Ulangan 4:44--26:19
Konteks4:44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 1 4:45 These are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites after he had brought them out of Egypt, 4:46 in the Transjordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. (It is he whom Moses and the Israelites attacked after they came out of Egypt. 4:47 They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan – both of whom were Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east. 4:48 Their territory extended 2 from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon valley as far as Mount Siyon 3 – that is, Hermon – 4:49 including all the Arabah of the Transjordan in the east to the sea of the Arabah, 4 beneath the watershed 5 of Pisgah.)
5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 6 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them! 5:2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 5:3 He 7 did not make this covenant with our ancestors 8 but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now. 5:4 The Lord spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the middle of the fire. 5:5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal to you the message 9 of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said:
5:6 “I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. 5:7 You must not have any other gods 10 besides me. 11 5:8 You must not make for yourself an image 12 of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. 13 5:9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish 14 the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject 15 me, 16 5:10 but I show covenant faithfulness 17 to the thousands 18 who choose 19 me and keep my commandments. 5:11 You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, 20 for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. 21 5:12 Be careful to observe 22 the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 5:13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 5:14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath 23 of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you, 24 so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest. 5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. 25 That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe 26 the Sabbath day. 5:16 Honor 27 your father and your mother just as the Lord your God has commanded you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he 28 is about to give you. 5:17 You must not murder. 29 5:18 You must not commit adultery. 5:19 You must not steal. 5:20 You must not offer false testimony against another. 30 5:21 You must not desire 31 another man’s 32 wife, nor should you crave his 33 house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.” 34
5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. 35 Then he inscribed the words 36 on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 5:23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory 37 and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us 38 that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 5:25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 5:26 Who is there from the entire human race 39 who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 5:27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he 40 says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 5:28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he 41 said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well. 5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey 42 all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 5:30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, 43 statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” 44 5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as he 45 has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long 46 in the land you are going to possess.
6:1 Now these are the commandments, 47 statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 48 6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments 49 that I am giving 50 you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days. 6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number 51 – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, 52 said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.
6:4 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 53 6:5 You must love 54 the Lord your God with your whole mind, 55 your whole being, 56 and all your strength. 57
6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 6:7 and you must teach 58 them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, 59 as you lie down, and as you get up. 6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm 60 and fasten them as symbols 61 on your forehead. 6:9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates. 62
6:10 Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build, 6:11 houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – and you eat your fill, 6:12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. 63 6:13 You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name. 6:14 You must not go after other gods, those 64 of the surrounding peoples, 6:15 for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land. 65
6:16 You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 66 6:17 Keep his 67 commandments very carefully, 68 as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe. 6:18 Do whatever is proper 69 and good before the Lord so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he 70 promised your ancestors, 6:19 and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the Lord said.
6:20 When your children 71 ask you later on, “What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God commanded you?” 6:21 you must say to them, 72 “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way. 73 6:22 And he 74 brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family 75 before our very eyes. 6:23 He delivered us from there so that he could give us the land he had promised our ancestors. 6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him 76 so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day. 6:25 We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments 77 before the Lord our God, just as he demands.” 78
7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, 79 Girgashites, 80 Amorites, 81 Canaanites, 82 Perizzites, 83 Hivites, 84 and Jebusites, 85 seven 86 nations more numerous and powerful than you – 7:2 and he 87 delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate 88 them. Make no treaty 89 with them and show them no mercy! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. 7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 90 cut down their sacred Asherah poles, 91 and burn up their idols. 7:6 For you are a people holy 92 to the Lord your God. He 93 has chosen you to be his people, prized 94 above all others on the face of the earth.
7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his 95 love 96 for you and his faithfulness to the promise 97 he solemnly vowed 98 to your ancestors 99 that the Lord brought you out with great power, 100 redeeming 101 you from the place of slavery, from the power 102 of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, 103 the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully 104 with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate 105 him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore 106 those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 7:11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.
7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you 107 as he promised 108 your ancestors. 7:13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, 109 with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness 110 among you or your livestock. 7:15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.
7:16 You must destroy 111 all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship 112 their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall 113 what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments 114 you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power 115 by which he 116 brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets 117 among them until the very last ones who hide from you 118 perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He, 119 the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 7:23 The Lord your God will give them over to you; he will throw them into a great panic 120 until they are destroyed. 7:24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. 121 Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them. 7:25 You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent 122 to the Lord your God. 7:26 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath 123 along with it. 124 You must absolutely detest 125 and abhor it, 126 for it is an object of divine wrath.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 127 I am giving 128 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 129 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 130 8:2 Remember the whole way by which he 131 has brought you these forty years through the desert 132 so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. 133 He did this to teach you 134 that humankind 135 cannot live by bread 136 alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. 137 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 8:5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, 138 the Lord your God disciplines you. 8:6 So you must keep his 139 commandments, live according to his standards, 140 and revere him. 8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, 141 springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 8:9 a land where you may eat food 142 in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron 143 and from whose hills you can mine copper. 8:10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.
8:11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 8:12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 8:13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 8:14 be sure 144 you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents 145 and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow 146 from a flint rock and 8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you 147 and eventually bring good to you. 8:17 Be careful 148 not to say, “My own ability and skill 149 have gotten me this wealth.” 8:18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, 150 even as he has to this day. 8:19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all 151 and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 8:20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you 152 because you would not obey him. 153
9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. 154 9:2 They include the Anakites, 155 a numerous 156 and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?” 9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he 157 has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, 158 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 159 made on oath to your ancestors, 160 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 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 161 people!
9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget 162 – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 163 9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there 164 forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger 165 of God, and on them was everything 166 he 167 said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 9:12 And he said to me, “Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.” 168 9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn 169 lot! 9:14 Stand aside 170 and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, 171 and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”
9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it 172 was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 9:16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; 173 you had quickly turned aside from the way he 174 had commanded you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, 175 and shattered them before your very eyes. 9:18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. 9:19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger 176 that threatened to destroy you. But he 177 listened to me this time as well. 9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him 178 too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing 179 that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, 180 ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, 181 Massah, 182 and Kibroth-Hattaavah. 183 9:23 And when he 184 sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God 185 and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebelling against him 186 from the very first day I knew you!
9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, 187 for he 188 had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him: 189 O, Lord God, 190 do not destroy your people, your valued property 191 that you have powerfully redeemed, 192 whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. 193 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land 194 from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” 195 9:29 They are your people, your valued property, 196 whom you brought out with great strength and power. 197
10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 198 10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words 199 that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia 200 wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 10:4 The Lord 201 then wrote on the tablets the same words, 202 the ten commandments, 203 which he 204 had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he 205 gave them to me. 10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.
10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan 206 to Moserah. 207 There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, 208 and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, 209 a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi 210 to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings 211 in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance 212 among his brothers; 213 the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 10:11 Then he 214 said to me, “Get up, set out leading 215 the people so they may go and possess 216 the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” 217
10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, 218 to obey all his commandments, 219 to love him, to serve him 220 with all your mind and being, 221 10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving 222 you today for your own good? 10:14 The heavens – indeed the highest heavens – belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he 223 show his loving favor, 224 and he chose you, their descendants, 225 from all peoples – as is apparent today. 10:16 Therefore, cleanse 226 your heart and stop being so stubborn! 227 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, 10:18 who justly treats 228 the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 10:20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name. 10:21 He is the one you should praise; 229 he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 10:22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky. 230
11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments 231 at all times. 11:2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking 232 to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments 233 of the Lord your God, which revealed 234 his greatness, strength, and power. 235 11:3 They did not see 236 the awesome deeds he performed 237 in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land, 11:4 or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea 238 overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he 239 annihilated them. 240 11:5 They did not see 241 what he did to you in the desert before you reached this place, 11:6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, 242 sons of Eliab the Reubenite, 243 when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp 244 and swallowed them, their families, 245 their tents, and all the property they brought with them. 246 11:7 I am speaking to you 247 because you are the ones who saw all the great deeds of the Lord!
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 248 I am giving 249 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 250 11:9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors 251 and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 11:10 For the land where you are headed 252 is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand 253 like a vegetable garden. 11:11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy 254 is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, 255 11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. 256 He is constantly attentive to it 257 from the beginning to the end of the year. 258 11:13 Now, if you pay close attention 259 to my commandments that I am giving you today and love 260 the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, 261 11:14 then he promises, 262 “I will send rain for your land 263 in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, 264 so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide pasture 265 for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”
11:16 Make sure you do not turn away to serve and worship other gods! 266 11:17 Then the anger of the Lord will erupt 267 against you and he will close up the sky 268 so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed 269 from the good land that the Lord 270 is about to give you. 11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, 271 and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols 272 on your forehead. 11:19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, 273 as you lie down, and as you get up. 11:20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates 11:21 so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself. 274 11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments 275 I am giving you 276 and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, 277 and remain loyal to him, 11:23 then he 278 will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. 11:24 Every place you set your foot 279 will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea. 280 11:25 Nobody will be able to resist you; the Lord your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.
11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 281 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart 282 the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, 11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention 283 to his 284 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before 285 you today to pursue 286 other gods you have not known. 11:29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 287 11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River, 288 toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal 289 near the oak 290 of Moreh? 11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it. 11:32 Be certain to keep all the statutes and ordinances that I am presenting to you today.
