Ulangan 4:25-26

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ¹  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ²  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ³  4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ⁴  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ⁵  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ⁶  annihilated.

Ulangan 15:6

15:6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you.

Ulangan 20:14

20:14 However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything else in the city – all its plunder – you may take for yourselves as spoil. You may take from your enemies the plunder that the Lord your God has given you.

Ulangan 21:13

21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, ⁷  and stay ⁸  in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations ⁹  with her and become her husband and she your wife.

Ulangan 30:2

30:2 Then if you and your descendants ¹⁰  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ¹¹  just as ¹²  I am commanding you today,

Ulangan 31:13

31:13 Then their children, who have not known this law, ¹³  will also hear about and learn to fear the Lord your God for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

[4:25]  ¹ tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.

[4:25]  ² tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”

[4:25]  ³ tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.

[4:26]  ⁴ sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

[4:26]  ⁵ tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

[4:26]  ⁶ tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.

[21:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”

[21:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”

[21:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.

[30:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ¹² tn Heb “according to all.”

[31:13]  ¹³ tn The phrase “this law” is not in the Hebrew text, but English style requires an object for the verb here. Other translations also supply the object which is otherwise implicit (cf. NIV “who do not know this law”; TEV “who have never heard the Law of the Lord your God”).