Deuteronomy 9:1--10:11

Theological Justification of the Conquest

9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. ¹  9:2 They include the Anakites, ²  a numerous ³  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?” 9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he ⁴  has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, ⁵  that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he ⁶  made on oath to your ancestors, ⁷  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 9:6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn ⁸  people!

The History of Israel’s Stubbornness

9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget ⁹  – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. ¹⁰  9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there ¹¹  forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger ¹²  of God, and on them was everything ¹³  he ¹⁴  said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 9:12 And he said to me, “Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.” ¹⁵  9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn ¹⁶  lot! 9:14 Stand aside ¹⁷  and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, ¹⁸  and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”

9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it ¹⁹  was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 9:16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; ²⁰  you had quickly turned aside from the way he ²¹  had commanded you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, ²²  and shattered them before your very eyes. 9:18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. 9:19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger ²³  that threatened to destroy you. But he ²⁴  listened to me this time as well. 9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him ²⁵  too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing ²⁶  that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ²⁷  ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, ²⁸  Massah, ²⁹  and Kibroth-Hattaavah. ³⁰  9:23 And when he ³¹  sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God ³²  and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebelling against him ³³  from the very first day I knew you!

Moses’ Plea on Behalf of the Lord’s Reputation

9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, ³⁴  for he ³⁵  had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him: ³⁶  O, Lord God, ³⁷  do not destroy your people, your valued property ³⁸  that you have powerfully redeemed, ³⁹  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ⁴⁰  9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land ⁴¹  from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” ⁴²  9:29 They are your people, your valued property, ⁴³  whom you brought out with great strength and power. ⁴⁴ 

The Opportunity to Begin Again

10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. ⁴⁵  10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ⁴⁶  that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia ⁴⁷  wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 10:4 The Lord ⁴⁸  then wrote on the tablets the same words, ⁴⁹  the ten commandments, ⁵⁰  which he ⁵¹  had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he ⁵²  gave them to me. 10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.

Conclusion of the Historical Resume

10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan ⁵³  to Moserah. ⁵⁴  There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, ⁵⁵  and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, ⁵⁶  a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ⁵⁷  to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings ⁵⁸  in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance ⁵⁹  among his brothers; ⁶⁰  the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 10:11 Then he ⁶¹  said to me, “Get up, set out leading ⁶²  the people so they may go and possess ⁶³  the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” ⁶⁴ 

[9:1]  ¹ tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.

[9:2]  ² sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

[9:2]  ³ tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[9:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style to avoid redundancy.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the Lord’s favor. As he states in both vv. 4-5, the main reason he allowed Israel to take this land was the sinfulness of the Canaanites who lived there (cf. Gen 15:16).

[9:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

[9:7]  ⁹ tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.

[9:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise in the following verse with both “him” and “he”). See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:10]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to all the words.”

[9:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise at the beginning of vv. 12, 13). See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:12]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads מַסֵּכָה (massekhah, “a cast thing”) but some mss and Smr add עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”), “a molten calf” or the like (Exod 32:8). Perhaps Moses here omits reference to the calf out of contempt for it.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.

[9:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “leave me alone.”

[9:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from under heaven.”

[9:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[9:16]  ²⁰ tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.

[9:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:17]  ²² tn The Hebrew text includes “from upon my two hands,” but as this seems somewhat obvious and redundant, it has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[9:19]  ²³ tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” Although many English versions translate as two terms, this construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion (cf. NAB, TEV “fierce anger”).

[9:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[9:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).

[9:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “burned it with fire.”

[9:22]  ²⁸ sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the Lord’s fiery wrath against Israel because of their constant complaints against him (Num 11:1-3).

[9:22]  ²⁹ sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.

[9:22]  ³⁰ sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).

[9:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:23]  ³² tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.

[9:24]  ³³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:25]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.

[9:25]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

[9:26]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

[9:26]  ³⁹ tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

[9:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

[9:28]  ⁴¹ tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:28]  ⁴² tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[9:29]  ⁴³ tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.

[9:29]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”

[10:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.

[10:2]  ⁴⁶ sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the Lord’s commandments.

[10:3]  ⁴⁷ sn Acacia wood (Heb “shittim wood”). This is wood from the acacia, the most common timber tree of the Sinai region. Most likely it is the species Acacia raddiana because this has the largest trunk. See F. N. Hepper, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, 63.

[10:4]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.

[10:4]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”

[10:4]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[10:4]  ⁵² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” earlier in this verse.

[10:6]  ⁵³ sn Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan. This Hebrew name could be translated “the wells of Bene-Yaaqan” or “the wells of the sons of Yaaqan,” a site whose location cannot be determined (cf. Num 33:31-32; 1 Chr 1:42).

[10:6]  ⁵⁴ sn Moserah. Since Aaron in other texts (Num 20:28; 33:38) is said to have died on Mount Hor, this must be the Arabah region in which Hor was located.

[10:7]  ⁵⁵ sn Gudgodah. This is probably the same as Haggidgad, which is also associated with Jotbathah (Num 33:33).

[10:7]  ⁵⁶ sn Jotbathah. This place, whose Hebrew name can be translated “place of wadis,” is possibly modern Ain Tabah, just north of Eilat, or Tabah, 6.5 mi (11 km) south of Eilat on the west shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.

[10:8]  ⁵⁷ sn The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi. This was not the initial commissioning of the tribe of Levi to this ministry (cf. Num 3:11-13; 8:12-26), but with Aaron’s death it seemed appropriate to Moses to reiterate Levi’s responsibilities. There is no reference in the Book of Numbers to this having been done, but the account of Eleazar’s succession to the priesthood there (Num 20:25-28) would provide a setting for this to have occurred.

[10:8]  ⁵⁸ sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.

[10:9]  ⁵⁹ sn Levi has no allotment or inheritance. As the priestly tribe, Levi would have no land allotment except for forty-eight towns set apart for their use (Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-42). But theirs was a far greater inheritance, for the Lord himself was their apportionment, that is, service to him would be their full-time and lifelong privilege (Num 18:20-24; Deut 18:2; Josh 13:33).

[10:9]  ⁶⁰ tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.

[10:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”

[10:11]  ⁶³ tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.

[10:11]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).