Deuteronomy 4:32

The Uniqueness of Israel’s God

4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ¹  on the earth, and ask ²  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.

Deuteronomy 4:34

4:34 Or has God ³  ever before tried to deliver ⁴  a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, ⁵  signs, wonders, war, strength, power, ⁶  and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Deuteronomy 5:24

5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory ⁷  and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us ⁸  that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living.

Deuteronomy 8:19

8:19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all ⁹  and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated.

Deuteronomy 9:10

9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger ¹⁰  of God, and on them was everything ¹¹  he ¹²  said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly.

Deuteronomy 11:28

11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention ¹³  to his ¹⁴  commandments and turn from the way I am setting before ¹⁵  you today to pursue ¹⁶  other gods you have not known.

Deuteronomy 13:6

False Prophets in the Family

13:6 Suppose your own full brother, ¹⁷  your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods ¹⁸  that neither you nor your ancestors ¹⁹  have previously known, ²⁰ 

Deuteronomy 18:20

18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized ²¹  him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.

Deuteronomy 21:23

21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury ²²  him that same day, for the one who is left exposed ²³  on a tree is cursed by God. ²⁴  You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 28:36

28:36 The Lord will force you and your king ²⁵  whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there.

Deuteronomy 28:64

28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone.

Deuteronomy 31:20

31:20 For after I have brought them ²⁶  to the land I promised to their ²⁷  ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they ²⁸  eat their fill ²⁹  and become fat, then they ³⁰  will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant.

[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.

[4:34]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”

[4:34]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”

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

[5:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “this day we have seen.”

[8:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).

[9:10]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to all the words.”

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise at the beginning of vv. 12, 13). See note on “he” in 9:3.

[11:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.

[11:28]  ¹² tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[11:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).

[11:28]  ¹⁴ 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).

[13:6]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).

[13:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).

[18:20]  ¹⁵ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[21:23]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”

[21:23]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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).

[28:36]  ¹⁹ tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”

[31:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:20]  ²² tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:20]  ²³ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and are satisfied.”

[31:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.