12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 291 has given you to possess. 292 12:2 You must by all means destroy 293 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 294 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 295 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 296 and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. 12:4 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. 12:5 But you must seek only the place he 297 chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, 298 and you must go there. 12:6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 299 your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families 300 must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he 301 has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone 302 doing what seems best to him, 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop 303 and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River 304 and settle in the land he 305 is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. 306 12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing 307 everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 308 and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. 309 12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages 310 (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). 311 12:13 Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, 12:14 for you may do so 312 only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. 313
12:15 On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the Lord your God blesses you 314 in all your villages. 315 Both the ritually pure and impure may eat it, whether it is a gazelle or an ibex. 12:16 However, you must not eat blood – pour it out on the ground like water. 12:17 You will not be allowed to eat in your villages your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, any votive offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings. 12:18 Only in the presence of the Lord your God may you eat these, in the place he 316 chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites 317 in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the Lord your God in all the output of your labor. 318 12:19 Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land.
12:20 When the Lord your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, “I want to eat meat just as I please,” 319 you may do so as you wish. 320 12:21 If the place he 321 chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he 322 has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages 323 just as you wish. 12:22 Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them. 12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself 324 – you must not eat the life with the meat! 12:24 You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. 12:25 You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight. 325 12:26 Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the Lord will choose. 326 12:27 You must offer your burnt offerings, both meat and blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; the blood of your other sacrifices 327 you must pour out on his 328 altar while you eat the meat. 12:28 Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
12:29 When the Lord your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land. 329 12:30 After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.” 12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! 330 For everything that is abhorrent 331 to him, 332 everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!
12:32 (13:1) 333 You 334 must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! 335 13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams 336 should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, 337 13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.” 13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, 338 for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him 339 with all your mind and being. 340 13:4 You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. 13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, 341 he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. 342
13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 343 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 344 that neither you nor your ancestors 345 have previously known, 346 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth 347 to the other). 13:8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! 348 Your own hand must be the first to strike him, 349 and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death 350 because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. 351
13:12 Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that 13:13 some evil people 352 have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, 353 saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 354 13:14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, 355 13:15 you must by all means 356 slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate 357 with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. 13:16 You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza 358 and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin 359 forever – it must never be rebuilt again. 13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. 360 Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving 361 you today and doing what is right 362 before him. 363
14:1 You are children 364 of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald 365 for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a people holy 366 to the Lord your God. He 367 has chosen you to be his people, prized 368 above all others on the face of the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden 369 thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex, 370 the gazelle, 371 the deer, 372 the wild goat, the antelope, 373 the wild oryx, 374 and the mountain sheep. 375 14:6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. 376 14:7 However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger. 377 (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you). 14:8 Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, 378 it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains. 14:9 These you may eat from among water creatures: anything with fins and scales you may eat, 14:10 but whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is ritually impure to you. 14:11 All ritually clean birds you may eat. 14:12 These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, 379 the vulture, 380 the black vulture, 381 14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah 382 after its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich, 383 the owl, 384 the seagull, the falcon 385 after its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, 386 14:17 the jackdaw, 387 the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 14:18 the stork, the heron after its species, the hoopoe, the bat, 14:19 and any winged thing on the ground are impure to you – they may not be eaten. 388 14:20 You may eat any clean bird. 14:21 You may not eat any corpse, though you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your villages 389 and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 390
14:22 You must be certain to tithe 391 all the produce of your seed that comes from the field year after year. 14:23 In the presence of the Lord your God you must eat from the tithe of your grain, your new wine, 392 your olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the place he chooses to locate his name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. 14:24 When he 393 blesses you, if the 394 place where he chooses to locate his name is distant, 14:25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money, 395 and travel to the place the Lord your God chooses for himself. 14:26 Then you may spend the money however you wish for cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and enjoy it. 14:27 As for the Levites in your villages, you must not ignore them, for they have no allotment or inheritance along with you. 14:28 At the end of every three years you must bring all the tithe of your produce, in that very year, and you must store it up in your villages. 14:29 Then the Levites (because they have no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows of your villages may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work you do.
15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation 396 of debts. 15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; 397 he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, 398 for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 15:3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite 399 owes you, you must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord 400 will surely bless 401 you in the land that he 402 is giving you as an inheritance, 403 15:5 if you carefully obey 404 him 405 by keeping 406 all these commandments that I am giving 407 you today. 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.
15:7 If a fellow Israelite 408 from one of your villages 409 in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 410 to his impoverished condition. 411 15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend 412 him whatever he needs. 413 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 414 be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite 415 and you do not lend 416 him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. 417 15:10 You must by all means lend 418 to him and not be upset by doing it, 419 for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open 420 your hand to your fellow Israelites 421 who are needy and poor in your land.
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew 422 – whether male or female 423 – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant 424 go free. 425 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously 426 from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. 15:16 However, if the servant 427 says to you, “I do not want to leave 428 you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, 15:17 you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door. 429 Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). 15:18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice 430 the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
15:19 You must set apart 431 for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 15:20 You and your household must eat them annually before the Lord your God in the place he 432 chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else 433 – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, 434 whether you are ritually impure or clean, 435 just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. 15:23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.
16:1 Observe the month Abib 436 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 437 he 438 brought you out of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal 439 (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he 440 chooses to locate his name. 16:3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 16:4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land 441 for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 442 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages 443 that the Lord your God is giving you, 16:6 but you must sacrifice it 444 in the evening in 445 the place where he 446 chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 16:7 You must cook 447 and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents. 16:8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day. 448
16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them 449 from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 16:10 Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks 450 before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering 451 that you will bring, in proportion to how he 452 has blessed you. 16:11 You shall rejoice before him 453 – you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, 454 the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you – in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name. 16:12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes.
16:13 You must celebrate the Festival of Temporary Shelters 455 for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 456 16:14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. 457 16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he 458 chooses, for he 459 will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; 460 so you will indeed rejoice! 16:16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him 461 empty-handed. 16:17 Every one of you must give as you are able, 462 according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 463 for each tribe in all your villages 464 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 465 16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort 466 the words of the righteous. 467 16:20 You must pursue justice alone 468 so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.
16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole 469 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 470 a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him 471 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive 472 to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages 473 that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God 474 and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, 475 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 476 17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing 477 is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates 478 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 479 17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses 480 must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people 481 are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.
17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, 482 legal claim, 483 or assault 484 – matters of controversy in your villages 485 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 486 17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention 487 to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.
17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,” 17:15 you must select without fail 488 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 489 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 490 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 491 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 492 wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 17:18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law 493 on a scroll 494 given to him by the Levitical priests. 17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. 17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom 495 in Israel.
18:1 The Levitical priests 496 – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. 497 18:2 They 498 will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; 499 the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests’ fair allotment 500 from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep – they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. 18:4 You must give them the best of your 501 grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. 18:5 For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand 502 and serve in his name 503 permanently. 18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 504 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 505 to the place the Lord chooses 18:7 and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. 18:8 He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family’s inheritance. 506
18:9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. 18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, 507 anyone who practices divination, 508 an omen reader, 509 a soothsayer, 510 a sorcerer, 511 18:11 one who casts spells, 512 one who conjures up spirits, 513 a practitioner of the occult, 514 or a necromancer. 515 18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things 516 the Lord your God is about to drive them out 517 from before you. 18:13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 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.
18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you – from your fellow Israelites; 518 you must listen to him. 18:16 This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: “Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our 519 God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die.” 18:17 The Lord then said to me, “What they have said is good. 18:18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. 18:19 I will personally hold responsible 520 anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet 521 speaks in my name.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 522 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 523 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 524 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 525 name and the prediction 526 is not fulfilled, 527 then I have 528 not spoken it; 529 the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”
19:1 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he 530 is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses, 19:2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities 531 in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. 19:3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent 532 of your land that the Lord your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities. 19:4 Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, 533 if he has accidentally killed another 534 without hating him at the time of the accident. 535 19:5 Suppose he goes with someone else 536 to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax 537 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose 538 from the handle and strikes 539 his fellow worker 540 so hard that he dies. The person responsible 541 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 542 19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, 543 and kill him, 544 though this is not a capital case 545 since he did not hate him at the time of the accident. 19:7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities. 19:8 If the Lord your God enlarges your borders as he promised your ancestors 546 and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 547 19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments 548 I am giving 549 you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities 550 to these three. 19:10 You must not shed innocent blood 551 in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 552 19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else 553 and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, 554 and then flees to one of these cities. 19:12 The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger 555 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent 556 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 557 which will have been defined 558 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 559
19:15 A single witness may not testify 560 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 561 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false 562 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 563 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 564 who will be in office in those days. 19:18 The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused, 565 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 566 evil from among you. 19:20 The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you. 19:21 You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. 567
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry 568 and troops 569 who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you. 20:2 As you move forward for battle, the priest 570 will approach and say to the soldiers, 571 20:3 “Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward to do battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them, 20:4 for the Lord your God goes with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory.” 572 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, 573 “Who among you 574 has built a new house and not dedicated 575 it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else 576 dedicate it. 20:6 Or who among you has planted a vineyard and not benefited from it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else benefit from it. 20:7 Or who among you 577 has become engaged to a woman but has not married her? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marry her.” 20:8 In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s 578 heart as fearful 579 as his own.” 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking, 580 they must appoint unit commanders 581 to lead the troops.
