Deuteronomy 4:28

4:28 There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

Deuteronomy 20:19

20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, ¹  you must not chop down its trees, ²  for you may eat fruit ³  from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 5:24

5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory ⁵  and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us ⁶  that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living.

Deuteronomy 32:26

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ⁷ 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

Deuteronomy 4:16

4:16 I say this ⁸  so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female,

Deuteronomy 5:26

5:26 Who is there from the entire human race ⁹  who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived?

Deuteronomy 32:8

32:8 When the Most High ¹⁰  gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided up humankind, ¹¹ 

he set the boundaries of the peoples,

according to the number of the heavenly assembly. ¹² 

Deuteronomy 1:17

1:17 They ¹³  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ¹⁴  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.

Deuteronomy 4:32

The Uniqueness of Israel’s God

4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ¹⁵  on the earth, and ask ¹⁶  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.

[20:19]  ¹ tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”

[20:19]  ² tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).

[20:19]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”

[5:24]  ¹ tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”

[5:24]  ² tn Heb “this day we have seen.”

[32:26]  ¹ tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

[4:16]  ¹ 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.

[5:26]  ¹ tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”

[32:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term עֶליוֹן (’elyon) is an abbreviated form of the divine name El Elyon, frequently translated “God Most High” (so here NCV, CEV) or something similar. This full name (or epithet) occurs only in Gen 14, though the two elements are parallel in Ps 73:11; 107:11; etc. Here it is clear that Elyon has to do with the nations in general whereas in v. 9, by contrast, Yahweh relates specifically to Israel. See T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:400-401. The title depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world, who is enthroned high above his dominion.

[32:8]  ² tn Heb “the sons of man” (so NASB); or “the sons of Adam” (so KJV).

[32:8]  ³ tc Heb “the sons of Israel.” The idea, perhaps, is that Israel was central to Yahweh’s purposes and all other nations were arranged and distributed according to how they related to Israel. See S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy (ICC), 355-56. For the MT יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי (bÿney yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) a Qumran fragment has “sons of God,” while the LXX reads ἀγγέλων θεοῦ (angelwn qeou, “angels of God”), presupposing בְּנֵי אֵל (bÿney ’el) or בְּנֵי אֵלִים (beney ’elim). “Sons of God” is undoubtedly the original reading; the MT and LXX have each interpreted it differently. MT assumes that the expression “sons of God” refers to Israel (cf. Hos. 1:10), while LXX has assumed that the phrase refers to the angelic heavenly assembly (Pss 29:1; 89:6; cf. as well Ps 82). The phrase is also attested in Ugaritic, where it refers to the high god El’s divine assembly. According to the latter view, which is reflected in the translation, the Lord delegated jurisdiction over the nations to his angelic host (cf. Dan. 10:13-21), while reserving for himself Israel, over whom he rules directly. For a defense of the view taken here, see M. S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” BSac 158 (2001): 52-74.

[1:17]  ¹ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ² tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[4:32]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.