Deuteronomy 9:5

9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, ¹  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 ²  made on oath to your ancestors, ³  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 15:9

15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ⁴  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ⁵  and you do not lend ⁶  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁷ 

[9:5]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[15:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”