 234 4:22 So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that 235 good land. 4:23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he 236 has forbidden 237 you. 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. 238
4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, 239 if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind 240 and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, 241 4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you 242 today that you will surely and swiftly be removed 243 from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be 244 annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you 245 among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 4:28 There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 4:29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. 246 4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, 247 if you return to the Lord your God and obey him 248 4:31 (for he 249 is a merciful God), he will not let you down 250 or destroy you, for he cannot 251 forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.
4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind 252 on the earth, and ask 253 from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it. 4:33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? 4:34 Or has God 254 ever before tried to deliver 255 a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, 256 signs, wonders, war, strength, power, 257 and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 4:35 You have been taught that the Lord alone is God – there is no other besides him. 4:36 From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire from which you also heard his words. 258 4:37 Moreover, because he loved 259 your ancestors, he chose their 260 descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power 4:38 to dispossess nations greater and stronger than you and brought you here this day to give you their land as your property. 261 4:39 Today realize and carefully consider that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below – there is no other! 4:40 Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth 262 today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you as a permanent possession.
4:41 Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east. 4:42 Anyone who accidentally killed someone 263 without hating him at the time of the accident 264 could flee to one of those cities and be safe. 4:43 These cities are Bezer, in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.
4:44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 265 4:45 These are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites after he had brought them out of Egypt, 4:46 in the Transjordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. (It is he whom Moses and the Israelites attacked after they came out of Egypt. 4:47 They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan – both of whom were Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east. 4:48 Their territory extended 266 from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon valley as far as Mount Siyon 267 – that is, Hermon – 4:49 including all the Arabah of the Transjordan in the east to the sea of the Arabah, 268 beneath the watershed 269 of Pisgah.)
5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 270 “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 271 did not make this covenant with our ancestors 272 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 273 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 274 besides me. 275 5:8 You must not make for yourself an image 276 of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. 277 5:9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish 278 the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject 279 me, 280 5:10 but I show covenant faithfulness 281 to the thousands 282 who choose 283 me and keep my commandments. 5:11 You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, 284 for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. 285 5:12 Be careful to observe 286 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 287 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, 288 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. 289 That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe 290 the Sabbath day. 5:16 Honor 291 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 292 is about to give you. 5:17 You must not murder. 293 5:18 You must not commit adultery. 5:19 You must not steal. 5:20 You must not offer false testimony against another. 294 5:21 You must not desire 295 another man’s 296 wife, nor should you crave his 297 house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.” 298
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. 299 Then he inscribed the words 300 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 301 and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us 302 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 303 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 304 says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 5:28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he 305 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 306 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, 307 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.” 308 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 309 has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long 310 in the land you are going to possess.
6:1 Now these are the commandments, 311 statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 312 6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments 313 that I am giving 314 you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days. 6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number 315 – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, 316 said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.
6:4 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 317 6:5 You must love 318 the Lord your God with your whole mind, 319 your whole being, 320 and all your strength. 321
6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 6:7 and you must teach 322 them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, 323 as you lie down, and as you get up. 6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm 324 and fasten them as symbols 325 on your forehead. 6:9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates. 326
6:10 Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build, 6:11 houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – and you eat your fill, 6:12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. 327 6:13 You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name. 6:14 You must not go after other gods, those 328 of the surrounding peoples, 6:15 for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land. 329
6:16 You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 330 6:17 Keep his 331 commandments very carefully, 332 as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe. 6:18 Do whatever is proper 333 and good before the Lord so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he 334 promised your ancestors, 6:19 and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the Lord said.
6:20 When your children 335 ask you later on, “What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God commanded you?” 6:21 you must say to them, 336 “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way. 337 6:22 And he 338 brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family 339 before our very eyes. 6:23 He delivered us from there so that he could give us the land he had promised our ancestors. 6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him 340 so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day. 6:25 We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments 341 before the Lord our God, just as he demands.” 342
7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, 343 Girgashites, 344 Amorites, 345 Canaanites, 346 Perizzites, 347 Hivites, 348 and Jebusites, 349 seven 350 nations more numerous and powerful than you – 7:2 and he 351 delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate 352 them. Make no treaty 353 with them and show them no mercy! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. 7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 354 cut down their sacred Asherah poles, 355 and burn up their idols. 7:6 For you are a people holy 356 to the Lord your God. He 357 has chosen you to be his people, prized 358 above all others on the face of the earth.
7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his 359 love 360 for you and his faithfulness to the promise 361 he solemnly vowed 362 to your ancestors 363 that the Lord brought you out with great power, 364 redeeming 365 you from the place of slavery, from the power 366 of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, 367 the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully 368 with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate 369 him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore 370 those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 7:11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.
7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you 371 as he promised 372 your ancestors. 7:13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, 373 with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness 374 among you or your livestock. 7:15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.
7:16 You must destroy 375 all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship 376 their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall 377 what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments 378 you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power 379 by which he 380 brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets 381 among them until the very last ones who hide from you 382 perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He, 383 the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 7:23 The Lord your God will give them over to you; he will throw them into a great panic 384 until they are destroyed. 7:24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. 385 Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them. 7:25 You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent 386 to the Lord your God. 7:26 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath 387 along with it. 388 You must absolutely detest 389 and abhor it, 390 for it is an object of divine wrath.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 391 I am giving 392 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 393 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 394 8:2 Remember the whole way by which he 395 has brought you these forty years through the desert 396 so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. 397 He did this to teach you 398 that humankind 399 cannot live by bread 400 alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. 401 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 8:5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, 402 the Lord your God disciplines you. 8:6 So you must keep his 403 commandments, live according to his standards, 404 and revere him. 8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, 405 springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 8:9 a land where you may eat food 406 in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron 407 and from whose hills you can mine copper. 8:10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.
8:11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 8:12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 8:13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 8:14 be sure 408 you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents 409 and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow 410 from a flint rock and 8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you 411 and eventually bring good to you. 8:17 Be careful 412 not to say, “My own ability and skill 413 have gotten me this wealth.” 8:18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, 414 even as he has to this day. 8:19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all 415 and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 8:20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you 416 because you would not obey him. 417
9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. 418 9:2 They include the Anakites, 419 a numerous 420 and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?” 9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he 421 has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, 422 that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he 423 made on oath to your ancestors, 424 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 9:6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn 425 people!
9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget 426 – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 427 9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there 428 forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger 429 of God, and on them was everything 430 he 431 said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 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.” 432 9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn 433 lot! 9:14 Stand aside 434 and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, 435 and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”
9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it 436 was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 9:16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; 437 you had quickly turned aside from the way he 438 had commanded you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, 439 and shattered them before your very eyes. 9:18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. 9:19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger 440 that threatened to destroy you. But he 441 listened to me this time as well. 9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him 442 too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing 443 that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, 444 ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, 445 Massah, 446 and Kibroth-Hattaavah. 447 9:23 And when he 448 sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God 449 and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebelling against him 450 from the very first day I knew you!
9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, 451 for he 452 had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him: 453 O, Lord God, 454 do not destroy your people, your valued property 455 that you have powerfully redeemed, 456 whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. 457 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land 458 from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” 459 9:29 They are your people, your valued property, 460 whom you brought out with great strength and power. 461
10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 462 10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words 463 that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia 464 wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 10:4 The Lord 465 then wrote on the tablets the same words, 466 the ten commandments, 467 which he 468 had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he 469 gave them to me. 10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.
10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan 470 to Moserah. 471 There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, 472 and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, 473 a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi 474 to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings 475 in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance 476 among his brothers; 477 the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 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. 10:11 Then he 478 said to me, “Get up, set out leading 479 the people so they may go and possess 480 the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” 481
10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, 482 to obey all his commandments, 483 to love him, to serve him 484 with all your mind and being, 485 10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving 486 you today for your own good? 10:14 The heavens – indeed the highest heavens – belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he 487 show his loving favor, 488 and he chose you, their descendants, 489 from all peoples – as is apparent today. 10:16 Therefore, cleanse 490 your heart and stop being so stubborn! 491 10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 10:18 who justly treats 492 the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 10:20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name. 10:21 He is the one you should praise; 493 he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 10:22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky. 494
11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments 495 at all times. 11:2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking 496 to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments 497 of the Lord your God, which revealed 498 his greatness, strength, and power. 499 11:3 They did not see 500 the awesome deeds he performed 501 in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land, 11:4 or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea 502 overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he 503 annihilated them. 504 11:5 They did not see 505 what he did to you in the desert before you reached this place, 11:6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, 506 sons of Eliab the Reubenite, 507 when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp 508 and swallowed them, their families, 509 their tents, and all the property they brought with them. 510 11:7 I am speaking to you 511 because you are the ones who saw all the great deeds of the Lord!
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 512 I am giving 513 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 514 11:9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors 515 and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 11:10 For the land where you are headed 516 is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand 517 like a vegetable garden. 11:11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy 518 is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, 519 11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. 520 He is constantly attentive to it 521 from the beginning to the end of the year. 522 11:13 Now, if you pay close attention 523 to my commandments that I am giving you today and love 524 the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, 525 11:14 then he promises, 526 “I will send rain for your land 527 in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, 528 so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide pasture 529 for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”
11:16 Make sure you do not turn away to serve and worship other gods! 530 11:17 Then the anger of the Lord will erupt 531 against you and he will close up the sky 532 so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed 533 from the good land that the Lord 534 is about to give you. 11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, 535 and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols 536 on your forehead. 11:19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, 537 as you lie down, and as you get up. 11:20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates 11:21 so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself. 538 11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments 539 I am giving you 540 and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, 541 and remain loyal to him, 11:23 then he 542 will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. 11:24 Every place you set your foot 543 will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea. 544 11:25 Nobody will be able to resist you; the Lord your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.
11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 545 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart 546 the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, 11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention 547 to his 548 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before 549 you today to pursue 550 other gods you have not known. 11:29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 551 11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River, 552 toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal 553 near the oak 554 of Moreh? 11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it. 11:32 Be certain to keep all the statutes and ordinances that I am presenting to you today.