20:10 When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace. 20:11 If it accepts your terms 582 and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. 583 20:12 If it does not accept terms of peace but makes war with you, then you are to lay siege to it. 20:13 The Lord your God will deliver it over to you 584 and you must kill every single male by the sword. 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. 20:15 This is how you are to deal with all those cities located far from you, those that do not belong to these nearby nations.
20:16 As for the cities of these peoples that 585 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 586 to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them 587 – the Hittites, 588 Amorites, 589 Canaanites, 590 Perizzites, 591 Hivites, 592 and Jebusites 593 – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship 594 their gods, causing you to sin against the Lord your God. 20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, 595 you must not chop down its trees, 596 for you may eat fruit 597 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 598 20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 599 and you may use it to build siege works 600 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
21:1 If a homicide victim 601 should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, 602 and no one knows who killed 603 him, 21:2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse. 604 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse 605 must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked – that has never pulled with the yoke – 21:4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, 606 to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. 607 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests 608 will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, 609 and to decide 610 every judicial verdict 611 ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse 612 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 613 21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we 614 witnessed the crime. 615 21:8 Do not blame 616 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” 617 Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed. 21:9 In this manner you will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before 618 the Lord.
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail 619 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them 620 an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife, 21:12 you may bring her back to your house. She must shave her head, 621 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, 622 and stay 623 in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations 624 with her and become her husband and she your wife. 21:14 If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go 625 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell 626 her; 627 you must not take advantage of 628 her, since you have already humiliated 629 her.
21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, 630 and they both 631 bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife. 21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance 632 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other 633 wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved 634 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion 635 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power 636 – to him should go the right of the firstborn.
21:18 If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail, 637 21:19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city. 21:20 They must declare to the elders 638 of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say – he is a glutton and drunkard.” 21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out 639 wickedness from among you, and all Israel 640 will hear about it and be afraid.
21:22 If a person commits a sin punishable by death and is executed, and you hang the corpse 641 on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury 642 him that same day, for the one who is left exposed 643 on a tree is cursed by God. 644 You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22:1 When you see 645 your neighbor’s 646 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 647 you must return it without fail 648 to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner 649 does not live 650 near you or you do not know who the owner is, 651 then you must corral the animal 652 at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 22:3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor 653 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 654 22:4 When you see 655 your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; 656 instead, you must be sure 657 to help him get the animal on its feet again. 658
22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, 659 nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive 660 to the Lord your God.
22:6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them, 661 you must not take the mother from the young. 662 22:7 You must be sure 663 to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.
22:8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail 664 around your roof to avoid being culpable 665 in the event someone should fall from it.
22:9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. 666 22:10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 22:11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together. 667 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels 668 for the four corners of the clothing you wear.
22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, 669 and then rejects 670 her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety 671 and defaming her reputation 672 by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations 673 with her I discovered she was not a virgin!” 22:15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity 674 for the elders of the city at the gate. 22:16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected 675 her. 22:17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out 676 before the city’s elders. 22:18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish 677 him. 22:19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation 678 ruined the reputation 679 of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
22:20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing 680 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge 681 evil from among you.
22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with 682 a married woman 683 both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge 684 evil from Israel.
22:23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets 685 her in the city and has sexual relations with 686 her, 22:24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated 687 his neighbor’s fiancée; 688 in this way you will purge 689 evil from among you. 22:25 But if the man came across 690 the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped 691 her, then only the rapist 692 must die. 22:26 You must not do anything to the young woman – she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person 693 and murders him, 22:27 for the man 694 met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
22:28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers and rapes 695 her and they are discovered. 22:29 The man who has raped her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
22:30 (23:1) 696 A man may not marry 697 his father’s former 698 wife and in this way dishonor his father. 699
23:1 A man with crushed 700 or severed genitals 701 may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 702 23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 703 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 704
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 705 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 706 do so, 707 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired 708 Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 23:5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed 709 the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves 710 you. 23:6 You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come. 23:7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative; 711 you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner 712 in his land. 23:8 Children of the third generation born to them 713 may enter the assembly of the Lord.
23:9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure. 714 23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, 715 he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately. 23:11 When evening arrives he must wash himself with water and then at sunset he may reenter the camp.
23:12 You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine. 716 23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself 717 outside you must dig a hole with the spade 718 and then turn and cover your excrement. 719 23:14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat 720 your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent 721 among you and turn away from you.
23:15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. 722 23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages 723 he prefers; you must not oppress him.
23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute 724 among the young women 725 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 726 among the young men 727 of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute 728 or the wage of a male prostitute 729 into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.
23:19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, 730 whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 23:20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 23:21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he 731 will surely 732 hold you accountable as a sinner. 733 23:22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23:23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 23:24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please, 734 but you must not take away any in a container. 735 23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, 736 but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.
24:1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive 737 in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 24:2 When she has left him 738 she may go and become someone else’s wife. 24:3 If the second husband rejects 739 her and then divorces her, 740 gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 24:4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry 741 her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. 742 You must not bring guilt on the land 743 which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into 744 the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to 745 the wife he has married.
24:6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security. 746
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 747 and regards him as mere property 748 and sells him, that kidnapper 749 must die. In this way you will purge 750 evil from among you.
24:8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely 751 all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do. 24:9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam 752 along the way after you left Egypt.
24:10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security. 753 24:11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security. 754 24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 755 24:13 You must by all means 756 return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just 757 deed by the Lord your God.
24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites 758 or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 759 24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
24:16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children 760 do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.
24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 24:19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, 761 you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. 762 24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; 763 the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; 764 they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.
25:1 If controversy arises between people, 765 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 766 hear the case, they shall exonerate 767 the innocent but condemn 768 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 769 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 770 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 771 25:3 The judge 772 may sentence him to forty blows, 773 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 774 with contempt.
25:4 You must not muzzle your 775 ox when it is treading grain.
25:5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her, 776 and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. 777 25:6 Then 778 the first son 779 she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel. 25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she 780 must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!” 25:8 Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I don’t want to marry her,” 25:9 then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. 781 She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!” 782 25:10 His family name will be referred to 783 in Israel as “the family 784 of the one whose sandal was removed.” 785
25:11 If two men 786 get into a hand-to-hand fight, and the wife of one of them gets involved to help her husband against his attacker, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, 787 25:12 then you must cut off her hand – do not pity her.
25:13 You must not have in your bag different stone weights, 788 a heavy and a light one. 789 25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, 790 a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct 791 stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the Lord your God is about to give you. 25:16 For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent 792 to the Lord your God.
25:17 Remember what the Amalekites 793 did to you on your way from Egypt, 25:18 how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and tired; they were unafraid of God. 794 25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he 795 is giving you as an inheritance, 796 you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven 797 – do not forget! 798
26:1 When 799 you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 26:2 you must take the first of all the ground’s produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he 800 chooses to locate his name. 801 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your 802 God that I have come into the land that the Lord 803 promised 804 to our ancestors 805 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you 806 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering 807 Aramean 808 was my ancestor, 809 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, 810 but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. 26:7 So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he 811 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 812 as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. 26:9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 26:10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him. 813 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, 814 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
26:12 When you finish tithing all 815 your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows 816 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 817 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering 818 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 819 I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; 820 I have obeyed you 821 and have done everything you have commanded me. 26:15 Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors – a land flowing with milk and honey.”
26:16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul. 822 26:17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments. 26:19 Then 823 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. 824 You will 825 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
[4:44] 1 tn Heb “the sons of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).
[4:48] 2 tn The words “their territory extended” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 47-49 are all one sentence, but for the sake of English style and readability the translation divides the text into two sentences.
[4:48] 3 sn Mount Siyon (the Hebrew name is שִׂיאֹן [si’on], not to be confused with Zion [צִיּוֹן, tsiyyon]) is another name for Mount Hermon, also called Sirion and Senir (cf. Deut 3:9).
[4:49] 4 sn The sea of the Arabah refers to the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea in OT times (cf. Deut 3:17).
[4:49] 5 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or “watershed” (NEB).
[5:1] 6 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
[5:3] 7 tn Heb “the
[5:5] 9 tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”
[5:7] 10 tn Heb “there must not be for you other gods.” The expression “for you” indicates possession.
[5:7] 11 tn Heb “upon my face,” or “before me” (עַל־פָּנָיַ, ’al-panaya). Some understand this in a locative sense: “in my sight.” The translation assumes that the phrase indicates exclusion. The idea is that of placing any other god before the
[5:8] 12 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
[5:8] 13 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”
[5:9] 14 tn In the Hebrew text the form is a participle, which is subordinated to what precedes. For the sake of English style, the translation divides this lengthy verse into two sentences.
[5:9] 15 tn Heb “who hate” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). Just as “to love” (אָהַב, ’ahav) means in a covenant context “to choose, obey,” so “to hate” (שָׂנֵא, sane’) means “to reject, disobey” (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37; see also 5:10).
[5:9] 16 tn Heb “visiting the sin of fathers upon sons and upon a third (generation) and upon a fourth (generation) of those who hate me.” God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9). On the principle of corporate solidarity and responsibility in OT thought see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). In the idiom of the text, the father is the first generation and the “sons” the second generation, making grandsons the third and great-grandsons the fourth. The reference to a third and fourth generation is a way of emphasizing that the sinner’s punishment would last throughout his lifetime. In this culture, where men married and fathered children at a relatively young age, it would not be unusual for one to see his great-grandsons. In an Aramaic tomb inscription from Nerab dating to the seventh century b.c., Agbar observes that he was surrounded by “children of the fourth generation” as he lay on his death bed (see ANET 661). The language of the text differs from Exod 34:7, the sons are the first generation, the grandsons (literally, “sons of the sons”) the second, great-grandsons the third, and great-great-grandsons the fourth. One could argue that formulation in Deut 5:9 (see also Exod 20:50) is elliptical/abbreviated or that it suffers from textual corruption (the repetition of the words “sons” would invite accidental omission).
