Discovery BoxLeviticus 26:14-46
Context26:14 “‘If, however, 1 you do not obey me and keep 2 all these commandments – 26:15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep 3 all my commandments and you break my covenant – 26:16 I for my part 4 will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. 5 You will sow your seed in vain because 6 your enemies will eat it. 7 26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
26:18 “‘If, in spite of all these things, 8 you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins. 9 26:19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 26:20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land 10 will not produce their fruit.
26:21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me 11 and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction 12 seven times according to your sins. 26:22 I will send the wild animals 13 against you and they will bereave you of your children, 14 annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population 15 so that your roads will become deserted.
26:23 “‘If in spite of these things 16 you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me, 17 26:24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you 18 seven times on account of your sins. 26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. 19 Although 20 you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. 21 26:26 When I break off your supply of bread, 22 ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, 23 and you will eat and not be satisfied.
26:27 “‘If in spite of this 24 you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me, 25 26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you 26 and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 27 26:30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, 28 and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. 29 I will abhor you. 30 26:31 I will lay your cities waste 31 and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 26:32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword 32 after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.
26:34 “‘Then the land will make up for 33 its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths. 26:35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have 34 on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.
26:36 “‘As for 35 the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer. 26:37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though 36 there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand 37 for you before your enemies. 26:38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.
26:39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of 38 their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ 39 iniquities which are with them. 26:40 However, when 40 they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, 41 by which they also walked 42 in hostility against me 43 26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and 44 then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for 45 their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, 46 and I will remember the land. 26:43 The land will be abandoned by them 47 in order that it may make up for 48 its Sabbaths while it is made desolate 49 without them, 50 and they will make up for their iniquity because 51 they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred 52 my statutes. 26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors 53 whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”
26:46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the Lord established 54 between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai through 55 Moses.
Deuteronomy 27:15-26
Context27:15 ‘Cursed is the one 56 who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent 57 to the Lord, the work of the craftsman 58 – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 59 27:16 ‘Cursed 60 is the one who disrespects 61 his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:18 ‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with 62 his father’s former wife, 63 for he dishonors his father.’ 64 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:21 ‘Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.’ 65 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:22 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:23 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:24 ‘Cursed is the one who kills 66 his neighbor in private.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
Deuteronomy 28:15-68
Context28:15 “But if you ignore 67 the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 68 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children 69 will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 70
28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you 71 in everything you undertake 72 until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. 73 28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases 74 until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He 75 will afflict you with weakness, 76 fever, inflammation, infection, 77 sword, 78 blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 28:23 The 79 sky 80 above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror 81 to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. 82 28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; 83 you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape 84 her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. 85 28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this. 28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The Lord will force you and your king 86 whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.
28:38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. 87 28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts 88 will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 28:43 The foreigners 89 who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail!
28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given 90 you. 28:46 These curses 91 will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. 92
28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty 93 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They 94 will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth 95 as the eagle flies, 96 a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 28:51 They 97 will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, 98 or lambs of your flocks 99 until they have destroyed you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages 100 until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, 101 the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege 102 by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict 103 you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most 104 tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, 105 will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth 106 and her newborn children 107 (since she has nothing else), 108 because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.
28:58 “If you refuse to obey 109 all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt 110 that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. 111 28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, 112 until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, 113 because you will have disobeyed 114 the Lord your God. 28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he 115 will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. 116 28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 28:68 Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Deuteronomy 29:20-29
Context29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger 117 will rage 118 against that man; all the curses 119 written in this scroll will fall upon him 120 and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. 121 29:21 The Lord will single him out 122 for judgment 123 from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see 124 the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. 125 29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger 126 all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. 127 29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses 128 written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.” 29:29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants 129 forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 30:17-19
Context30:17 However, if you 130 turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 30:18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly 131 perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 132 30:19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!
Deuteronomy 31:17-18
Context31:17 At that time 133 my anger will erupt against them 134 and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome 135 them 136 so that they 137 will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters 138 overcome us 139 because our 140 God is not among us 141 ?’ 31:18 But I will certainly 142 hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they 143 will have done by turning to other gods.
Deuteronomy 32:19-42
Context32:19 But the Lord took note and despised them
because his sons and daughters enraged him.
32:20 He said, “I will reject them, 144
I will see what will happen to them;
for they are a perverse generation,
children 145 who show no loyalty.
32:21 They have made me jealous 146 with false gods, 147
enraging me with their worthless gods; 148
so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, 149
with a nation slow to learn 150 I will enrage them.
32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,
and it burns to lowest Sheol; 151
it consumes the earth and its produce,
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
32:23 I will increase their 152 disasters,
I will use up my arrows on them.
32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 153
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroy 154 both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. 155
I want to make people forget they ever existed.