12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 555 has given you to possess. 556 12:2 You must by all means destroy 557 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 558 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 559 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 560 and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. 12:4 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. 12:5 But you must seek only the place he 561 chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, 562 and you must go there. 12:6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 563 your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families 564 must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he 565 has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone 566 doing what seems best to him, 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop 567 and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River 568 and settle in the land he 569 is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. 570 12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing 571 everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 572 and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. 573 12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages 574 (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). 575 12:13 Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, 12:14 for you may do so 576 only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. 577
12:15 On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the Lord your God blesses you 578 in all your villages. 579 Both the ritually pure and impure may eat it, whether it is a gazelle or an ibex. 12:16 However, you must not eat blood – pour it out on the ground like water. 12:17 You will not be allowed to eat in your villages your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, any votive offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings. 12:18 Only in the presence of the Lord your God may you eat these, in the place he 580 chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites 581 in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the Lord your God in all the output of your labor. 582 12:19 Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land.
12:20 When the Lord your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, “I want to eat meat just as I please,” 583 you may do so as you wish. 584 12:21 If the place he 585 chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he 586 has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages 587 just as you wish. 12:22 Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them. 12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself 588 – you must not eat the life with the meat! 12:24 You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. 12:25 You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight. 589 12:26 Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the Lord will choose. 590 12:27 You must offer your burnt offerings, both meat and blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; the blood of your other sacrifices 591 you must pour out on his 592 altar while you eat the meat. 12:28 Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
12:29 When the Lord your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land. 593 12:30 After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.” 12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! 594 For everything that is abhorrent 595 to him, 596 everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!
12:32 (13:1) 597 You 598 must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! 599 13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams 600 should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, 601 13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.” 13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, 602 for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him 603 with all your mind and being. 604 13:4 You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. 13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, 605 he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. 606
13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 607 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 608 that neither you nor your ancestors 609 have previously known, 610 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth 611 to the other). 13:8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! 612 Your own hand must be the first to strike him, 613 and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death 614 because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. 615
13:12 Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that 13:13 some evil people 616 have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, 617 saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 618 13:14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, 619 13:15 you must by all means 620 slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate 621 with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. 13:16 You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza 622 and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin 623 forever – it must never be rebuilt again. 13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. 624 Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving 625 you today and doing what is right 626 before him. 627
14:1 You are children 628 of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald 629 for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a people holy 630 to the Lord your God. He 631 has chosen you to be his people, prized 632 above all others on the face of the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden 633 thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex, 634 the gazelle, 635 the deer, 636 the wild goat, the antelope, 637 the wild oryx, 638 and the mountain sheep. 639 14:6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. 640 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. 641 (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, 642 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, 643 the vulture, 644 the black vulture, 645 14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah 646 after its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich, 647 the owl, 648 the seagull, the falcon 649 after its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, 650 14:17 the jackdaw, 651 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. 652 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 653 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. 654
14:22 You must be certain to tithe 655 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, 656 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 657 blesses you, if the 658 place where he chooses to locate his name is distant, 14:25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money, 659 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 660 of debts. 15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; 661 he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, 662 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 663 owes you, you must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord 664 will surely bless 665 you in the land that he 666 is giving you as an inheritance, 667 15:5 if you carefully obey 668 him 669 by keeping 670 all these commandments that I am giving 671 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 672 from one of your villages 673 in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 674 to his impoverished condition. 675 15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend 676 him whatever he needs. 677 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 678 be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite 679 and you do not lend 680 him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. 681 15:10 You must by all means lend 682 to him and not be upset by doing it, 683 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 684 your hand to your fellow Israelites 685 who are needy and poor in your land.
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew 686 – whether male or female 687 – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant 688 go free. 689 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously 690 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 691 says to you, “I do not want to leave 692 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. 693 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 694 the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
15:19 You must set apart 695 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 696 chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else 697 – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, 698 whether you are ritually impure or clean, 699 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 700 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 701 he 702 brought you out of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal 703 (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he 704 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 705 for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 706 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages 707 that the Lord your God is giving you, 16:6 but you must sacrifice it 708 in the evening in 709 the place where he 710 chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 16:7 You must cook 711 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. 712
16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them 713 from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 16:10 Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks 714 before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering 715 that you will bring, in proportion to how he 716 has blessed you. 16:11 You shall rejoice before him 717 – you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, 718 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 719 for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 720 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. 721 16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he 722 chooses, for he 723 will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; 724 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 725 empty-handed. 16:17 Every one of you must give as you are able, 726 according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 727 for each tribe in all your villages 728 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 729 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 730 the words of the righteous. 731 16:20 You must pursue justice alone 732 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 733 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 734 a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him 735 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive 736 to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages 737 that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God 738 and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, 739 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 740 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 741 is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates 742 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 743 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 744 must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people 745 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, 746 legal claim, 747 or assault 748 – matters of controversy in your villages 749 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 750 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 751 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 752 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 753 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 754 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 755 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 756 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 757 on a scroll 758 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 759 in Israel.
18:1 The Levitical priests 760 – 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. 761 18:2 They 762 will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; 763 the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests’ fair allotment 764 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 765 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 766 and serve in his name 767 permanently. 18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 768 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 769 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. 770
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, 771 anyone who practices divination, 772 an omen reader, 773 a soothsayer, 774 a sorcerer, 775 18:11 one who casts spells, 776 one who conjures up spirits, 777 a practitioner of the occult, 778 or a necromancer. 779 18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things 780 the Lord your God is about to drive them out 781 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; 782 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 783 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 784 anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet 785 speaks in my name.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 786 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 787 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 788 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 789 name and the prediction 790 is not fulfilled, 791 then I have 792 not spoken it; 793 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 794 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 795 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 796 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, 797 if he has accidentally killed another 798 without hating him at the time of the accident. 799 19:5 Suppose he goes with someone else 800 to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax 801 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose 802 from the handle and strikes 803 his fellow worker 804 so hard that he dies. The person responsible 805 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 806 19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, 807 and kill him, 808 though this is not a capital case 809 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 810 and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 811 19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments 812 I am giving 813 you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities 814 to these three. 19:10 You must not shed innocent blood 815 in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 816 19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else 817 and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, 818 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 819 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent 820 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 821 which will have been defined 822 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 823
19:15 A single witness may not testify 824 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 825 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false 826 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 827 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 828 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, 829 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 830 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. 831
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry 832 and troops 833 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 834 will approach and say to the soldiers, 835 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.” 836 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, 837 “Who among you 838 has built a new house and not dedicated 839 it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else 840 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 841 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 842 heart as fearful 843 as his own.” 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking, 844 they must appoint unit commanders 845 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 846 and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. 847 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 848 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 849 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 850 to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them 851 – the Hittites, 852 Amorites, 853 Canaanites, 854 Perizzites, 855 Hivites, 856 and Jebusites 857 – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship 858 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, 859 you must not chop down its trees, 860 for you may eat fruit 861 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 862 20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 863 and you may use it to build siege works 864 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
21:1 If a homicide victim 865 should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, 866 and no one knows who killed 867 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. 868 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse 869 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, 870 to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. 871 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests 872 will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, 873 and to decide 874 every judicial verdict 875 ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse 876 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 877 21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we 878 witnessed the crime. 879 21:8 Do not blame 880 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” 881 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 882 the Lord.
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail 883 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them 884 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, 885 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, 886 and stay 887 in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations 888 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 889 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell 890 her; 891 you must not take advantage of 892 her, since you have already humiliated 893 her.
21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, 894 and they both 895 bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife. 21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance 896 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other 897 wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved 898 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion 899 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power 900 – 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, 901 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 902 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 903 wickedness from among you, and all Israel 904 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 905 on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury 906 him that same day, for the one who is left exposed 907 on a tree is cursed by God. 908 You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22:1 When you see 909 your neighbor’s 910 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 911 you must return it without fail 912 to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner 913 does not live 914 near you or you do not know who the owner is, 915 then you must corral the animal 916 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 917 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 918 22:4 When you see 919 your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; 920 instead, you must be sure 921 to help him get the animal on its feet again. 922
22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, 923 nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive 924 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, 925 you must not take the mother from the young. 926 22:7 You must be sure 927 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 928 around your roof to avoid being culpable 929 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. 930 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. 931 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels 932 for the four corners of the clothing you wear.
22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, 933 and then rejects 934 her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety 935 and defaming her reputation 936 by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations 937 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 938 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 939 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 940 before the city’s elders. 22:18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish 941 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 942 ruined the reputation 943 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 944 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge 945 evil from among you.
22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with 946 a married woman 947 both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge 948 evil from Israel.
22:23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets 949 her in the city and has sexual relations with 950 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 951 his neighbor’s fiancée; 952 in this way you will purge 953 evil from among you. 22:25 But if the man came across 954 the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped 955 her, then only the rapist 956 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 957 and murders him, 22:27 for the man 958 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 959 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) 960 A man may not marry 961 his father’s former 962 wife and in this way dishonor his father. 963
23:1 A man with crushed 964 or severed genitals 965 may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 966 23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 967 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 968
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 969 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 970 do so, 971 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired 972 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 973 the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves 974 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; 975 you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner 976 in his land. 23:8 Children of the third generation born to them 977 may enter the assembly of the Lord.
23:9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure. 978 23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, 979 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. 980 23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself 981 outside you must dig a hole with the spade 982 and then turn and cover your excrement. 983 23:14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat 984 your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent 985 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. 986 23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages 987 he prefers; you must not oppress him.
23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute 988 among the young women 989 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 990 among the young men 991 of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute 992 or the wage of a male prostitute 993 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, 994 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 995 will surely 996 hold you accountable as a sinner. 997 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, 998 but you must not take away any in a container. 999 23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, 1000 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 1001 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 1002 she may go and become someone else’s wife. 24:3 If the second husband rejects 1003 her and then divorces her, 1004 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 1005 her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. 1006 You must not bring guilt on the land 1007 which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into 1008 the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to 1009 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. 1010
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 1011 and regards him as mere property 1012 and sells him, that kidnapper 1013 must die. In this way you will purge 1014 evil from among you.