[5:10] 17 tn This theologically rich term (חֶסֶד, khesed) describes God’s loyalty to those who keep covenant with him. Sometimes it is used synonymously with בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”; Deut 7:9), and sometimes interchangeably with it (Deut 7:12). See H.-J. Zobel, TDOT 5:44-64.
[5:10] 18 tc By a slight emendation (לַאֲלּוּפִים [la’allufim] for לַאֲלָפִים [la’alafim]) “clans” could be read in place of the MT reading “thousands.” However, no
[5:10] tn Another option is to understand this as referring to “thousands (of generations) of those who love me” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). See Deut 7:9.
[5:10] 19 tn Heb “love.” See note on the word “reject” in v. 9.
[5:11] 20 tn Heb “take up the name of the Lord your God to emptiness”; KJV “take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The idea here is not cursing or profanity in the modern sense of these terms but rather the use of the divine Name for unholy, mundane purposes, that is, for meaningless (the Hebrew term is שָׁוְא) and empty ends. In ancient Israel this would include using the Lord’s name as a witness in vows one did not intend to keep.
[5:11] 21 tn Heb “who takes up his name to emptiness.”
[5:12] 22 tn Heb “to make holy,” that is, to put to special use, in this case, to sacred purposes (cf. vv. 13-15).
[5:14] 23 tn There is some degree of paronomasia (wordplay) here: “the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי, hashÿvi’i) day is the Sabbath (שַׁבָּת, shabbat).” Otherwise, the words have nothing in common, since “Sabbath” is derived from the verb שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease”).
[5:14] 24 tn Heb “in your gates”; NRSV, CEV “in your towns”; TEV “in your country.”
[5:15] 25 tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”
[5:15] 26 tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).
[5:16] 27 tn The imperative here means, literally, “regard as heavy” (כַּבֵּד, kabbed). The meaning is that great importance must be ascribed to parents by their children.
[5:16] 28 tn Heb “the
[5:17] 29 tn Traditionally “kill” (so KJV, ASV, RSV, NAB). The verb here (רָצַח, ratsakh) is generic for homicide but in the OT both killing in war and capital punishment were permitted and even commanded (Deut 13:5, 9; 20:13, 16-17), so the technical meaning here is “murder.”
[5:20] 30 tn Heb “your neighbor.” Clearly this is intended generically, however, and not to be limited only to those persons who live nearby (frequently the way “neighbor” is understood in contemporary contexts). So also in v. 20.
[5:21] 31 tn The Hebrew verb used here (חָמַד, khamad) is different from the one translated “crave” (אָוַה, ’avah) in the next line. The former has sexual overtones (“lust” or the like; cf. Song of Sol 2:3) whereas the latter has more the idea of a desire or craving for material things.
[5:21] 32 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” See note on the term “fellow man” in v. 19.
[5:21] 33 tn Heb “your neighbor’s.” The pronoun is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[5:21] 34 tn Heb “or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
[5:22] 35 tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”
[5:22] 36 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the
[5:24] 37 tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
[5:24] 38 tn Heb “this day we have seen.”
[5:26] 39 tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
[5:27] 40 tn Heb “the
[5:28] 41 tn Heb “the
[5:29] 42 tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:31] 43 tn Heb “commandment.” The MT actually has the singular (הַמִּצְוָה, hammitsvah), suggesting perhaps that the following terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) are in epexegetical apposition to “commandment.” That is, the phrase could be translated “the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances.” This would essentially make מִצְוָה (mitsvah) synonymous with תּוֹרָה (torah), the usual term for the whole collection of law.
[5:31] 44 tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”
[5:33] 45 tn Heb “the
[5:33] 46 tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”
[6:1] 47 tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.
[6:1] 48 tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”
[6:2] 49 tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.
[6:2] 50 tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
[6:3] 51 tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:3] 52 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).
[6:4] 53 tn Heb “the
[6:4] sn Verses 4-5 constitute the so-called Shema (after the first word שְׁמַע, shÿma’, “hear”), widely regarded as the very heart of Jewish confession and faith. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment of all, he quoted this text (Matt 22:37-38).
[6:5] 54 tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) in this setting communicates not so much an emotional idea as one of covenant commitment. To love the
[6:5] 55 tn Heb “heart.” In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart. See A. Luc, NIDOTTE 2:749-54.
[6:5] 56 tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 10-25; D. Fredericks, NIDOTTE 3:133-34.
[6:5] 57 sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.
[6:7] 58 tn Heb “repeat” (so NLT). If from the root I שָׁנַן (shanan), the verb means essentially to “engrave,” that is, “to teach incisively” (Piel); note NAB “Drill them into your children.” Cf. BDB 1041-42 s.v.
[6:7] 59 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[6:8] 60 sn Tie them as a sign on your forearm. Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin. They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; Deut 6:5-9; 11:13-21. The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.
[6:8] 61 sn Fasten them as symbols on your forehead. These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5).
[6:9] 62 sn The Hebrew term מְזוּזֹת (mÿzuzot) refers both to the door frames and to small cases attached on them containing scripture texts (always Deut 6:4-9 and 11:13-21; and sometimes the decalogue; Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; and Num 10:35-36). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 443-44.
[6:12] 63 tn Heb “out of the house of slavery” (so NASB, NRSV).
[6:14] 64 tn Heb “from the gods.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[6:15] 65 tn Heb “lest the anger of the
[6:16] 66 sn The place name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) derives from a root (נָסָה, nasah) meaning “to test; to try.” The reference here is to the experience in the Sinai desert when Moses struck the rock to obtain water (Exod 17:1-2). The complaining Israelites had, thus, “tested” the
[6:17] 67 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[6:17] 68 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb to emphasize the statement. The imperfect verbal form is used here with an obligatory nuance that can be captured in English through the imperative. Cf. NASB, NRSV “diligently keep (obey NLT).”
[6:18] 70 tn Heb “the
[6:21] 72 tn Heb “to your son.”
[6:21] 73 tn Heb “by a strong hand.” The image is that of a warrior who, with weapon in hand, overcomes his enemies. The
[6:22] 74 tn Heb “the
[6:22] 75 tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.
[6:24] 76 tn Heb “the
[6:25] 77 tn The term “commandment” (מִצְוָה, mitsvah), here in the singular, refers to the entire body of covenant stipulations.
[6:25] 78 tn Heb “as he has commanded us” (so NIV, NRSV).
[7:1] 79 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[7:1] 80 sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).
[7:1] 81 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[7:1] 82 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[7:1] 83 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[7:1] 84 sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
[7:1] 85 sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).
[7:1] 86 sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.
[7:2] 87 tn Heb “the
[7:2] 88 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”
[7:2] 89 tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”
[7:5] 90 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the
[7:5] 91 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[7:6] 92 tn That is, “set apart.”
[7:6] 93 tn Heb “the
[7:6] 94 tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.
[7:8] 95 tn Heb “the
[7:8] 96 tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[7:8] 97 tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
[7:8] 98 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[7:8] 99 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).
[7:8] 100 tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”
[7:8] 101 sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the
[7:8] 102 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.
[7:9] 103 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
[7:9] 104 tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).
[7:10] 105 tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).
[7:10] 106 tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”
[7:12] 107 tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.
[7:12] 108 tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”
[7:13] 109 tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[7:14] 110 sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.
[7:16] 111 tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”
[7:16] 112 tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[7:18] 113 tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”
[7:19] 114 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
[7:19] 115 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
[7:19] 116 tn Heb “the
[7:20] 117 tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).
[7:20] 118 tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”
[7:22] 119 tn Heb “the
[7:23] 120 tn Heb “he will confuse them (with) great confusion.” The verb used here means “shake, stir up” (see Ruth 1:19; 1 Sam 4:5; 1 Kgs 1:45; Ps 55:2); the accompanying cognate noun refers to confusion, unrest, havoc, or panic (1 Sam 5:9, 11; 14:20; 2 Chr 15:5; Prov 15:16; Isa 22:5; Ezek 7:7; 22:5; Amos 3:9; Zech 14:13).
[7:24] 121 tn Heb “you will destroy their name from under heaven” (cf. KJV); NRSV “blot out their name from under heaven.”
[7:25] 122 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abhorrent; detestable”) describes anything detestable to the
[7:26] 123 tn Heb “come under the ban” (so NASB); NRSV “be set apart for destruction.” The same phrase occurs again at the end of this verse.
[7:26] sn The Hebrew word translated an object of divine wrath (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to persons or things placed under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction. See note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[7:26] 124 tn Or “like it is.”
[7:26] 125 tn This Hebrew verb (שָׁקַץ, shaqats) is essentially synonymous with the next verb (תָעַב, ta’av; cf. תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah; see note on the word “abhorrent” in v. 25), though its field of meaning is more limited to cultic abomination (cf. Lev 11:11, 13; Ps 22:25).
[7:26] 126 tn Heb “detesting you must detest and abhorring you must abhor.” Both verbs are preceded by a cognate infinitive absolute indicating emphasis.
[8:1] 127 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
[8:1] 128 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
[8:1] 129 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
[8:1] 130 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
[8:2] 131 tn Heb “the
[8:2] 132 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.
