Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:15-31
Context4:15 Be very careful, 1 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 2 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 3 on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. 4 4:19 When you look up 5 to the sky 6 and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation 7 – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, 8 for the Lord your God has assigned 9 them to all the people 10 of the world. 11 4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, 12 to be his special people 13 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 14 is about to give you. 15 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 16 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 17 has forbidden 18 you. 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. 19
4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, 20 if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind 21 and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, 22 4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you 23 today that you will surely and swiftly be removed 24 from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be 25 annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you 26 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. 27 4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, 28 if you return to the Lord your God and obey him 29 4:31 (for he 30 is a merciful God), he will not let you down 31 or destroy you, for he cannot 32 forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.
[4:15] 1 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
[4:16] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “creeping thing.”
[4:18] 4 tn Heb “under the earth.”
[4:19] 5 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] 6 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[4:19] 7 tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”
[4:19] 8 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] 11 tn Heb “under all the heaven.”
[4:20] 12 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] 13 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] 14 tn Heb “the
[4:21] 15 tn The Hebrew text includes “(as) an inheritance,” or “(as) a possession.”
[4:22] 16 tn Heb “this.” The translation uses “that” to avoid confusion; earlier in the verse Moses refers to Transjordan as “this land.”
[4:23] 17 tn Heb “the
[4:24] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.
[4:25] 21 tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”
[4:25] 22 tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.
[4:26] 23 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] 24 tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”
[4:26] 25 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] 26 tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”
[4:29] 27 tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.
[4:30] 28 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] 29 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] 30 tn Heb “the
[4:31] 31 tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[4:31] 32 tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.
