Deuteronomy 9:10

9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger ¹  of God, and on them was everything ²  he ³  said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly.

Deuteronomy 10:4

10:4 The Lord ⁴  then wrote on the tablets the same words, ⁵  the ten commandments, ⁶  which he ⁷  had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he ⁸  gave them to me.

Deuteronomy 18:16

18:16 This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: “Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our ⁹  God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die.”

Deuteronomy 21:16

21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance ¹⁰  he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other ¹¹  wife’s son who is actually the firstborn.

Deuteronomy 21:23

21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury ¹²  him that same day, for the one who is left exposed ¹³  on a tree is cursed by God. ¹⁴  You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 27:2

27:2 When you cross the Jordan River ¹⁵  to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover ¹⁶  them with plaster.

[9:10]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “according to all the words.”

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

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

[10:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.

[10:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[10:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” earlier in this verse.

[18:16]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”

[21:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”

[21:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the hated.”

[21:23]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”

[21:23]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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).

[27:2]  ¹⁶ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.