[8:3] 133 tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).
[8:3] 134 tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 135 tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).
[8:3] 136 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).
[8:3] 137 sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).
[8:5] 138 tn Heb “just as a man disciplines his son.” The Hebrew text reflects the patriarchal idiom of the culture.
[8:6] 139 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[8:6] 140 tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” The “ways” of the Lord refer here to his moral standards as reflected in his commandments. The verb “walk” is used frequently in the Bible (both OT and NT) for one’s moral and ethical behavior.
[8:9] 142 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[8:9] 143 sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.
[8:14] 144 tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection.
[8:15] 145 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
[8:15] 146 tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.
[8:16] 147 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
[8:17] 148 tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.
[8:17] 149 tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”
[8:18] 150 tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.
[8:19] 151 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
[8:20] 152 tn Heb “so you will perish.”
[8:20] 153 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the
[9:1] 154 tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.
[9:2] 155 sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.
[9:2] 156 tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
[9:3] 157 tn Heb “the
[9:5] 158 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
[9:5] 159 tn Heb “the
[9:6] 161 tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
[9:6] sn The Hebrew word translated stubborn means “stiff-necked.” The image is that of a draft animal that is unsubmissive to the rein or yoke and refuses to bend its neck to draw the load. This is an apt description of OT Israel (Exod 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut 9:13).
[9:7] 162 tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.
[9:7] 163 tn Heb “the
[9:9] 164 tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:10] 165 sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself – not Moses in any way – was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).
[9:10] 166 tn Heb “according to all the words.”
[9:10] 167 tn Heb “the
[9:12] 168 tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads מַסֵּכָה (massekhah, “a cast thing”) but some
[9:13] 169 tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.
[9:14] 170 tn Heb “leave me alone.”
[9:14] 171 tn Heb “from under heaven.”
[9:15] 172 tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[9:16] 173 tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
[9:16] 174 tn Heb “the
[9:17] 175 tn The Hebrew text includes “from upon my two hands,” but as this seems somewhat obvious and redundant, it has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[9:19] 176 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” Although many English versions translate as two terms, this construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion (cf. NAB, TEV “fierce anger”).
[9:19] 177 tn Heb “the
[9:20] 178 tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[9:21] 179 tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).
[9:21] 180 tn Heb “burned it with fire.”
[9:22] 181 sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the
[9:22] 182 sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.
[9:22] 183 sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).
[9:23] 184 tn Heb “the
[9:23] 185 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
[9:24] 186 tn Heb “the
[9:25] 187 tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.
[9:25] 188 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 189 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 190 tn Heb “Lord
[9:26] 191 tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.
[9:26] 192 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
[9:26] 193 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
[9:28] 194 tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:28] 195 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
[9:29] 196 tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.
[9:29] 197 tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”
[10:1] 198 tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.
[10:2] 199 sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the
[10:3] 200 sn Acacia wood (Heb “shittim wood”). This is wood from the acacia, the most common timber tree of the Sinai region. Most likely it is the species Acacia raddiana because this has the largest trunk. See F. N. Hepper, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, 63.
[10:4] 201 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:4] 202 tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.
[10:4] 203 tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”
[10:4] 204 tn Heb “the
[10:4] 205 tn Heb “the
[10:6] 206 sn Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan. This Hebrew name could be translated “the wells of Bene-Yaaqan” or “the wells of the sons of Yaaqan,” a site whose location cannot be determined (cf. Num 33:31-32; 1 Chr 1:42).
[10:6] 207 sn Moserah. Since Aaron in other texts (Num 20:28; 33:38) is said to have died on Mount Hor, this must be the Arabah region in which Hor was located.
[10:7] 208 sn Gudgodah. This is probably the same as Haggidgad, which is also associated with Jotbathah (Num 33:33).
[10:7] 209 sn Jotbathah. This place, whose Hebrew name can be translated “place of wadis,” is possibly modern Ain Tabah, just north of Eilat, or Tabah, 6.5 mi (11 km) south of Eilat on the west shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.
[10:8] 210 sn The
[10:8] 211 sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.
[10:9] 212 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
[10:9] 213 tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.
[10:11] 214 tn Heb “the
[10:11] 215 tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”
[10:11] 216 tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.
[10:11] 217 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).
[10:12] 218 tn Heb “the
[10:12] 219 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”
[10:12] 220 tn Heb “the
[10:12] 221 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[10:13] 222 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
[10:15] 223 tn Heb “the
[10:15] 224 tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the
[10:15] 225 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
[10:16] 226 tn Heb “circumcise the foreskin of” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). Reference to the Abrahamic covenant prompts Moses to recall the sign of that covenant, namely, physical circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). Just as that act signified total covenant obedience, so spiritual circumcision (cleansing of the heart) signifies more internally a commitment to be pliable and obedient to the will of God (cf. Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; 9:26).
[10:16] 227 tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
[10:18] 228 tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.”
[10:21] 229 tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).
[10:22] 230 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:1] 231 tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).
[11:2] 232 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[11:2] 233 tn Heb “who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord.” The collocation of the verbs “know” and “see” indicates that personal experience (knowing by seeing) is in view. The term translated “discipline” (KJV, ASV “chastisement”) may also be rendered “instruction,” but vv. 2b-6 indicate that the referent of the term is the various acts of divine judgment the Israelites had witnessed.
[11:2] 234 tn The words “which revealed” have been supplied in the translation to show the logical relationship between the terms that follow and the divine judgments. In the Hebrew text the former are in apposition to the latter.
[11:2] 235 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
[11:3] 236 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 2-7 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the English translation divides the passage into three sentences. To facilitate this stylistic decision the words “They did not see” are supplied at the beginning of both v. 3 and v. 5, and “I am speaking” at the beginning of v. 7.
[11:3] 237 tn Heb “his signs and his deeds which he did” (NRSV similar). The collocation of “signs” and “deeds” indicates that these acts were intended to make an impression on observers and reveal something about God’s power (cf. v. 2b). The word “awesome” has been employed to bring out the force of the word “signs” in this context.
[11:4] 238 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.
[11:4] 239 tn Heb “the
[11:4] 240 tn Heb “and the Lord destroyed them to this day” (cf. NRSV); NLT “he has kept them devastated to this very day.” The translation uses the verb “annihilated” to indicate the permanency of the action.
[11:5] 241 tn See note on these same words in v. 3.
[11:6] 242 sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).
[11:6] 243 tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
[11:6] 244 tn Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.
[11:6] 245 tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”
[11:6] 246 tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
[11:7] 247 tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.
[11:8] 248 tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).
[11:8] 249 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).
[11:8] 250 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:9] 251 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
[11:10] 252 tn Heb “you are going there to possess it”; NASB “into which you are about to cross to possess it”; NRSV “that you are crossing over to occupy.”
[11:10] 253 tn Heb “with your foot” (so NASB, NLT). There is a two-fold significance to this phrase. First, Egypt had no rain so water supply depended on human efforts at irrigation. Second, the Nile was the source of irrigation waters but those waters sometimes had to be pumped into fields and gardens by foot-power, perhaps the kind of machinery (Arabic shaduf) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians, 181). Nevertheless, the translation uses “by hand,” since that expression is the more common English idiom for an activity performed by manual labor.
[11:11] 254 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:11] 255 tn Heb “rain of heaven.”
[11:12] 256 tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
[11:12] 257 tn Heb “the eyes of the
[11:12] sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the
[11:12] 258 sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.
[11:13] 259 tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”
[11:13] 260 tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).
[11:13] 261 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:14] 262 tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.
[11:14] 263 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
[11:14] 264 sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.
[11:15] 265 tn Heb “grass in your field.”
[11:16] 266 tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[11:17] 267 tn Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”
[11:17] 268 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:17] 269 tn Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”
[11:17] 270 tn Heb “the
[11:18] 271 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:18] 272 tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.
[11:19] 273 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[11:21] 274 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
[11:22] 275 tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.
[11:22] 276 tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.
[11:22] 277 tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”
[11:23] 278 tn Heb “the
[11:24] 279 tn Heb “the sole of your foot walks.” The placing of the foot symbolizes conquest and dominion, especially on land or on the necks of enemies (cf. Deut 1:36; Ps 7:13; Isa 63:3 Hab 3:19; Zech 9:13). See E. H. Merrill, NIDOTTE 1:992.
[11:24] 280 tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”
[11:26] 281 sn A blessing and a curse. Every extant treaty text of the late Bronze Age attests to a section known as the “blessings and curses,” the former for covenant loyalty and the latter for covenant breach. Blessings were promised rewards for obedience; curses were threatened judgments for disobedience. In the Book of Deuteronomy these are fully developed in 27:1–28:68. Here Moses adumbrates the whole by way of anticipation.
[11:27] 282 tn Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.
[11:28] 283 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
[11:28] 284 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[11:28] 285 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[11:28] 286 tn Heb “walk after”; NIV “by following”; NLT “by worshiping.” This is a violation of the first commandment, the most serious of the covenant violations (Deut 5:6-7).
