Deuteronomy 5:7

5:7 You must not have any other gods ¹  besides me. ² 

Deuteronomy 6:8

6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm ³  and fasten them as symbols ⁴  on your forehead.

Deuteronomy 12:16

12:16 However, you must not eat blood – pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 18:8

18:8 He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family’s inheritance. ⁵ 

[5:7]  ¹ tn Heb “there must not be for you other gods.” The expression “for you” indicates possession.

[5:7]  ² 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 Lord in the sense of taking his place. Contrary to the view of some, this does not leave the door open for a henotheistic system where the Lord is the primary god among others. In its literary context the statement must be taken in a monotheistic sense. See, e.g., 4:39; 6:13-15.

[6:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[18:8]  ⁵ 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”).