32:27 But I fear the reaction 156 of their enemies,
for 157 their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great, 158
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,
and there is no understanding among them.
32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,
and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”
32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 159
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 160
and the Lord had handed them over?
32:31 For our enemies’ 161 rock is not like our Rock,
as even our enemies concede.
32:32 For their vine is from the stock 162 of Sodom,
and from the fields of Gomorrah. 163
Their grapes contain venom,
their clusters of grapes are bitter.
32:33 Their wine is snakes’ poison,
the deadly venom of cobras.
32:34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, 164
“Is it not sealed up in my storehouses?
32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back
at the time their foot slips;
for the day of their disaster is near,
and the impending judgment 165 is rushing upon them!”
32:36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerning 166 his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
32:37 He will say, “Where are their gods,
the rock in whom they sought security,
32:38 who ate the best of their sacrifices,
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise and help you;
let them be your refuge!
32:39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord, 167
“and there is no other god besides me.
I kill and give life,
I smash and I heal,
and none can resist 168 my power.
32:40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,
32:41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,
and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; 169
I will execute vengeance on my foes,
and repay those who hate me! 170
32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh –
the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
the chief 171 of the enemy’s leaders!’”
[26:14] 2 tn Heb “and do not do.”
[26:16] 4 tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).
[26:16] 5 tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.
[26:16] 6 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.
[26:16] 7 tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.
[26:18] 8 tn Heb “And if until these.”
[26:18] 9 tn Heb “I will add to discipline you seven [times] on your sins.”
[26:20] 10 tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. Tg. Onq., some medieval Hebrew
[26:21] 11 tn Heb “hostile with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in v. 24 and 27.
[26:21] 12 tn Heb “your blow, stroke”; cf. TEV “punishment”; NLT “I will inflict you with seven more disasters.”
[26:22] 13 tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.
[26:22] 14 tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[26:22] 15 tn Heb “and diminish you.”
[26:23] 16 tn Heb “And if in these.”
[26:23] 17 tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.
[26:24] 18 tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”
[26:25] 19 tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”
[26:25] 20 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.
[26:25] 21 tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).
[26:26] 22 tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).
[26:26] 23 tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”
[26:27] 24 tn Heb “And if in this.”
[26:28] 26 tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”
[26:29] 27 tn Heb “and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” The phrase “you will eat” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:30] 28 sn Regarding these cultic installations, see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 188, and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:903. The term rendered “incense altars” might better be rendered “sanctuaries [of foreign deities]” or “stelae.”
[26:30] 29 tn The translation reflects the Hebrew wordplay “your corpses…the corpses of your idols.” Since idols, being lifeless, do not really have “corpses,” the translation uses “dead bodies” for people and “lifeless bodies” for the idols.
[26:30] 30 tn Heb “and my soul will abhor you.”
[26:31] 31 tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”
[26:33] 32 tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).
[26:34] 33 tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).
[26:35] 34 tn Heb “it shall rest which it did not rest.”
[26:37] 36 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is used in a concessive sense here.
[26:37] 37 tn The term rendered “to stand up” is a noun, not an infinitive. It occurs only here and appears to designate someone who would take a powerful stand for them against their enemies.
[26:39] 38 tn Heb “in” (so KJV, ASV; also later in this verse).
[26:39] 39 tn Heb “fathers’” (also in the following verse).
[26:40] 40 tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.
[26:40] 41 tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”
[26:40] 42 tn Heb “and also which they walked.”
[26:41] 44 tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”
[26:41] 45 tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.
[26:42] 46 tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:43] 47 tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).
[26:43] 48 tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.
[26:43] 49 tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).
[26:43] 50 tn Heb “from them.”
[26:43] 51 tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).
[26:43] 52 tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”
[26:45] 53 tn Heb “covenant of former ones.”
[26:46] 54 tn Heb “gave” (so NLT); KJV, ASV, NCV “made.”
[26:46] 55 tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).
[27:15] 56 tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.
[27:15] 57 tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
[27:15] 58 tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”
[27:15] 59 tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.
[27:16] 60 tn The Levites speak again at this point; throughout this pericope the Levites pronounce the curse and the people respond with “Amen.”
[27:16] 61 tn The Hebrew term קָלָה (qalah) means to treat with disdain or lack of due respect (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “dishonors”; NLT “despises”). It is the opposite of כָּבֵד (kaved, “to be heavy,” that is, to treat with reverence and proper deference). To treat a parent lightly is to dishonor him or her and thus violate the fifth commandment (Deut 5:16; cf. Exod 21:17).
[27:20] 62 tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).
[27:20] 63 tn See note at Deut 22:30.
[27:20] 64 tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.