[11:29] 287 sn Mount Gerizim…Mount Ebal. These two mountains are near the ancient site of Shechem and the modern city of Nablus. The valley between them is like a great amphitheater with the mountain slopes as seating sections. The place was sacred because it was there that Abraham pitched his camp and built his first altar after coming to Canaan (Gen 12:6). Jacob also settled at Shechem for a time and dug a well from which Jesus once requested a drink of water (Gen 33:18-20; John 4:5-7). When Joshua and the Israelites finally brought Canaan under control they assembled at Shechem as Moses commanded and undertook a ritual of covenant reaffirmation (Josh 8:30-35; 24:1, 25). Half the tribes stood on Mt. Gerizim and half on Mt. Ebal and in antiphonal chorus pledged their loyalty to the
[11:30] 288 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:30] 289 sn Gilgal. From a Hebrew verb root גָלַל (galal, “to roll”) this place name means “circle” or “rolling,” a name given because God had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (Josh 5:9). It is perhaps to be identified with Khirbet el-Metjir, 1.2 mi (2 km) northeast of OT Jericho.
[11:30] 290 tc The MT plural “oaks” (אֵלוֹנֵי, ’eloney) should probably be altered (with many Greek texts) to the singular “oak” (אֵלוֹן, ’elon; cf. NRSV) in line with the only other occurrence of the phrase (Gen 12:6). The Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J. read mmrá, confusing this place with the “oaks of Mamre” near Hebron (Gen 13:18). Smr also appears to confuse “Moreh” with “Mamre” (reading mwr’, a combined form), adding the clarification mwl shkm (“near Shechem”) apparently to distinguish it from Mamre near Hebron.
[12:1] 292 tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the
[12:2] 293 tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”
[12:2] 294 sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.
[12:3] 295 sn Sacred pillars. These are the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
[12:3] 296 sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.
[12:5] 297 tn Heb “the
[12:5] 298 tc Some scholars, on the basis of v. 11, emend the MT reading שִׁכְנוֹ (shikhno, “his residence”) to the infinitive construct לְשָׁכֵן (lÿshakhen, “to make [his name] to dwell”), perhaps with the 3rd person masculine singular sf לְשַׁכְּנוֹ (lÿshakÿno, “to cause it to dwell”). Though the presupposed nounשֵׁכֶן (shekhen) is nowhere else attested, the parallel here with שַׁמָּה (shammah, “there”) favors retaining the MT as it stands.
[12:6] 299 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:7] 300 tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.
[12:7] 301 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 304 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:10] 305 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 306 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.
[12:11] 307 tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”
[12:11] 308 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:11] 309 tn Heb “the
[12:12] 310 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”
[12:12] 311 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.
[12:14] 312 tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[12:14] 313 sn This injunction to worship in a single and central sanctuary – one limited and appropriate to the thrice-annual festival celebrations (see Exod 23:14-17; 34:22-24; Lev 23:4-36; Deut 16:16-17) – marks a departure from previous times when worship was carried out at local shrines (cf. Gen 8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 22:9; 26:25; 35:1, 3, 7; Exod 17:15). Apart from the corporate worship of the whole theocratic community, however, worship at local altars would still be permitted as in the past (Deut 16:21; Judg 6:24-27; 13:19-20; 1 Sam 7:17; 10:5, 13; 2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Kgs 18:30).
[12:15] 314 tn Heb “only in all the desire of your soul you may sacrifice and eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given to you.”
[12:15] 315 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB; likewise in vv. 17, 18).
[12:18] 316 tn Heb “the
[12:18] 317 tn See note at Deut 12:12.
[12:18] 318 tn Heb “in all the sending forth of your hands.”
[12:20] 319 tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”
[12:20] 320 tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”
[12:21] 321 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 322 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 323 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”
[12:23] 324 sn The blood is life itself. This is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which the cause or means (the blood) stands for the result or effect (life). That is, life depends upon the existence and circulation of blood, a truth known empirically but not scientifically tested and proved until the 17th century
[12:25] 325 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
[12:26] 326 tc Again, to complete a commonly attested wording the LXX adds after “choose” the phrase “to place his name there.” This shows insensitivity to deliberate departures from literary stereotypes. The MT reading is to be preferred.
[12:27] 327 sn These other sacrifices would be so-called peace or fellowship offerings whose ritual required a different use of the blood from that of burnt (sin and trespass) offerings (cf. Lev 3; 7:11-14, 19-21).
[12:27] 328 tn Heb “on the altar of the
[12:29] 329 tn Heb “dwell in their land” (so NASB). In the Hebrew text vv. 29-30 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides it into two.
[12:31] 330 tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the
[12:31] 331 tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.
[12:31] 332 tn Heb “every abomination of the
[12:32] 333 sn Beginning with 12:32, the verse numbers through 13:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 12:32 ET = 13:1 HT, 13:1 ET = 13:2 HT, 13:2 ET = 13:3 HT, etc., through 13:18 ET = 13:19 HT. With 14:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[12:32] 334 tn This verse highlights a phenomenon found throughout Deuteronomy, but most especially in chap. 12, namely, the alternation of grammatical singular and plural forms of the pronoun (known as Numeruswechsel in German scholarship). Critical scholarship in general resolves the “problem” by suggesting varying literary traditions – one favorable to the singular pronoun and the other to the plural – which appear in the (obviously rough) redacted text at hand. Even the ancient versions were troubled by the lack of harmony of grammatical number and in this verse, for example, offered a number of alternate readings. The MT reads “Everything I am commanding you (plural) you (plural) must be careful to do; you (singular) must not add to it nor should you (singular) subtract form it.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate suggest singular for the first two pronouns but a few Smr
[12:32] 335 sn Do not add to it or subtract from it. This prohibition makes at least two profound theological points: (1) This work by Moses is of divine origination (i.e., it is inspired) and therefore can tolerate no human alteration; and (2) the work is complete as it stands (i.e., it is canonical).
[13:1] 336 tn Heb “or a dreamer of dreams” (so KJV, ASV, NASB). The difference between a prophet (נָבִיא, navi’) and one who foretells by dreams (חֹלֵם אוֹ, ’o kholem) was not so much one of office – for both received revelation by dreams (cf. Num 12:6) – as it was of function or emphasis. The prophet was more a proclaimer and interpreter of revelation whereas the one who foretold by dreams was a receiver of revelation. In later times the role of the one who foretold by dreams was abused and thus denigrated as compared to that of the prophet (cf. Jer 23:28).
[13:1] 337 tn The expression אוֹת אוֹ מוֹפֵת (’ot ’o mofet) became a formulaic way of speaking of ways of authenticating prophetic messages or other works of God (cf. Deut 28:46; Isa 20:3). The NT equivalent is the Greek term σημεῖον (shmeion), a sign performed (used frequently in the Gospel of John, cf. 2:11, 18; 20:30-31). They could, however, be counterfeited or (as here) permitted to false prophets by the
[13:3] 338 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:3] 339 tn Heb “the
[13:3] 340 tn Heb “all your heart and soul” (so NRSV, CEV, NLT); or “heart and being” (NCV “your whole being”). See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[13:5] 341 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:5] 342 tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
[13:6] 343 tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.
[13:6] 344 tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”
[13:6] 345 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).
[13:6] 346 tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).
[13:7] 347 tn Or “land” (so NIV, NCV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “land” or “earth.”
[13:9] 348 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).
[13:9] 349 tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.
[13:10] 350 sn Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).
[13:11] 351 sn Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
[13:13] 352 tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”
[13:13] 353 tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”
[13:13] 354 tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.
[13:14] 355 tc Theodotian adds “in Israel,” perhaps to broaden the matter beyond the local village.
[13:15] 356 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “by all means.” Cf. KJV, NASB “surely”; NIV “certainly.”
[13:15] 357 tn Or “put under divine judgment. The Hebrew word (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to placing persons or things under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction.Though primarily applied against the heathen, this severe judgment could also fall upon unrepentant Israelites (cf. the story of Achan in Josh 7). See also the note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[13:16] 359 tn Heb “mound”; NAB “a heap of ruins.” The Hebrew word תֵּל (tel) refers to this day to a ruin represented especially by a built-up mound of dirt or debris (cf. Tel Aviv, “mound of grain”).
[13:17] 360 tn Or “anything that has been put under the divine curse”; Heb “anything of the ban” (cf. NASB). See note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[13:18] 361 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[13:18] 362 tc The LXX and Smr add “and good” to bring the phrase in line with a familiar cliché (cf. Deut 6:18; Josh 9:25; 2 Kgs 10:3; 2 Chr 14:1; etc.). This is an unnecessary and improper attempt to force a text into a preconceived mold.
[13:18] 363 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[14:1] 364 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”
[14:1] 365 sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.
[14:2] 367 tn Heb “The
[14:2] 368 tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.
[14:2] sn The Hebrew term translated “select” (and the whole verse) is reminiscent of the classic covenant text (Exod 19:4-6) which describes Israel’s entry into covenant relationship with the
[14:3] 369 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the
[14:5] 370 tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (’ayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ’ayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”
[14:5] 371 tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (tsÿvi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).
[14:5] 372 tn The Hebrew term יַחְמוּר (yakhmur) may refer to a “fallow deer”; cf. Arabic yahmur (“deer”). Cf. NAB, NIV, NCV “roe deer”; NEB, NRSV, NLT “roebuck.”
[14:5] 373 tn The Hebrew term דִּישֹׁן (dishon) is a hapax legomenon. Its referent is uncertain but the animal is likely a variety of antelope (cf. NEB “white-rumped deer”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “ibex”).
[14:5] 374 tn The Hebrew term תְּאוֹ (tÿ’o; a variant is תּוֹא, to’) could also refer to another species of antelope. Cf. NEB “long-horned antelope”; NIV, NRSV “antelope.”
