Deuteronomy 9:6

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 ¹  people!

Deuteronomy 10:9

10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance ²  among his brothers; ³  the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him.

Deuteronomy 10:17

10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

Deuteronomy 15:12

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ⁴  – whether male or female ⁵  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ⁶  go free. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 15:16

15:16 However, if the servant ⁸  says to you, “I do not want to leave ⁹  you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,

Deuteronomy 18:14

18:14 Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things.

Deuteronomy 22:15

22:15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity ¹⁰  for the elders of the city at the gate.

Deuteronomy 25:3

25:3 The judge ¹¹  may sentence him to forty blows, ¹²  but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite ¹³  with contempt.

[9:6]  ¹ tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

[10:9]  ² 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]  ³ tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.

[15:12]  ³ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[15:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.

[22:15]  ⁵ sn In light of v. 17 this would evidently be blood-stained sheets indicative of the first instance of intercourse. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 302-3.

[25:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.

[25:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”