24:8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely 1015 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 1016 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. 1017 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. 1018 24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 1019 24:13 You must by all means 1020 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 1021 deed by the Lord your God.
24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites 1022 or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 1023 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 1024 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, 1025 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. 1026 24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; 1027 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; 1028 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, 1029 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 1030 hear the case, they shall exonerate 1031 the innocent but condemn 1032 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 1033 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 1034 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 1035 25:3 The judge 1036 may sentence him to forty blows, 1037 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 1038 with contempt.
25:4 You must not muzzle your 1039 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, 1040 and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. 1041 25:6 Then 1042 the first son 1043 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 1044 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. 1045 She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!” 1046 25:10 His family name will be referred to 1047 in Israel as “the family 1048 of the one whose sandal was removed.” 1049
25:11 If two men 1050 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, 1051 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, 1052 a heavy and a light one. 1053 25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, 1054 a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct 1055 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 1056 to the Lord your God.
25:17 Remember what the Amalekites 1057 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. 1058 25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he 1059 is giving you as an inheritance, 1060 you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven 1061 – do not forget! 1062
26:1 When 1063 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 1064 chooses to locate his name. 1065 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your 1066 God that I have come into the land that the Lord 1067 promised 1068 to our ancestors 1069 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you 1070 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering 1071 Aramean 1072 was my ancestor, 1073 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, 1074 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 1075 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 1076 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. 1077 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, 1078 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
26:12 When you finish tithing all 1079 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 1080 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 1081 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering 1082 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 1083 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; 1084 I have obeyed you 1085 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. 1086 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 1087 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. 1088 You will 1089 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
27:1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Pay attention to all the commandments 1090 I am giving 1091 you today. 27:2 When you cross the Jordan River 1092 to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover 1093 them with plaster. 27:3 Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 1094 said to you. 27:4 So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal 1095 these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover them with plaster. 27:5 Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones – do not use an iron tool on them. 27:6 You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 27:7 Also you must offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God. 27:8 You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear.”
27:9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 27:10 You must obey him 1096 and keep his commandments and statutes that I am giving you today.” 27:11 Moreover, Moses commanded the people that day: 27:12 “The following tribes 1097 must stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 27:13 And these other tribes must stand for the curse on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
27:14 “The Levites will call out to every Israelite 1098 with a loud voice: 27:15 ‘Cursed is the one 1099 who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent 1100 to the Lord, the work of the craftsman 1101 – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 1102 27:16 ‘Cursed 1103 is the one who disrespects 1104 his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:18 ‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with 1105 his father’s former wife, 1106 for he dishonors his father.’ 1107 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:21 ‘Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.’ 1108 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:22 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:23 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:24 ‘Cursed is the one who kills 1109 his neighbor in private.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
[4:10] 1 tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
[4:10] 2 tn Heb “the
[4:10] 3 tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
[4:12] 4 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
[4:1] 7 tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.
[4:1] 8 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
[1:1] 10 tn Heb “These are the words.”
[1:1] 11 tn Heb “to all Israel.”
[1:1] 12 tn Heb “on the other side of the Jordan.” This would appear to favor authorship by someone living on the west side of the Jordan, that is, in Canaan, whereas the biblical tradition locates Moses on the east side (cf. v. 5). However the Hebrew phrase בְּעֵבֶר הַיּרְדֵּן (bÿ’ever hayyrÿden) is a frozen form meaning “Transjordan,” a name appropriate from any geographical vantage point. To this day, one standing east of the Jordan can describe himself as being in Transjordan.
[1:1] 13 tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[1:1] 14 sn This place is otherwise unattested and its location is unknown. Perhaps it is Khirbet Sufah, 4 mi (6 km) SSE of Madaba, Jordan.
[1:1] 15 tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”
[1:1] 16 sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).
[1:1] 17 sn Tophel refers possibly to et£-T£afîleh, 15 mi (25 km) SE of the Dead Sea, or to Da‚bîlu, another name for Paran. See H. Cazelles, “Tophel (Deut. 1:1),” VT 9 (1959): 412-15.
[1:1] 18 sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).
[1:1] 19 sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.
[1:1] 20 sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.
[1:2] 13 sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).
[1:2] 14 sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.
[1:2] 15 sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.
[1:2] 16 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”
[1:3] 16 tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.
[1:3] 17 sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
[1:3] 18 sn The fortieth year would be 1406
[1:3] 19 tn Heb “according to all which.”
[1:4] 19 tn Heb “when he struck [or “smote”].”
[1:4] 20 sn See Deut 2:26–3:22.
[1:4] 22 sn Heshbon is probably modern Tell Hesban, about 7.5 mi (12 km) south southwest of Amman, Jordan.
[1:4] 24 sn Ashtaroth is probably Tell àAshtarah, about 22 mi (35 km) due east of the Sea of Galilee.
[1:4] 25 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31).
[1:5] 22 tn Heb “this instruction”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “this law”; TEV “God’s laws and teachings.” The Hebrew noun תוֹרָה (torah) is derived from the verb יָרָה (yarah, “to teach”) and here it refers to the Book of Deuteronomy, not the Pentateuch as a whole.
[1:6] 25 tn Heb “lived”; “dwelled.”
[1:7] 28 tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”
[1:7] 30 tn Heb “its dwelling places.”
[1:7] 31 tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:7] 32 tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”
[1:7] 33 sn The Hebrew term Negev means literally “desert” or “south” (so KJV, ASV). It refers to the area south of Beer Sheba and generally west of the Arabah Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.
[1:8] 31 tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”
[1:8] 32 tn Heb “the
[1:8] 33 tn Heb “swore” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to God’s promise, made by solemn oath, to give the patriarchs the land.
[1:8] 34 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).
[1:8] 35 tn Heb “their seed after them.”
[1:10] 34 tn Heb “multiplied you.”
[1:10] 35 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[1:11] 37 tn Heb “may he bless you.”
[1:13] 40 tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).
[1:15] 43 tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”
[1:16] 46 tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[1:16] 47 tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.
[1:16] 48 tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).
[1:16] 49 tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”
[1:16] 50 tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”
[1:17] 49 tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[1:17] 50 tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.
[1:20] 52 tn The Hebrew participle has an imminent future sense here, although many English versions treat it as a present tense (“is giving us,” NAB, NIV, NRSV) or a predictive future (“will give us,” NCV).
[1:21] 55 tn Heb “the
[1:21] 56 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:23] 58 tn Heb “the thing was good in my eyes.”
[1:23] 59 tn Or “selected” (so NIV, NRSV, TEV); Heb “took.”
[1:24] 61 tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).
[1:25] 64 tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.
[1:26] 67 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[1:27] 70 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
[1:28] 73 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”
[1:28] 74 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).
[1:28] 75 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[1:28] 76 tn Heb “we have seen.”
[1:28] 77 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”
[1:29] 76 tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.
[1:30] 79 tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).
[1:30] 80 tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
[1:31] 82 tn Heb “the
[1:34] 85 tn Heb “and swore,” i.e., made an oath or vow.
[1:35] 88 tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”
[1:36] 91 sn Caleb had, with Joshua, brought back to Israel a minority report from Canaan urging a conquest of the land, for he was confident of the
[1:36] 92 tn Heb “the
[1:38] 94 tn Heb “the one who stands before you”; NAB “your aide”; TEV “your helper.”
[1:38] 95 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:39] 97 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
[1:39] 98 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
[1:40] 100 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, as are the following verbs, indicating that Moses and the people are addressed (note v. 41).
[1:40] 101 tn Heb “the Reed Sea.” “Reed” is a better translation of the Hebrew סוּף (suf), traditionally rendered “red.” The name “Red Sea” is based on the LXX which referred to it as ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης (eruqra" qalassh", “red sea”). Nevertheless, because the body of water in question is known in modern times as the Red Sea, this term was used in the translation. The part of the Red Sea in view here is not the one crossed in the exodus but its eastern arm, now known as the Gulf of Eilat or Gulf of Aqaba.
[1:43] 103 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[1:44] 106 tn Heb “in that hill country,” repeating the end of v. 43.
[1:44] 107 tn Heb “came out to meet.”
[1:44] 108 sn Hormah is probably Khirbet el-Meshash, 5.5 mi (9 km) west of Arad and 7.5 mi (12 km) SE of Beer Sheba. Its name is a derivative of the verb חָרָם (kharam, “to ban; to exterminate”). See Num 21:3.
[1:45] 109 tn Heb “the
[1:45] 110 tn Heb “did not hear your voice and did not turn an ear to you.”
[1:46] 112 tn Heb “like the days which you lived.” This refers to the rest of the forty-year period in the desert before Israel arrived in Moab.
[2:1] 115 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.
[2:4] 118 tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”
[2:4] 119 tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”
[2:4] 120 sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).
[2:5] 121 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.
[2:6] 124 tn Heb includes “with silver.”
[2:7] 127 tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).
[2:7] 128 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
[2:7] 129 tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.
[2:7] 130 tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”
[2:7] 131 tn Heb “the
[2:8] 130 tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”
[2:8] 131 tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”
[2:8] 132 sn Elat was a port city at the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba (or Gulf of Eilat). Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28), Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22), and Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:5-6) used it as a port but eventually it became permanently part of Edom. It may be what is known today as Tell el-Kheleifeh. Modern Eilat is located further west along the northern coast. See G. Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal,” BASOR 259 (1985): 1-32.
[2:8] 133 sn Ezion Geber. A place near the Gulf of Aqaba, Ezion-geber must be distinguished from Elat (cf. 1 Kgs 9:26-28; 2 Chr 8:17-18). It was, however, also a port city (1 Kgs 22:48-49). It may be the same as the modern site Gezirat al-Fauran, 15 mi (24 km) south-southwest from Tell el-Kheleifah.
[2:9] 133 sn Ar was a Moabite city on the Arnon River east of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned elsewhere in the “Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num 21:15; cf. 21:28; Isa 15:1). Here it is synonymous with the whole land of Moab.
[2:9] 134 sn The descendants of Lot. Following the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, as God’s judgment, Lot fathered two sons by his two daughters, namely, Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38). Thus, these descendants of Lot in and around Ar were the Moabites.