[14:5] 375 tn The Hebrew term זֶמֶר (zemer) is another hapax legomenon with the possible meaning “wild sheep.” Cf. KJV, ASV “chamois”; NEB “rock-goat”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “mountain sheep.”
[14:6] 376 tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:7] 377 tn The Hebrew term שָׁפָן (shafan) may refer to the “coney” (cf. KJV, NIV) or hyrax (“rock badger,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
[14:8] 378 tc The MT lacks (probably by haplography) the phrase וְשֹׁסַע שֶׁסַע פַּרְסָה (vÿshosa’ shesa’ parsah, “and is clovenfooted,” i.e., “has parted hooves”), a phrase found in the otherwise exact parallel in Lev 11:7. The LXX and Smr attest the longer reading here. The meaning is, however, clear without it.
[14:12] 379 tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”
[14:12] 380 tn The Hebrew term פֶּרֶס (peres) describes a large vulture otherwise known as the ossifrage (cf. KJV). This largest of the vultures takes its name from its habit of dropping skeletal remains from a great height so as to break the bones apart.
[14:12] 381 tn The Hebrew term עָזְנִיָּה (’ozniyyah) may describe the black vulture (so NIV) or it may refer to the osprey (so NAB, NRSV, NLT), an eagle-like bird subsisting mainly on fish.
[14:13] 382 tn The Hebrew term is דַּיָּה (dayyah). This, with the previous two terms (רָאָה [ra’ah] and אַיָּה [’ayyah]), is probably a kite of some species but otherwise impossible to specify.
[14:15] 383 tn Or “owl.” The Hebrew term בַּת הַיַּעֲנָה (bat hayya’anah) is sometimes taken as “ostrich” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but may refer instead to some species of owl (cf. KJV “owl”; NEB “desert-owl”; NIV “horned owl”).
[14:15] 384 tn The Hebrew term תַּחְמָס (takhmas) is either a type of owl (cf. NEB “short-eared owl”; NIV “screech owl”) or possibly the nighthawk (so NRSV, NLT).
[14:15] 385 tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).
[14:16] 386 tn The Hebrew term תִּנְשֶׁמֶת (tinshemet) may refer to a species of owl (cf. ASV “horned owl”; NASB, NIV, NLT “white owl”) or perhaps even to the swan (so KJV); cf. NRSV “water hen.”
[14:17] 387 tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qa’at) may also refer to a type of owl (NAB, NIV, NRSV “desert owl”) or perhaps the pelican (so KJV, NASB, NLT).
[14:19] 388 tc The MT reads the Niphal (passive) for expected Qal (“you [plural] must not eat”); cf. Smr, LXX. However, the harder reading should stand.
[14:21] 389 tn Heb “gates” (also in vv. 27, 28, 29).
[14:21] 390 sn Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. This strange prohibition – one whose rationale is unclear but probably related to pagan ritual – may seem out of place here but actually is not for the following reasons: (1) the passage as a whole opens with a prohibition against heathen mourning rites (i.e., death, vv. 1-2) and closes with what appear to be birth and infancy rites. (2) In the other two places where the stipulation occurs (Exod 23:19 and Exod 34:26) it similarly concludes major sections. (3) Whatever the practice signified it clearly was abhorrent to the
[14:22] 391 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “be certain.”
[14:23] 392 tn This refers to wine in the early stages of fermentation. In its later stages it becomes wine (יַיִן, yayin) in its mature sense.
[14:24] 393 tn Heb “the
[14:24] 394 tn The Hebrew text includes “way is so far from you that you are unable to carry it because the.” These words have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because they are redundant.
[14:25] 395 tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”
[15:1] 396 tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”
[15:2] 397 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
[15:2] 398 tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”
[15:3] 399 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:4] 400 tc After the phrase “the
[15:4] 401 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “surely.” Note however, that the use is rhetorical, for the next verse attaches a condition.
[15:4] 402 tn Heb “the
[15:4] 403 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
[15:5] 404 tn Heb “if listening you listen to the voice of.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “carefully.” The idiom “listen to the voice” means “obey.”
[15:5] 405 tn Heb “the
[15:5] 406 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
[15:5] 407 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
[15:7] 408 tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.
[15:7] 410 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
[15:7] 411 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
[15:8] 412 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.
[15:8] 413 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:9] 415 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
[15:9] 416 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
[15:9] 417 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
[15:10] 418 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
[15:10] 419 tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.
[15:11] 420 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
[15:11] 421 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:12] 422 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] 423 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
[15:12] 424 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
[15:12] 425 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
[15:14] 426 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
[15:16] 427 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 428 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
[15:17] 429 sn When the bondslave’s ear was drilled through to the door, the door in question was that of the master’s house. In effect, the bondslave is declaring his undying and lifelong loyalty to his creditor. The scar (or even hole) in the earlobe would testify to the community that the slave had surrendered independence and personal rights. This may be what Paul had in mind when he said “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).
[15:18] 430 tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.
[15:19] 431 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the
[15:20] 432 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
[15:21] 433 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
[15:22] 434 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[15:22] 435 tc The LXX adds ἐν σοί (en soi, “among you”) to make clear that the antecedent is the people and not the animals. That is, the people, whether ritually purified or not, may eat such defective animals.
[16:1] 436 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
[16:1] 437 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:1] 438 tn Heb “the
[16:2] 439 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[16:2] 440 tn Heb “the
[16:4] 441 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
[16:4] 442 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:6] 444 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:6] 445 tc The MT reading אֶל (’el, “unto”) before “the place” should, following Smr, Syriac, Targums, and Vulgate, be omitted in favor of ב (bet; בַּמָּקוֹם, bammaqom), “in the place.”
[16:6] 446 tn Heb “the
[16:7] 447 tn The rules that governed the Passover meal are found in Exod 12:1-51, and Deut 16:1-8. The word translated “cook” (בָּשַׁל, bashal) here is translated “boil” in other places (e.g. Exod 23:19, 1 Sam 2:13-15). This would seem to contradict Exod 12:9 where the Israelites are told not to eat the Passover sacrifice raw or boiled. However, 2 Chr 35:13 recounts the celebration of a Passover feast during the reign of Josiah, and explains that the people “cooked (בָּשַׁל, bashal) the Passover sacrifices over the open fire.” The use of בָּשַׁל (bashal) with “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) suggests that the word could be used to speak of boiling or roasting.
[16:8] 448 tn The words “on that day” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for clarification (cf. TEV, NLT).
[16:9] 449 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:10] 450 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג שָׁבֻעוֹת (khag shavu’ot) is otherwise known in the OT (Exod 23:16) as קָצִיר (qatsir, “harvest”) and in the NT as πεντηχοστή (penthcosth, “Pentecost”).
[16:10] 451 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
[16:10] 452 tn Heb “the
[16:11] 453 tn Heb “the
[16:13] 455 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכֹּת (khag hassukot, “festival of huts” or “festival of shelters”) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is now preferable to the traditional “tabernacles” (KJV, ASV, NIV) in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. Clearer is the English term “shelters” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but this does not reflect the temporary nature of the living arrangement. This feast was a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt, suggesting that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
[16:13] 456 tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
[16:14] 457 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[16:15] 458 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 459 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 460 tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”
[16:16] 461 tn Heb “the
[16:17] 462 tn Heb “a man must give according to the gift of his hand.” This has been translated as second person for stylistic reasons, in keeping with the second half of the verse, which is second person rather than third.
[16:18] 463 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
[16:18] 465 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
[16:19] 466 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
[16:19] 467 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
[16:20] 468 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
[16:21] 469 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
[16:21] sn Sacred Asherah pole. This refers to a tree (or wooden pole) dedicated to the worship of Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. See also Deut 7:5.
[16:22] 470 sn Sacred pillar. This refers to the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
[17:1] 471 tn Heb “to the
[17:1] 472 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “an abomination”; cf. NAB) describes persons, things, or practices offensive to ritual or moral order. See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:314-18; see also the note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
[17:2] 474 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
[17:3] 475 tc The MT reads “and to the sun,” thus including the sun, the moon, and other heavenly spheres among the gods. However, Theodotion and Lucian read “or to the sun,” suggesting perhaps that the sun and the other heavenly bodies are not in the category of actual deities.
[17:3] 476 tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:4] 477 tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.
[17:5] 479 tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”
[17:7] 480 tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[17:7] 481 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
[17:8] 482 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
[17:8] 483 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
[17:8] 484 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
[17:8] 486 tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.
[17:12] 487 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
[17:15] 488 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
[17:15] 489 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not referring to siblings (cf. NIV “your brother Israelites”; NLT “a fellow Israelite”). The same phrase also occurs in v. 20.
[17:15] 490 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
[17:16] 491 tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).
[17:17] 492 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
[17:18] 493 tn Or “instruction.” The LXX reads here τὸ δευτερονόμιον τοῦτο (to deuteronomion touto, “this second law”). From this Greek phrase the present name of the book, “Deuteronomy” or “second law” (i.e., the second giving of the law), is derived. However, the MT’s expression מִשְׁנֶה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (mishneh hattorah hazzo’t) is better rendered “copy of this law.” Here the term תּוֹרָה (torah) probably refers only to the book of Deuteronomy and not to the whole Pentateuch.
[17:18] 494 tn The Hebrew term סֵפֶר (sefer) means a “writing” or “document” and could be translated “book” (so KJV, ASV, TEV). However, since “book” carries the connotation of a modern bound book with pages (an obvious anachronism) it is preferable to render the Hebrew term “scroll” here and elsewhere.
