Deuteronomy 6:16-19

Exhortation to Obey the Lord Exclusively

6:16 You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. ¹  6:17 Keep his ²  commandments very carefully, ³  as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe. 6:18 Do whatever is proper ⁴  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 ⁵  promised your ancestors, 6:19 and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the Lord said.

[6:16]  ¹ 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 Lord, a wickedness that gave rise to the naming of the place (Exod 17:7; cf. Deut 9:22; 33:8).

[6:17]  ² tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[6:17]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “upright.”

[6:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.