[2:10] 136 sn Emites. These giant people, like the Anakites (Deut 1:28), were also known as Rephaites (v. 11). They appear elsewhere in the narrative of the invasion of the kings of the east where they are said to have lived around Shaveh Kiriathaim, perhaps 9 to 11 mi (15 to 18 km) east of the north end of the Dead Sea (Gen 14:5).
[2:11] 139 sn Rephaites. The earliest reference to this infamous giant race is, again, in the story of the invasion of the eastern kings (Gen 14:5). They lived around Ashteroth Karnaim, probably modern Tell Ashtarah (cf. Deut 1:4), in the Bashan plateau east of the Sea of Galilee. Og, king of Bashan, was a Rephaite (Deut 3:11; Josh 12:4; 13:12). Other texts speak of them or their kinfolk in both Transjordan (Deut 2:20; 3:13) and Canaan (Josh 11:21-22; 14:12, 15; 15:13-14; Judg 1:20; 1 Sam 17:4; 1 Chr 20:4-8). They also appear in extra-biblical literature, especially in connection with the city state of Ugarit. See C. L’Heureux, “Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim,” HTR 67 (1974): 265-74.
[2:12] 142 sn Horites. Most likely these are the same as the well-known people of ancient Near Eastern texts described as Hurrians. They were geographically widespread and probably non-Semitic. Genesis speaks of them as the indigenous peoples of Edom that Esau expelled (Gen 36:8-19, 31-43) and also as among those who confronted the kings of the east (Gen 14:6).
[2:12] 143 tn Most modern English versions, beginning with the ASV (1901), regard vv. 10-12 as parenthetical to the narrative.
[2:13] 145 sn Wadi Zered. Now known as Wadi el-H£esa, this valley marked the boundary between Moab to the north and Edom to the south.
[2:13] 146 tn Heb “we crossed the Wadi Zered.” This has been translated as “we did so” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[2:15] 148 tn Heb “from the middle of.” Although many recent English versions leave this expression untranslated, the point seems to be that these soldiers did not die in battle but “within the camp.”
[2:16] 151 tn Heb “and it was when they were eliminated, all the men of war, to die from the midst of the people.”
[2:18] 154 sn Ar. See note on this word in Deut 2:9.
[2:19] 157 sn Lot’s descendants. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:9.
[2:20] 160 sn Rephaites. See note on this word in Deut 2:11.
[2:20] 161 sn Zamzummites. Just as the Moabites called Rephaites by the name Emites, the Ammonites called them Zamzummites (or Zazites; Gen 14:5).
[2:21] 163 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:21] 164 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:23] 166 sn Avvites. Otherwise unknown, these people were probably also Anakite (or Rephaite) giants who lived in the lower Mediterranean coastal plain until they were expelled by the Caphtorites.
[2:23] 167 sn Caphtorites. These peoples are familiar from both the OT (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7) and ancient Near Eastern texts (Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:37-38; ANET 138). They originated in Crete (OT “Caphtor”) and are identified as the ancestors of the Philistines (Gen 10:14; Jer 47:4).
[2:23] 168 tn Heb “Caphtor”; the modern name of the island of Crete is used in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
[2:24] 169 sn Heshbon is the name of a prominent site (now Tell Hesba„n, about 7.5 mi [12 km] south southwest of Amman, Jordan). Sihon made it his capital after having driven Moab from the area and forced them south to the Arnon (Num 21:26-30). Heshbon is also mentioned in Deut 1:4.
[2:25] 172 tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).
[2:25] 173 tn Heb “from before you.”
[2:26] 175 sn Kedemoth. This is probably Aleiyan, about 8 mi (13 km) north of the Arnon and between Dibon and Mattanah.
[2:27] 178 tn Heb “in the way in the way” (בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, baderekh baderekh). The repetition lays great stress on the idea of resolute determination to stick to the path. IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
[2:28] 182 tn Heb “and water for silver give to me so that I may drink.”
[2:30] 184 tc The translation follows the LXX in reading the first person pronoun. The MT, followed by many English versions, has a second person masculine singular pronoun, “your.”
[2:30] 185 tn Heb “hardened his spirit” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “made his spirit stubborn.”
[2:30] 186 tn Heb “made his heart obstinate” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “made his heart defiant.”
[2:30] 187 tn Heb “into your hand.”
[2:32] 188 sn Jahaz. This is probably Khirbet el-Medeiyineh. See J. Dearman, “The Levitical Cities of Reuben and Moabite Toponymy,” BASOR 276 (1984): 55-57.
[2:33] 190 tc The translation follows the Qere or marginal reading; the Kethib (consonantal text) has the singular, “his son.”
[2:33] 191 tn Heb “all his people.”
[2:34] 193 tn Heb “every city of men.” This apparently identifies the cities as inhabited.
[2:34] 194 tn Heb “under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). The verb employed is חָרַם (kharam, usually in the Hiphil) and the associated noun is חֵרֶם (kherem). See J. Naudé, NIDOTTE, 2:276-77, and, for a more thorough discussion, Susan Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible, 28-77.
[2:36] 196 sn Aroer. Now known as àAraáir on the northern edge of the Arnon river, Aroer marked the southern limit of Moab and, later, of the allotment of the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:9, 16).
[2:36] 197 tn Heb “the city in the wadi.” This enigmatic reference may refer to Ar or, more likely, to Aroer itself. Epexegetically the text might read, “From Aroer…, that is, the city in the wadi.” See D. L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1–11 (WBC), 49.
[2:37] 199 sn Wadi Jabbok. Now known as the Zerqa River, this is a major tributary of the Jordan that normally served as a boundary between Ammon and Gad (Deut 3:16).
[3:1] 202 tn Heb “turned and went up.”
[3:1] 203 sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.
[3:1] 205 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).
[3:3] 208 tn Heb “was left to him.” The final phrase “to him” is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
[3:4] 211 sn Argob. This is a subdistrict of Bashan, perhaps north of the Yarmuk River. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 314.
[3:5] 214 tn Or “high walls and barred gates” (NLT); Heb “high walls, gates, and bars.” Since “bars” could be understood to mean “saloons,” the qualifying adjective “locking” has been supplied in the translation.
[3:5] 215 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (pÿraziy) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
[3:6] 217 tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.
[3:6] 218 tn Heb “city of men.”
[3:8] 220 sn Mount Hermon. This is the famous peak at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range known today as Jebel es-Sheik.
[3:9] 223 sn Sidonians were Phoenician inhabitants of the city of Sidon (now in Lebanon), about 47 mi (75 km) north of Mount Carmel.
[3:9] 224 sn Sirion. This name is attested in the Ugaritic texts as sryn. See UT 495.
[3:9] 225 sn Senir. Probably this was actually one of the peaks of Hermon and not the main mountain (Song of Songs 4:8; 1 Chr 5:23). It is mentioned in a royal inscription of Shalmaneser III of Assyria (saniru; see ANET 280).
[3:10] 226 sn Salecah. Today this is known as Salkhad, in Jordan, about 31 mi (50 km) east of the Jordan River in the Hauran Desert.
[3:10] 227 sn Edrei. See note on this term in 3:1.
[3:11] 229 tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
[3:11] 230 tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”
[3:11] 231 tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.
[3:11] 232 sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.
[3:11] 233 tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.
[3:11] 234 tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.
[3:11] 235 tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).
[3:12] 232 tn The words “the territory extending” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[3:12] 233 sn Reubenites and Gadites. By the time of Moses’ address the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had already been granted permission to settle in the Transjordan, provided they helped the other tribes subdue the occupants of Canaan (cf. Num 32:28-42).
[3:13] 235 sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).
[3:13] 236 sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.
[3:14] 238 sn Geshurites. Geshur was a city and its surrounding area somewhere northeast of Bashan (cf. Josh 12:5 ; 13:11, 13). One of David’s wives was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur and mother of Absalom (cf. 2 Sam 13:37; 15:8; 1 Chr 3:2).
[3:14] 239 sn Maacathites. These were the people of a territory southwest of Mount Hermon on the Jordan River. The name probably has nothing to do with David’s wife from Geshur (see note on “Geshurites” earlier in this verse).
[3:14] 240 sn Havvoth-Jair. The Hebrew name means “villages of Jair,” the latter being named after a son (i.e., descendant) of Manasseh who took the area by conquest.
[3:15] 241 sn Machir was the name of another descendant of Manasseh (cf. Num 32:41; 1 Chr 7:14-19). Eastern Manasseh was thus divided between the Jairites and the Machirites.
[3:17] 244 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in vv. 20, 25).
[3:17] 245 tn Heb “from Chinnereth.” The words “the sea of” have been supplied in the translation as a clarification.
[3:17] 246 sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea (cf. Gen 14:3; Josh 3:16).
[3:17] 247 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV) or “watershed” (NEB).
[3:17] 248 sn Pisgah. This appears to refer to a small range of mountains, the most prominent peak of which is Mount Nebo (Num 21:20; 23:14; Deut 3:27; cf. 34:1).
[3:18] 247 tn Heb “your brothers, the sons of Israel.”
[3:20] 250 tn The words “you must fight” are not present in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[3:20] 251 tn Heb “gives your brothers rest.”
[3:21] 253 tn Heb “the
[3:21] 254 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there.”
[3:24] 256 tn Heb “Lord
[3:24] 257 tn Heb “your servant.” The pronoun is used in the translation to clarify that Moses is speaking of himself, since in contemporary English one does not usually refer to oneself in third person.
[3:24] 258 tn Heb “your strong hand” (so NIV), a symbol of God’s activity.
[3:25] 259 tn The article is retained in the translation (“the Lebanon,” cf. also NAB, NRSV) to indicate that a region (rather than the modern country of Lebanon) is referred to here. Other recent English versions accomplish this by supplying “mountains” after “Lebanon” (TEV, CEV, NLT).
[3:26] 262 tn Heb “the
[3:26] 263 tn Heb “much to you” (an idiom).
[3:27] 265 tn Heb “lift your eyes to the west, north, south, and east and see with your eyes.” The translation omits the repetition of “your eyes” for stylistic reasons.
[3:28] 268 tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”
[3:29] 271 sn Beth Peor. This is probably the spot near Pisgah where Balaam attempted to curse the nation Israel (Num 23:28). The Moabites also worshiped Baal there by the name “Baal [of] Peor” (Num 25:1-5).
