Numbers 20:17

20:17 Please let us pass through ¹  your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; ²  we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” ³ 

Deuteronomy 5:32

5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left!

Deuteronomy 28:14

28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving ⁴  you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship ⁵  them.

Joshua 1:7

1:7 Make sure you are ⁶  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ⁷  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ⁸  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ⁹  in all you do. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 4:27

4:27 Do not turn ¹¹  to the right or to the left;

turn yourself ¹²  away from evil. ¹³ 

[20:17]  ¹ tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.

[20:17]  ² sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).

[20:17]  ³ tn Heb “borders.”

[28:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”

[28:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “in order to serve.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[4:27]  ¹¹ sn The two verbs in this verse are from different roots, but nonetheless share the same semantic domain. The first verb is תֵּט (tet), a jussive from נָטָה (natah), which means “to turn aside” (Hiphil); the second verb is the Hiphil imperative of סוּר (sur), which means “to cause to turn to the side” (Hiphil). The disciple is not to leave the path of righteousness; but to stay on the path he must leave evil.

[4:27]  ¹² tn Heb “your foot” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”) is a synecdoche of part (= foot) for the whole person (= “yourself”).

[4:27]  ¹³ tc The LXX adds, “For the way of the right hand God knows, but those of the left hand are distorted; and he himself will make straight your paths and guide your goings in peace.” The ideas presented here are not out of harmony with Proverbs, but the section clearly shows an expansion by the translator. For a brief discussion of whether this addition is Jewish or early Christian, see C. H. Toy, Proverbs (ICC), 99.