[27:21] 65 tn Heb “lies with any animal” (so NASB, NRSV). “To lie with” is a Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations with someone (or in this case, some animal).
[27:24] 66 tn Or “strikes down” (so NRSV).
[28:15] 67 tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”
[28:15] 68 tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”
[28:18] 69 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[28:19] 70 sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.
[28:20] 71 tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”
[28:20] 72 tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”
[28:20] 73 tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.
[28:21] 74 tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”
[28:22] 75 tn Heb “The
[28:22] 76 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
[28:22] 77 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
[28:22] 78 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[28:23] 79 tc The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”
[28:23] 80 tn Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[28:25] 81 tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).
[28:28] 82 tn Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).
[28:29] 83 tn Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”
[28:30] 84 tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.
[28:32] 85 tn Heb “and there will be no power in your hand”; NCV “there will be nothing you can do.”
[28:36] 86 tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
[28:40] 87 tn Heb “your olives will drop off” (נָשַׁל, nashal), referring to the olives dropping off before they ripen.
[28:42] 88 tn The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).
[28:43] 89 tn Heb “the foreigner.” This is a collective singular and has therefore been translated as plural; this includes the pronouns in the following verse, which are also singular in the Hebrew text.
[28:45] 90 tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”
[28:46] 91 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:46] 92 tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
[28:48] 93 tn Heb “lack of everything.”
[28:48] 94 tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the
[28:49] 95 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
[28:49] 96 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
[28:51] 97 tn Heb “it” (so NRSV), a collective singular referring to the invading nation (several times in this verse and v. 52).
[28:51] 98 tn Heb “increase of herds.”
[28:51] 99 tn Heb “growth of flocks.”
[28:52] 100 tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.
[28:53] 101 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”
[28:53] 102 tn Heb “siege and stress.”
[28:55] 103 tn Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”
[28:56] 104 tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.
[28:56] 105 tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”
[28:57] 106 tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”
[28:57] 107 tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”
[28:57] 108 tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”
[28:58] 109 tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”
[28:60] 110 sn These are the plagues the
[28:60] 111 tn Heb “will cling to you” (so NIV); NLT “will claim you.”
[28:61] 112 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”
[28:62] 113 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[28:62] 114 tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”
[28:63] 115 tn Heb “the
[28:66] 116 tn Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.
[29:20] 117 tn Heb “the wrath of the
[29:20] 118 tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”
[29:20] 119 tn Heb “the entire oath.”
[29:20] 120 tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”
[29:20] 121 tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”
[29:21] 122 tn Heb “set him apart.”
[29:21] 123 tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”
[29:22] 124 tn Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.
[29:23] 125 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.
[29:24] 126 tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”
[29:26] 127 tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”
[29:27] 128 tn Heb “the entire curse.”
[29:29] 129 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV “children.”
[30:17] 130 tn Heb “your heart,” as a metonymy for the person.
[30:18] 131 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
[30:18] 132 tn Heb “to go there to possess it.”
[31:17] 133 tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.
[31:17] 134 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 135 tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”
[31:17] 136 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 137 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 139 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
[31:17] 141 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
[31:18] 142 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
[31:18] 143 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[32:20] 144 tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”
[32:20] 145 tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”
[32:21] 146 sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.
[32:21] 147 tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”
[32:21] 148 tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).
[32:21] 149 tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).
[32:21] 150 tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”
[32:22] 151 tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”
[32:23] 152 tn Heb “upon them.”
[32:24] 153 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
[32:25] 154 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
[32:26] 155 tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).
[32:27] 158 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”
[32:30] 159 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[32:30] 160 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[32:31] 161 tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[32:32] 163 sn Sodom…Gomorrah. The term “vine” is a reference to the pagan deities which, the passage says, find their ultimate source in Sodom and Gomorrah, that is, in the soil of perversion exemplified by these places (cf. Gen 18:20; 19:4-28; Isa 1:10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Ezek 16:44-52; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24).
[32:34] 164 tn Verses 34-35 appear to be a quotation of the
[32:35] 165 tn Heb “prepared things,” “impending things.” See BDB 800 s.v. עָתִיד.
[32:36] 166 tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.
[32:39] 167 tn Verses 39-42 appear to be a quotation of the
[32:39] 168 tn Heb “deliver from” (so NRSV, NLT).
[32:41] 169 tn Heb “judgment.” This is a metonymy, a figure of speech in which the effect (judgment) is employed as an instrument (sword, spear, or the like), the means, by which it is brought about.
[32:41] 170 tn The Hebrew term שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) in this covenant context speaks of those who reject Yahweh’s covenant overtures, that is, who disobey its stipulations (see note on the word “rejecting” in Deut 5:9; also see Deut 7:10; 2 Chr 19:2; Ps 81:15; 139:20-21).
[32:42] 171 tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).