[4:1] 274 tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.
[4:1] 275 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
[4:2] 277 tn Heb “commanding.”
[4:3] 280 tc The LXX and Syriac read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in Deut 3:29.
[4:3] 281 tn Heb “the
[4:3] 282 tn Or “
[4:5] 283 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).
[4:6] 286 tn Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”
[4:6] 287 tn Heb “wise and understanding.”
[4:8] 289 tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”
[4:8] 290 tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.
[4:8] 291 tn Heb “place before.”
[4:9] 292 tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
[4:10] 295 tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
[4:10] 296 tn Heb “the
[4:10] 297 tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
[4:11] 298 tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[4:11] 299 tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
[4:12] 301 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
[4:13] 304 sn This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, TDOT 2:255.
[4:13] 305 tn Heb “the ten words.”
[4:14] 307 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”
[4:15] 310 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
[4:16] 313 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.
[4:18] 316 tn Heb “creeping thing.”
[4:18] 317 tn Heb “under the earth.”
[4:19] 319 tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
[4:19] 320 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[4:19] 321 tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”
[4:19] 322 tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.
[4:19] 325 tn Heb “under all the heaven.”
[4:20] 322 tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.
[4:20] 323 tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.
[4:21] 325 tn Heb “the
[4:21] 326 tn The Hebrew text includes “(as) an inheritance,” or “(as) a possession.”
[4:22] 328 tn Heb “this.” The translation uses “that” to avoid confusion; earlier in the verse Moses refers to Transjordan as “this land.”
[4:23] 331 tn Heb “the
[4:23] 332 tn Heb “commanded.”
[4:24] 334 tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the
[4:25] 337 tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.
[4:25] 338 tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”
[4:25] 339 tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.
[4:26] 340 sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the
[4:26] 341 tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”
[4:26] 342 tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.
[4:27] 343 tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”
[4:29] 346 tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.
[4:30] 349 sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.
[4:30] 350 tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.
[4:31] 352 tn Heb “the
[4:31] 353 tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[4:31] 354 tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.
[4:32] 355 tn The Hebrew term אָדָם (’adam) may refer either to Adam or, more likely, to “man” in the sense of the human race (“mankind,” “humankind”). The idea here seems more universal in scope than reference to Adam alone would suggest.
[4:32] 356 tn The verb is not present in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification. The challenge has both temporal and geographical dimensions. The people are challenged to (1) inquire about the entire scope of past history and (2) conduct their investigation on a worldwide scale.
[4:34] 358 tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).
[4:34] 359 tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”
[4:34] 360 tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).
[4:34] 361 tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”
[4:36] 361 tn Heb “and his words you heard from the midst of the fire.”
[4:37] 364 tn The concept of love here is not primarily that of emotional affection but of commitment or devotion. This verse suggests that God chose Israel to be his special people because he loved the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and had promised to bless their descendants. See as well Deut 7:7-9.
[4:37] 365 tc The LXX, Smr, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read a third person masculine plural suffix for the MT’s 3rd person masculine singular, “his descendants.” Cf. Deut 10:15. Quite likely the MT should be emended in this instance.
[4:38] 367 tn Heb “(as) an inheritance,” that is, landed property that one can pass on to one’s descendants.
[4:40] 370 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).
[4:42] 373 tn Heb “the slayer who slew his neighbor without knowledge.”
[4:42] 374 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day).” 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.
[4:44] 376 tn Heb “the sons of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).
[4:48] 379 tn The words “their territory extended” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 47-49 are all one sentence, but for the sake of English style and readability the translation divides the text into two sentences.
[4:48] 380 sn Mount Siyon (the Hebrew name is שִׂיאֹן [si’on], not to be confused with Zion [צִיּוֹן, tsiyyon]) is another name for Mount Hermon, also called Sirion and Senir (cf. Deut 3:9).
[4:49] 382 sn The sea of the Arabah refers to the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea in OT times (cf. Deut 3:17).
[4:49] 383 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or “watershed” (NEB).
[5:1] 385 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
[5:3] 388 tn Heb “the
[5:5] 391 tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”
[5:7] 394 tn Heb “there must not be for you other gods.” The expression “for you” indicates possession.
[5:7] 395 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] 397 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
[5:8] 398 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”
[5:9] 400 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] 401 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] 402 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] 403 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] 404 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] 405 tn Heb “love.” See note on the word “reject” in v. 9.
[5:11] 406 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] 407 tn Heb “who takes up his name to emptiness.”
[5:12] 409 tn Heb “to make holy,” that is, to put to special use, in this case, to sacred purposes (cf. vv. 13-15).
[5:14] 412 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] 413 tn Heb “in your gates”; NRSV, CEV “in your towns”; TEV “in your country.”
[5:15] 415 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] 416 tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).
[5:16] 418 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] 419 tn Heb “the
[5:17] 421 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] 424 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] 427 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] 428 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” See note on the term “fellow man” in v. 19.
[5:21] 429 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” The pronoun is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[5:21] 430 tn Heb “or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
[5:22] 430 tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”
[5:22] 431 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the
[5:24] 433 tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
[5:24] 434 tn Heb “this day we have seen.”
[5:26] 436 tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
[5:27] 439 tn Heb “the
[5:28] 442 tn Heb “the
[5:29] 445 tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:31] 448 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] 449 tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”
[5:33] 451 tn Heb “the
[5:33] 452 tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”
[6:1] 454 tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.
[6:1] 455 tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”
[6:2] 457 tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.
[6:2] 458 tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
[6:3] 460 tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:3] 461 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).
[6:4] 463 tn Heb “the
[6:5] 466 tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) in this setting communicates not so much an emotional idea as one of covenant commitment. To love the
[6:5] 467 tn Heb “heart.” In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart. See A. Luc, NIDOTTE 2:749-54.
[6:5] 468 tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 10-25; D. Fredericks, NIDOTTE 3:133-34.
[6:5] 469 sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.
[6:7] 469 tn Heb “repeat” (so NLT). If from the root I שָׁנַן (shanan), the verb means essentially to “engrave,” that is, “to teach incisively” (Piel); note NAB “Drill them into your children.” Cf. BDB 1041-42 s.v.
[6:7] 470 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[6:8] 472 sn Tie them as a sign on your forearm. Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin. They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; Deut 6:5-9; 11:13-21. The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.
[6:8] 473 sn Fasten them as symbols on your forehead. These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5).
[6:9] 475 sn The Hebrew term מְזוּזֹת (mÿzuzot) refers both to the door frames and to small cases attached on them containing scripture texts (always Deut 6:4-9 and 11:13-21; and sometimes the decalogue; Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; and Num 10:35-36). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 443-44.
[6:12] 478 tn Heb “out of the house of slavery” (so NASB, NRSV).
[6:14] 481 tn Heb “from the gods.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[6:15] 484 tn Heb “lest the anger of the
[6:16] 487 sn The place name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) derives from a root (נָסָה, nasah) meaning “to test; to try.” The reference here is to the experience in the Sinai desert when Moses struck the rock to obtain water (Exod 17:1-2). The complaining Israelites had, thus, “tested” the
[6:17] 490 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[6:17] 491 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb to emphasize the statement. The imperfect verbal form is used here with an obligatory nuance that can be captured in English through the imperative. Cf. NASB, NRSV “diligently keep (obey NLT).”
[6:18] 494 tn Heb “the
[6:21] 499 tn Heb “to your son.”
[6:21] 500 tn Heb “by a strong hand.” The image is that of a warrior who, with weapon in hand, overcomes his enemies. The
[6:22] 502 tn Heb “the
[6:22] 503 tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.
[6:24] 505 tn Heb “the
[6:25] 508 tn The term “commandment” (מִצְוָה, mitsvah), here in the singular, refers to the entire body of covenant stipulations.
[6:25] 509 tn Heb “as he has commanded us” (so NIV, NRSV).
[7:1] 511 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[7:1] 512 sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).
[7:1] 513 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[7:1] 514 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[7:1] 515 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[7:1] 516 sn Hivites. 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 the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
[7:1] 517 sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).
[7:1] 518 sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.
[7:2] 514 tn Heb “the
[7:2] 515 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”
[7:2] 516 tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”
[7:5] 517 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the
[7:5] 518 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[7:6] 520 tn That is, “set apart.”
[7:6] 521 tn Heb “the
[7:6] 522 tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” 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.
[7:8] 523 tn Heb “the
[7:8] 524 tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[7:8] 525 tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
[7:8] 526 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[7:8] 527 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).
[7:8] 528 tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”
[7:8] 529 sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the
[7:8] 530 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.
[7:9] 526 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
[7:9] 527 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”).
[7:10] 529 tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).
[7:10] 530 tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”
[7:12] 532 tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.
[7:12] 533 tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”
[7:13] 535 tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[7:14] 538 sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.
[7:16] 541 tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”
[7:16] 542 tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[7:18] 544 tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”
[7:19] 547 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
[7:19] 548 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
[7:19] 549 tn Heb “the
[7:20] 550 tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).
[7:20] 551 tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”
[7:22] 553 tn Heb “the
[7:23] 556 tn Heb “he will confuse them (with) great confusion.” The verb used here means “shake, stir up” (see Ruth 1:19; 1 Sam 4:5; 1 Kgs 1:45; Ps 55:2); the accompanying cognate noun refers to confusion, unrest, havoc, or panic (1 Sam 5:9, 11; 14:20; 2 Chr 15:5; Prov 15:16; Isa 22:5; Ezek 7:7; 22:5; Amos 3:9; Zech 14:13).
[7:24] 559 tn Heb “you will destroy their name from under heaven” (cf. KJV); NRSV “blot out their name from under heaven.”
[7:25] 562 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abhorrent; detestable”) describes anything detestable to the
[7:26] 565 tn Heb “come under the ban” (so NASB); NRSV “be set apart for destruction.” The same phrase occurs again at the end of this verse.
[7:26] 566 tn Or “like it is.”
[7:26] 567 tn This Hebrew verb (שָׁקַץ, shaqats) is essentially synonymous with the next verb (תָעַב, ta’av; cf. תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah; see note on the word “abhorrent” in v. 25), though its field of meaning is more limited to cultic abomination (cf. Lev 11:11, 13; Ps 22:25).
[7:26] 568 tn Heb “detesting you must detest and abhorring you must abhor.” Both verbs are preceded by a cognate infinitive absolute indicating emphasis.
[8:1] 568 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
[8:1] 569 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
[8:1] 570 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
[8:1] 571 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
[8:2] 571 tn Heb “the
[8:2] 572 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.
[8:3] 574 tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).
[8:3] 575 tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 576 tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).
[8:3] 577 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).
[8:3] 578 sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).
[8:5] 577 tn Heb “just as a man disciplines his son.” The Hebrew text reflects the patriarchal idiom of the culture.
[8:6] 580 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[8:6] 581 tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” The “ways” of the Lord refer here to his moral standards as reflected in his commandments. The verb “walk” is used frequently in the Bible (both OT and NT) for one’s moral and ethical behavior.
[8:9] 586 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[8:9] 587 sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.
[8:14] 589 tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection.
[8:15] 592 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
[8:15] 593 tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.
[8:16] 595 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
[8:17] 598 tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.
[8:17] 599 tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”
[8:18] 601 tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.
[8:19] 604 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
[8:20] 607 tn Heb “so you will perish.”
[8:20] 608 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the
[9:1] 610 tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.
[9:2] 613 sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.
[9:2] 614 tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
[9:3] 616 tn Heb “the
[9:5] 619 tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the
[9:5] 620 tn Heb “the
[9:6] 622 tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
[9:7] 625 tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.
[9:7] 626 tn Heb “the
[9:9] 628 tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:10] 631 sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself – not Moses in any way – was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).
[9:10] 632 tn Heb “according to all the words.”
[9:10] 633 tn Heb “the
[9:12] 634 tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads מַסֵּכָה (massekhah, “a cast thing”) but some
[9:13] 637 tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.
[9:14] 640 tn Heb “leave me alone.”
[9:14] 641 tn Heb “from under heaven.”
[9:15] 643 tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[9:16] 646 tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
[9:16] 647 tn Heb “the
[9:17] 649 tn The Hebrew text includes “from upon my two hands,” but as this seems somewhat obvious and redundant, it has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[9:19] 652 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” Although many English versions translate as two terms, this construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion (cf. NAB, TEV “fierce anger”).
[9:19] 653 tn Heb “the
[9:20] 655 tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[9:21] 658 tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).
[9:21] 659 tn Heb “burned it with fire.”
[9:22] 661 sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the
[9:22] 662 sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.
[9:22] 663 sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).
[9:23] 664 tn Heb “the
[9:23] 665 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
[9:24] 667 tn Heb “the
[9:25] 670 tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.
[9:25] 671 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 673 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 674 tn Heb “Lord
[9:26] 675 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] 676 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
[9:26] 677 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
[9:28] 676 tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:28] 677 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
[9:29] 679 tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.
[9:29] 680 tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”
[10:1] 682 tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.
[10:2] 685 sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the
[10:3] 688 sn Acacia wood (Heb “shittim wood”). This is wood from the acacia, the most common timber tree of the Sinai region. Most likely it is the species Acacia raddiana because this has the largest trunk. See F. N. Hepper, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, 63.
[10:4] 691 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:4] 692 tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.
[10:4] 693 tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”
[10:4] 694 tn Heb “the
[10:4] 695 tn Heb “the
[10:6] 694 sn Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan. This Hebrew name could be translated “the wells of Bene-Yaaqan” or “the wells of the sons of Yaaqan,” a site whose location cannot be determined (cf. Num 33:31-32; 1 Chr 1:42).
[10:6] 695 sn Moserah. Since Aaron in other texts (Num 20:28; 33:38) is said to have died on Mount Hor, this must be the Arabah region in which Hor was located.
[10:7] 697 sn Gudgodah. This is probably the same as Haggidgad, which is also associated with Jotbathah (Num 33:33).
[10:7] 698 sn Jotbathah. This place, whose Hebrew name can be translated “place of wadis,” is possibly modern Ain Tabah, just north of Eilat, or Tabah, 6.5 mi (11 km) south of Eilat on the west shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.
[10:8] 700 sn The
[10:8] 701 sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.
[10:9] 703 sn Levi has no allotment or inheritance. As the priestly tribe, Levi would have no land allotment except for forty-eight towns set apart for their use (Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-42). But theirs was a far greater inheritance, for the
[10:9] 704 tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.
[10:11] 706 tn Heb “the
[10:11] 707 tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”
[10:11] 708 tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.
[10:11] 709 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).
[10:12] 709 tn Heb “the
[10:12] 710 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”
[10:12] 711 tn Heb “the
[10:12] 712 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[10:13] 712 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
[10:15] 715 tn Heb “the
[10:15] 716 tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the
[10:15] 717 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
[10:16] 718 tn Heb “circumcise the foreskin of” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). Reference to the Abrahamic covenant prompts Moses to recall the sign of that covenant, namely, physical circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). Just as that act signified total covenant obedience, so spiritual circumcision (cleansing of the heart) signifies more internally a commitment to be pliable and obedient to the will of God (cf. Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; 9:26).
[10:16] 719 tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
[10:18] 721 tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.”
[10:21] 724 tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).
[10:22] 727 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:1] 730 tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).
[11:2] 733 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[11:2] 734 tn Heb “who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord.” The collocation of the verbs “know” and “see” indicates that personal experience (knowing by seeing) is in view. The term translated “discipline” (KJV, ASV “chastisement”) may also be rendered “instruction,” but vv. 2b-6 indicate that the referent of the term is the various acts of divine judgment the Israelites had witnessed.
[11:2] 735 tn The words “which revealed” have been supplied in the translation to show the logical relationship between the terms that follow and the divine judgments. In the Hebrew text the former are in apposition to the latter.
[11:2] 736 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
[11:3] 736 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 2-7 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the English translation divides the passage into three sentences. To facilitate this stylistic decision the words “They did not see” are supplied at the beginning of both v. 3 and v. 5, and “I am speaking” at the beginning of v. 7.
[11:3] 737 tn Heb “his signs and his deeds which he did” (NRSV similar). The collocation of “signs” and “deeds” indicates that these acts were intended to make an impression on observers and reveal something about God’s power (cf. v. 2b). The word “awesome” has been employed to bring out the force of the word “signs” in this context.
[11:4] 739 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.
[11:4] 740 tn Heb “the
[11:4] 741 tn Heb “and the Lord destroyed them to this day” (cf. NRSV); NLT “he has kept them devastated to this very day.” The translation uses the verb “annihilated” to indicate the permanency of the action.
[11:5] 742 tn See note on these same words in v. 3.
[11:6] 745 sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).
[11:6] 746 tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
[11:6] 747 tn Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.
[11:6] 748 tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”
[11:6] 749 tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
[11:7] 748 tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.
[11:8] 751 tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).
[11:8] 752 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).
[11:8] 753 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:9] 754 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
[11:10] 757 tn Heb “you are going there to possess it”; NASB “into which you are about to cross to possess it”; NRSV “that you are crossing over to occupy.”
[11:10] 758 tn Heb “with your foot” (so NASB, NLT). There is a two-fold significance to this phrase. First, Egypt had no rain so water supply depended on human efforts at irrigation. Second, the Nile was the source of irrigation waters but those waters sometimes had to be pumped into fields and gardens by foot-power, perhaps the kind of machinery (Arabic shaduf) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians, 181). Nevertheless, the translation uses “by hand,” since that expression is the more common English idiom for an activity performed by manual labor.
[11:11] 760 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:11] 761 tn Heb “rain of heaven.”
[11:12] 763 tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
[11:12] 764 tn Heb “the eyes of the
[11:12] 765 sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.
[11:13] 766 tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”
[11:13] 767 tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).
[11:13] 768 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:14] 769 tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.
[11:14] 770 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
[11:14] 771 sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.
[11:15] 772 tn Heb “grass in your field.”
[11:16] 775 tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[11:17] 778 tn Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”
[11:17] 779 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:17] 780 tn Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”
[11:17] 781 tn Heb “the
[11:18] 781 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:18] 782 tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.
[11:19] 784 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[11:21] 787 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
[11:22] 790 tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.
[11:22] 791 tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.
[11:22] 792 tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”
[11:23] 793 tn Heb “the
[11:24] 796 tn Heb “the sole of your foot walks.” The placing of the foot symbolizes conquest and dominion, especially on land or on the necks of enemies (cf. Deut 1:36; Ps 7:13; Isa 63:3 Hab 3:19; Zech 9:13). See E. H. Merrill, NIDOTTE 1:992.
[11:24] 797 tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”
[11:26] 799 sn A blessing and a curse. Every extant treaty text of the late Bronze Age attests to a section known as the “blessings and curses,” the former for covenant loyalty and the latter for covenant breach. Blessings were promised rewards for obedience; curses were threatened judgments for disobedience. In the Book of Deuteronomy these are fully developed in 27:1–28:68. Here Moses adumbrates the whole by way of anticipation.
[11:27] 802 tn Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.
[11:28] 805 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
[11:28] 806 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[11:28] 807 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[11:28] 808 tn Heb “walk after”; NIV “by following”; NLT “by worshiping.” This is a violation of the first commandment, the most serious of the covenant violations (Deut 5:6-7).
[11:29] 808 sn Mount Gerizim…Mount Ebal. These two mountains are near the ancient site of Shechem and the modern city of Nablus. The valley between them is like a great amphitheater with the mountain slopes as seating sections. The place was sacred because it was there that Abraham pitched his camp and built his first altar after coming to Canaan (Gen 12:6). Jacob also settled at Shechem for a time and dug a well from which Jesus once requested a drink of water (Gen 33:18-20; John 4:5-7). When Joshua and the Israelites finally brought Canaan under control they assembled at Shechem as Moses commanded and undertook a ritual of covenant reaffirmation (Josh 8:30-35; 24:1, 25). Half the tribes stood on Mt. Gerizim and half on Mt. Ebal and in antiphonal chorus pledged their loyalty to the
[11:30] 811 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:30] 812 sn Gilgal. From a Hebrew verb root גָלַל (galal, “to roll”) this place name means “circle” or “rolling,” a name given because God had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (Josh 5:9). It is perhaps to be identified with Khirbet el-Metjir, 1.2 mi (2 km) northeast of OT Jericho.
[11:30] 813 tc The MT plural “oaks” (אֵלוֹנֵי, ’eloney) should probably be altered (with many Greek texts) to the singular “oak” (אֵלוֹן, ’elon; cf. NRSV) in line with the only other occurrence of the phrase (Gen 12:6). The Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J. read mmrá, confusing this place with the “oaks of Mamre” near Hebron (Gen 13:18). Smr also appears to confuse “Moreh” with “Mamre” (reading mwr’, a combined form), adding the clarification mwl shkm (“near Shechem”) apparently to distinguish it from Mamre near Hebron.
[12:1] 815 tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the
[12:2] 817 tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”
[12:2] 818 sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.
[12:3] 820 sn Sacred pillars. These are 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.
[12:3] 821 sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.
[12:5] 823 tn Heb “the
[12:5] 824 tc Some scholars, on the basis of v. 11, emend the MT reading שִׁכְנוֹ (shikhno, “his residence”) to the infinitive construct לְשָׁכֵן (lÿshakhen, “to make [his name] to dwell”), perhaps with the 3rd person masculine singular sf לְשַׁכְּנוֹ (lÿshakÿno, “to cause it to dwell”). Though the presupposed nounשֵׁכֶן (shekhen) is nowhere else attested, the parallel here with שַׁמָּה (shammah, “there”) favors retaining the MT as it stands.
[12:6] 826 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:7] 829 tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.
[12:7] 830 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 838 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:10] 839 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 840 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.
[12:11] 841 tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”
[12:11] 842 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:11] 843 tn Heb “the
[12:12] 844 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”
[12:12] 845 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.
[12:14] 847 tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[12:14] 848 sn This injunction to worship in a single and central sanctuary – one limited and appropriate to the thrice-annual festival celebrations (see Exod 23:14-17; 34:22-24; Lev 23:4-36; Deut 16:16-17) – marks a departure from previous times when worship was carried out at local shrines (cf. Gen 8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 22:9; 26:25; 35:1, 3, 7; Exod 17:15). Apart from the corporate worship of the whole theocratic community, however, worship at local altars would still be permitted as in the past (Deut 16:21; Judg 6:24-27; 13:19-20; 1 Sam 7:17; 10:5, 13; 2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Kgs 18:30).
[12:15] 850 tn Heb “only in all the desire of your soul you may sacrifice and eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given to you.”
[12:15] 851 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB; likewise in vv. 17, 18).
[12:18] 853 tn Heb “the
[12:18] 854 tn See note at Deut 12:12.
[12:18] 855 tn Heb “in all the sending forth of your hands.”
[12:20] 856 tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”
[12:20] 857 tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”
[12:21] 859 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 860 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 861 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”
[12:23] 862 sn The blood is life itself. This is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which the cause or means (the blood) stands for the result or effect (life). That is, life depends upon the existence and circulation of blood, a truth known empirically but not scientifically tested and proved until the 17th century
[12:25] 865 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
[12:26] 868 tc Again, to complete a commonly attested wording the LXX adds after “choose” the phrase “to place his name there.” This shows insensitivity to deliberate departures from literary stereotypes. The MT reading is to be preferred.
[12:27] 871 sn These other sacrifices would be so-called peace or fellowship offerings whose ritual required a different use of the blood from that of burnt (sin and trespass) offerings (cf. Lev 3; 7:11-14, 19-21).
[12:27] 872 tn Heb “on the altar of the
[12:29] 874 tn Heb “dwell in their land” (so NASB). In the Hebrew text vv. 29-30 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides it into two.
[12:31] 877 tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the
[12:31] 878 tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.
[12:31] 879 tn Heb “every abomination of the
[12:32] 880 sn Beginning with 12:32, the verse numbers through 13:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 12:32 ET = 13:1 HT, 13:1 ET = 13:2 HT, 13:2 ET = 13:3 HT, etc., through 13:18 ET = 13:19 HT. With 14:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[12:32] 881 tn This verse highlights a phenomenon found throughout Deuteronomy, but most especially in chap. 12, namely, the alternation of grammatical singular and plural forms of the pronoun (known as Numeruswechsel in German scholarship). Critical scholarship in general resolves the “problem” by suggesting varying literary traditions – one favorable to the singular pronoun and the other to the plural – which appear in the (obviously rough) redacted text at hand. Even the ancient versions were troubled by the lack of harmony of grammatical number and in this verse, for example, offered a number of alternate readings. The MT reads “Everything I am commanding you (plural) you (plural) must be careful to do; you (singular) must not add to it nor should you (singular) subtract form it.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate suggest singular for the first two pronouns but a few Smr
[12:32] 882 sn Do not add to it or subtract from it. This prohibition makes at least two profound theological points: (1) This work by Moses is of divine origination (i.e., it is inspired) and therefore can tolerate no human alteration; and (2) the work is complete as it stands (i.e., it is canonical).
[13:1] 883 tn Heb “or a dreamer of dreams” (so KJV, ASV, NASB). The difference between a prophet (נָבִיא, navi’) and one who foretells by dreams (חֹלֵם אוֹ, ’o kholem) was not so much one of office – for both received revelation by dreams (cf. Num 12:6) – as it was of function or emphasis. The prophet was more a proclaimer and interpreter of revelation whereas the one who foretold by dreams was a receiver of revelation. In later times the role of the one who foretold by dreams was abused and thus denigrated as compared to that of the prophet (cf. Jer 23:28).
[13:1] 884 tn The expression אוֹת אוֹ מוֹפֵת (’ot ’o mofet) became a formulaic way of speaking of ways of authenticating prophetic messages or other works of God (cf. Deut 28:46; Isa 20:3). The NT equivalent is the Greek term σημεῖον (shmeion), a sign performed (used frequently in the Gospel of John, cf. 2:11, 18; 20:30-31). They could, however, be counterfeited or (as here) permitted to false prophets by the
[13:3] 886 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:3] 887 tn Heb “the
[13:3] 888 tn Heb “all your heart and soul” (so NRSV, CEV, NLT); or “heart and being” (NCV “your whole being”). See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[13:5] 889 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:5] 890 tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
[13:6] 892 tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.
[13:6] 893 tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”
[13:6] 894 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).
[13:6] 895 tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).
[13:7] 895 tn Or “land” (so NIV, NCV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “land” or “earth.”
[13:9] 898 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).
[13:9] 899 tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.
[13:10] 901 sn Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).
[13:11] 904 sn Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
[13:13] 907 tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”
[13:13] 908 tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”
[13:13] 909 tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.
[13:14] 910 tc Theodotian adds “in Israel,” perhaps to broaden the matter beyond the local village.
[13:15] 913 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “by all means.” Cf. KJV, NASB “surely”; NIV “certainly.”
[13:15] 914 tn Or “put under divine judgment. The Hebrew word (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to placing persons or things under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction.Though primarily applied against the heathen, this severe judgment could also fall upon unrepentant Israelites (cf. the story of Achan in Josh 7). See also the note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[13:16] 917 tn Heb “mound”; NAB “a heap of ruins.” The Hebrew word תֵּל (tel) refers to this day to a ruin represented especially by a built-up mound of dirt or debris (cf. Tel Aviv, “mound of grain”).
[13:17] 919 tn Or “anything that has been put under the divine curse”; Heb “anything of the ban” (cf. NASB). See note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[13:18] 922 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[13:18] 923 tc The LXX and Smr add “and good” to bring the phrase in line with a familiar cliché (cf. Deut 6:18; Josh 9:25; 2 Kgs 10:3; 2 Chr 14:1; etc.). This is an unnecessary and improper attempt to force a text into a preconceived mold.
[13:18] 924 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[14:1] 925 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”
[14:1] 926 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] 929 tn Heb “The
[14:2] 930 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] 931 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the
[14:5] 934 tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (’ayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ’ayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”
[14:5] 935 tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (tsÿvi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).
[14:5] 936 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] 937 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] 938 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] 939 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] 937 tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:7] 940 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] 943 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] 946 tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”
[14:12] 947 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] 948 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] 949 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] 952 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] 953 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] 954 tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).
[14:16] 955 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] 958 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] 961 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] 964 tn Heb “gates” (also in vv. 27, 28, 29).
[14:21] 965 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] 967 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “be certain.”
[14:23] 970 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] 973 tn Heb “the
[14:24] 974 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] 976 tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”
[15:1] 979 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] 982 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
[15:2] 983 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] 985 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:4] 988 tc After the phrase “the
[15:4] 989 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] 990 tn Heb “the
[15:4] 991 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
[15:5] 991 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] 992 tn Heb “the
[15:5] 993 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
[15:5] 994 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
[15:7] 994 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] 996 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
[15:7] 997 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
[15:8] 997 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] 998 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:9] 1000 tn Heb “your eye.”
[15:9] 1001 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
[15:9] 1002 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
[15:9] 1003 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
[15:10] 1003 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
[15:10] 1004 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] 1006 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
[15:11] 1007 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:12] 1009 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] 1010 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
[15:12] 1011 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
[15:12] 1012 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
[15:14] 1012 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
[15:16] 1015 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 1016 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
[15:17] 1018 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] 1021 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] 1024 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the
[15:20] 1027 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
[15:21] 1030 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
[15:22] 1033 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[15:22] 1034 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] 1036 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
[16:1] 1037 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:1] 1038 tn Heb “the
[16:2] 1039 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[16:2] 1040 tn Heb “the
[16:4] 1042 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
[16:4] 1043 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:6] 1048 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:6] 1049 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] 1050 tn Heb “the
[16:7] 1051 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] 1054 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] 1057 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:10] 1060 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] 1061 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
[16:10] 1062 tn Heb “the
[16:11] 1063 tn Heb “the
[16:13] 1066 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] 1067 tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
[16:14] 1069 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[16:15] 1072 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 1073 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 1074 tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”
[16:16] 1075 tn Heb “the
[16:17] 1078 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] 1081 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] 1083 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
[16:19] 1084 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
[16:19] 1085 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
[16:20] 1087 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
[16:21] 1090 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
[16:22] 1093 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] 1096 tn Heb “to the
[17:1] 1097 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] 1100 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
[17:3] 1102 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] 1103 tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:4] 1105 tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.
[17:5] 1109 tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”
[17:7] 1111 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] 1112 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
[17:8] 1114 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
[17:8] 1115 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
[17:8] 1116 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
[17:8] 1118 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] 1117 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
[17:15] 1120 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
[17:15] 1121 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] 1122 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
[17:16] 1123 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] 1126 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
[17:18] 1129 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] 1130 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] 1132 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] 1135 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] 1136 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[18:2] 1138 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
[18:2] 1139 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
[18:3] 1141 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
[18:4] 1144 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
[18:5] 1147 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the
[18:5] 1148 tn Heb “the name of the
[18:6] 1150 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
[18:6] 1151 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
[18:8] 1153 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] 1156 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] 1157 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] 1158 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] 1159 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] 1160 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] 1159 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] 1160 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] 1161 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] 1162 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] 1162 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] 1163 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.
[18:15] 1165 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] 1168 tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”
[18:19] 1171 tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”
[18:19] 1172 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:20] 1174 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[18:21] 1177 tn Heb “in your heart.”
[18:21] 1178 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] 1180 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 1181 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
[18:22] 1182 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
[18:22] 1183 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 1184 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
[19:1] 1183 tn Heb “the
[19:2] 1186 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
[19:4] 1192 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
[19:4] 1193 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
[19:4] 1194 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] 1195 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
[19:5] 1196 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
[19:5] 1197 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
[19:5] 1199 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:5] 1200 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:5] 1201 tn Heb “and live.”
[19:6] 1198 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
[19:6] 1199 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
[19:6] 1200 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
[19:8] 1202 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
[19:9] 1204 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] 1205 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
[19:9] 1206 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] 1207 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] 1208 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
[19:11] 1210 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:11] 1211 tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”
[19:12] 1213 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] 1216 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] 1219 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
[19:14] 1220 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
[19:14] 1221 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
[19:15] 1222 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
[19:15] 1223 tn Heb “may stand.”
[19:16] 1225 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] 1226 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 1228 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 1231 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 1234 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] 1237 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] 1240 tn Heb “horse and chariot.”
[20:2] 1243 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] 1244 tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”
[20:4] 1246 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
[20:5] 1249 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
[20:5] 1250 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
[20:5] 1251 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] 1252 tn Heb “another man.”
[20:7] 1252 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
[20:8] 1255 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
[20:9] 1258 tn The Hebrew text includes “to the people,” but this phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 1259 tn Heb “princes of hosts.”
[20:11] 1261 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
[20:11] 1262 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] 1264 tn Heb “to your hands.”
[20:16] 1267 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
[20:16] 1268 tn Heb “any breath.”
[20:17] 1270 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] 1271 sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[20:17] 1272 sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[20:17] 1273 sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[20:17] 1274 sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[20:17] 1275 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] 1276 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] 1273 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
[20:19] 1276 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
[20:19] 1277 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
[20:19] 1278 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] 1279 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
[20:20] 1279 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
[20:20] 1280 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] 1282 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] 1283 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:1] 1284 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
[21:2] 1285 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
[21:3] 1288 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:4] 1291 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] 1292 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.
[21:5] 1294 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
[21:5] 1295 tn Heb “in the name of the
[21:5] 1296 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
[21:5] 1297 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
[21:6] 1297 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:6] 1298 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
[21:7] 1300 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] 1301 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:8] 1303 tn Heb “Atone for.”
[21:8] 1304 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
[21:9] 1306 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
[21:10] 1309 tn Heb “gives him into your hands.”
[21:11] 1312 tn Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:12] 1315 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] 1318 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
[21:13] 1319 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
[21:13] 1320 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
[21:14] 1321 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] 1322 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
[21:14] 1323 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:14] 1324 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
[21:14] 1325 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] 1324 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] 1325 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] 1327 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
[21:16] 1328 tn Heb “the hated.”
[21:17] 1330 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
[21:17] 1331 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] 1332 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] 1333 tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”
[21:20] 1336 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] 1339 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] 1340 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] 1345 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
[21:23] 1346 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] 1347 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] 1348 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
[22:1] 1349 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] 1350 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
[22:1] 1351 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
[22:2] 1351 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
[22:2] 1352 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
[22:2] 1353 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
[22:2] 1354 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:3] 1354 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
[22:3] 1355 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
[22:4] 1357 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
[22:4] 1358 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
[22:4] 1359 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
[22:4] 1360 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] 1360 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
[22:5] 1361 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] 1363 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
[22:6] 1364 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
[22:7] 1366 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
[22:8] 1369 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
[22:8] 1370 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
[22:9] 1372 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] 1375 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] 1378 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] 1381 tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.
[22:13] 1382 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] 1384 tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”
[22:14] 1385 tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”
[22:14] 1386 tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.
[22:15] 1387 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] 1390 tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[22:17] 1393 tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”
[22:18] 1396 tn Heb “discipline.”
[22:19] 1399 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] 1400 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
[22:21] 1402 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] 1403 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.
[22:22] 1405 tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.
[22:22] 1406 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
[22:22] 1407 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:23] 1409 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:24] 1411 tn Heb “humbled.”
[22:24] 1413 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:25] 1414 tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.
[22:25] 1415 tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.
[22:25] 1416 tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”
[22:26] 1417 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[22:27] 1420 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:28] 1423 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:30] 1426 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] 1427 tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
[22:30] 1428 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] 1429 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] 1429 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] 1430 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] 1431 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] 1432 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
[23:2] 1433 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:3] 1435 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] 1436 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] 1437 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:4] 1438 tn Heb “hired against you.”
[23:5] 1441 tn Heb “the
[23:5] 1442 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] 1445 tn Heb “sojourner.”
[23:8] 1447 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] 1450 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] 1453 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] 1456 tn Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 1459 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 1460 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] 1461 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
[23:14] 1462 tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”
[23:14] 1463 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] 1465 tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.
[23:17] 1471 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] 1472 tn Heb “daughters.”
[23:17] 1473 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] 1474 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] 1475 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] 1477 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] 1480 tn Heb “the
[23:21] 1481 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”
[23:21] 1482 tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”
[23:24] 1483 tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”
[23:24] 1484 tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”
[23:25] 1486 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] 1489 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] 1492 tn Heb “his house.”
[24:3] 1495 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[24:3] 1496 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
[24:4] 1498 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
[24:4] 1499 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] 1500 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
[24:5] 1501 tn Heb “go out with.”
[24:5] 1502 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
[24:6] 1504 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] 1507 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] 1508 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
[24:7] 1509 tn Heb “that thief.”
[24:7] 1510 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
[24:8] 1510 tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
[24:9] 1513 sn What the
[24:10] 1516 tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
[24:11] 1519 tn Heb “his pledge.”
[24:12] 1522 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] 1525 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
[24:13] 1526 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
[24:14] 1528 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”
[24:14] 1529 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 1531 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
[24:19] 1534 tn Heb “in the field.”
[24:19] 1535 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] 1537 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
[24:21] 1540 tn Heb “glean after you.”
[25:1] 1544 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:1] 1545 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
[25:1] 1546 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
[25:2] 1546 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[25:2] 1547 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
[25:2] 1548 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
[25:3] 1549 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:3] 1550 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] 1551 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
[25:4] 1552 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
[25:5] 1555 tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
[25:5] 1556 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] 1558 tn Heb “and it will be that.”
[25:6] 1559 tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.
[25:7] 1561 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] 1564 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] 1565 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] 1567 tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.”
[25:10] 1569 tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.”
[25:11] 1570 tn Heb “a man and his brother.”
[25:11] 1571 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] 1573 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] 1574 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] 1576 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] 1579 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
[25:16] 1582 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] 1585 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] 1588 sn See Exod 17:8-16.
[25:19] 1591 tn Heb “ the
[25:19] 1592 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”
[25:19] 1593 tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[25:19] 1594 sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.
[26:1] 1594 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
[26:2] 1597 tn Heb “the
[26:2] 1598 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] 1600 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
[26:3] 1601 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
[26:3] 1602 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[26:3] 1603 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
[26:4] 1603 tn Heb “your hand.”
[26:5] 1606 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] 1607 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] 1609 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] 1609 tn Heb “the
[26:8] 1612 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] 1615 tn Heb “the
[26:11] 1618 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
[26:12] 1621 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[26:12] 1622 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
[26:13] 1624 tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the
[26:13] 1625 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:14] 1627 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] 1628 tn Heb “the
[26:16] 1630 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
[26:19] 1633 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] 1634 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
[26:19] 1635 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
[27:1] 1636 tn Heb “the whole commandment.” See note at 5:31.
[27:1] 1637 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 10).
[27:2] 1639 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 1640 tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.
[27:4] 1645 tc Smr reads “Mount Gerizim” for the MT reading “Mount Ebal” to justify the location of the Samaritan temple there in the postexilic period. This reading is patently self-serving and does not reflect the original. In the NT when the Samaritan woman of Sychar referred to “this mountain” as the place of worship for her community she obviously had Gerizim in mind (cf. John 4:20).
[27:10] 1648 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the
[27:12] 1651 tn The word “tribes” has been supplied here and in the following verse in the translation for clarity.
[27:14] 1654 tn Heb “Israelite man.”
[27:15] 1657 tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.
[27:15] 1658 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.
[27:15] 1659 tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”
[27:15] 1660 tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.
[27:16] 1660 tn The Levites speak again at this point; throughout this pericope the Levites pronounce the curse and the people respond with “Amen.”
[27:16] 1661 tn The Hebrew term קָלָה (qalah) means to treat with disdain or lack of due respect (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “dishonors”; NLT “despises”). It is the opposite of כָּבֵד (kaved, “to be heavy,” that is, to treat with reverence and proper deference). To treat a parent lightly is to dishonor him or her and thus violate the fifth commandment (Deut 5:16; cf. Exod 21:17).
[27:20] 1663 tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).
[27:20] 1664 tn See note at Deut 22:30.
[27:20] 1665 tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.
[27:21] 1666 tn Heb “lies with any animal” (so NASB, NRSV). “To lie with” is a Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations with someone (or in this case, some animal).