[17:20] 495 tc Heb “upon his kingship.” Smr supplies כִּסֵא (kise’, “throne”) so as to read “upon the throne of his kingship.” This overliteralizes what is a clearly understood figure of speech.
[18:1] 496 tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.
[18:1] 497 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[18:2] 498 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
[18:2] 499 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
[18:3] 500 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
[18:4] 501 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
[18:5] 502 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the
[18:5] 503 tn Heb “the name of the
[18:6] 504 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
[18:6] 505 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
[18:8] 506 tn Presumably this would not refer to a land inheritance, since that was forbidden to the descendants of Levi (v. 1). More likely it referred to some family possessions (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV) or other private property (cf. NLT “a private source of income”), or even support sent by relatives (cf. TEV “whatever his family sends him”).
[18:10] 507 tn Heb “who passes his son or his daughter through the fire.” The expression “pass…through the fire” is probably a euphemism for human sacrifice (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). See also Deut 12:31.
[18:10] 508 tn Heb “a diviner of divination” (קֹסֵם קְסָמִים, qosem qÿsamim). This was a means employed to determine the future or the outcome of events by observation of various omens and signs (cf. Num 22:7; 23:23; Josh 13:22; 1 Sam 6:2; 15:23; 28:8; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 3:945-51.
[18:10] 509 tn Heb “one who causes to appear” (מְעוֹנֵן, mÿ’onen). Such a practitioner was thought to be able to conjure up spirits or apparitions (cf. Lev 19:26; Judg 9:37; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 2:6; 57:3; Jer 27:9; Mic 5:11).
[18:10] 510 tn Heb “a seeker of omens” (מְנַחֵשׁ, mÿnakhesh). This is a subset of divination, one illustrated by the use of a “divining cup” in the story of Joseph (Gen 44:5).
[18:10] 511 tn Heb “a doer of sorcery” (מְכַשֵּׁף, mikhashef). This has to do with magic or the casting of spells in order to manipulate the gods or the powers of nature (cf. Lev 19:26-31; 2 Kgs 17:15b-17; 21:1-7; Isa 57:3, 5; etc.). See M. Horsnell, NIDOTTE 2:735-38.
[18:11] 512 tn Heb “a binder of binding” (חֹבֵר חָבֶר, khover khaver). The connotation is that of immobilizing (“binding”) someone or something by the use of magical words (cf. Ps 58:6; Isa 47:9, 12).
[18:11] 513 tn Heb “asker of a [dead] spirit” (שֹׁאֵל אוֹב, sho’el ’ov). This is a form of necromancy (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6; 1 Sam 28:8, 9; Isa 8:19; 19:3; 29:4).
[18:11] 514 tn Heb “a knowing [or “familiar”] [spirit]” (יִדְּעֹנִי, yiddÿ’oniy), i.e., one who is expert in mantic arts (cf. Lev 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Sam 28:3, 9; 2 Kgs 21:6; Isa 8:19; 19:3).
[18:11] 515 tn Heb “a seeker of the dead.” This is much the same as “one who conjures up spirits” (cf. 1 Sam 28:6-7).
[18:12] 516 tn Heb “these abhorrent things.” The repetition is emphatic. For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the same term used earlier in the verse has been translated “detestable” here.
[18:12] 517 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.
[18:15] 518 tc The MT expands here on the usual formula by adding “from among you” (cf. Deut 17:15; 18:18; Smr; a number of Greek texts). The expansion seems to be for the purpose of emphasis, i.e., the prophet to come must be not just from Israel but an Israelite by blood.
[18:15] tn “from your brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NAB “from among your own kinsmen”; NASB “from your countrymen”; NRSV “from among your own people.” A similar phrase occurs in v. 17.
[18:16] 519 tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”
[18:19] 520 tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”
[18:19] 521 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:20] 522 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[18:21] 523 tn Heb “in your heart.”
[18:21] 524 tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.
[18:22] 525 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 526 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
[18:22] 527 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
[18:22] 528 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 529 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
[19:1] 530 tn Heb “the
[19:2] 531 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
[19:4] 533 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
[19:4] 534 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
[19:4] 535 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day)” (likewise in v. 6). The point is that there was no animosity between the two parties at the time of the accident and therefore no motive for the killing. Cf. NAB “had previously borne no malice”; NRSV “had not been at enmity before.”
[19:5] 536 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
[19:5] 537 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
[19:5] 538 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
[19:5] 540 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:5] 541 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:6] 543 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
[19:6] 544 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
[19:6] 545 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
[19:8] 547 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
[19:9] 548 tn Heb “all this commandment.” This refers here to the entire covenant agreement of the Book of Deuteronomy as encapsulated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
[19:9] 549 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
[19:9] 550 sn You will add three more cities. Since these are alluded to nowhere else and thus were probably never added, this must be a provision for other cities of refuge should they be needed (cf. v. 8). See P. C. Craigie, Deuteronomy (NICOT), 267.
[19:10] 551 tn Heb “innocent blood must not be shed.” The Hebrew phrase דָּם נָקִי (dam naqiy) means the blood of a person to whom no culpability or responsibility adheres because what he did was without malice aforethought (HALOT 224 s.v דָּם 4.b).
[19:10] 552 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
[19:11] 553 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:11] 554 tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”
[19:12] 555 tn The גֹאֵל הַדָּם (go’el haddam, “avenger of blood”) would ordinarily be a member of the victim’s family who, after due process of law, was invited to initiate the process of execution (cf. Num 35:16-28). See R. Hubbard, NIDOTTE 1:789-94.
[19:13] 556 sn Purge out the blood of the innocent. Because of the corporate nature of Israel’s community life, the whole community shared in the guilt of unavenged murder unless and until vengeance occurred. Only this would restore spiritual and moral equilibrium (Num 35:33).
[19:14] 557 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
[19:14] 558 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
[19:14] 559 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
[19:15] 560 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
[19:15] 561 tn Heb “may stand.”
[19:16] 562 tn Heb “violent” (חָמָס, khamas). This is a witness whose motivation from the beginning is to do harm to the accused and who, therefore, resorts to calumny and deceit. See I. Swart and C. VanDam, NIDOTTE 2:177-80.
[19:16] 563 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 564 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 565 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 566 tn Heb “you will burn out” (בִּעַרְתָּ, bi’arta). Like a cancer, unavenged sin would infect the whole community. It must, therefore, be excised by the purging out of its perpetrators who, presumably, remained unrepentant (cf. Deut 13:6; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7).
[19:21] 567 sn This kind of justice is commonly called lex talionis or “measure for measure” (cf. Exod 21:23-25; Lev 24:19-20). It is likely that it is the principle that is important and not always a strict application. That is, the punishment should fit the crime and it may do so by the payment of fines or other suitable and equitable compensation (cf. Exod 22:21; Num 35:31). See T. S. Frymer-Kensky, “Tit for Tat: The Principle of Equal Retribution in Near Eastern and Biblical Law,” BA 43 (1980): 230-34.
[20:1] 568 tn Heb “horse and chariot.”
[20:2] 570 sn The reference to the priest suggests also the presence of the ark of the covenant, the visible sign of God’s presence. The whole setting is clearly that of “holy war” or “Yahweh war,” in which God himself takes initiative as the true commander of the forces of Israel (cf. Exod 14:14-18; 15:3-10; Deut 3:22; 7:18-24; 31:6, 8).
[20:2] 571 tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”
[20:4] 572 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
[20:5] 573 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
[20:5] 574 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
[20:5] 575 tn The Hebrew term חָנַךְ (khanakh) occurs elsewhere only with respect to the dedication of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 8:63 = 2 Chr 7:5). There it has a religious connotation which, indeed, may be the case here as well. The noun form (חָנֻכָּה, khanukah) is associated with the consecration of the great temple altar (2 Chr 7:9) and of the postexilic wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27). In Maccabean times the festival of Hanukkah was introduced to celebrate the rededication of the temple following its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 Macc 4:36-61).
[20:5] 576 tn Heb “another man.”
[20:7] 577 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
[20:8] 578 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
[20:9] 580 tn The Hebrew text includes “to the people,” but this phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 581 tn Heb “princes of hosts.”
[20:11] 582 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
[20:11] 583 tn Heb “become as a vassal and will serve you.” The Hebrew term translated slaves (מַס, mas) refers either to Israelites who were pressed into civil service, especially under Solomon (1 Kgs 5:27; 9:15, 21; 12:18), or (as here) to foreigners forced as prisoners of war to become slaves to Israel. The Gibeonites exemplify this type of servitude (Josh 9:3-27; cf. Josh 16:10; 17:13; Judg 1:28, 30-35; Isa 31:8; Lam 1:1).
[20:13] 584 tn Heb “to your hands.”
[20:16] 585 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
[20:16] 586 tn Heb “any breath.”
[20:17] 587 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “utterly.” Cf. CEV “completely wipe out.”
[20:17] sn The Hebrew verb refers to placing persons or things so evil and/or impure as to be irredeemable under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction. See also the note on the phrase “the divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.
[20:17] 588 sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[20:17] 589 sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[20:17] 590 sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[20:17] 591 sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[20:17] 592 sn Hivite. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
[20:17] 593 tc The LXX adds “Girgashites” here at the end of the list in order to list the full (and usual) complement of seven (see note on “seven” in Deut 7:1).
[20:17] sn Jebusite. These people inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).
[20:18] 594 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
[20:19] 595 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
[20:19] 596 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
[20:19] 597 tn Heb “you may eat from them.” The direct object is not expressed; the word “fruit” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[20:19] 598 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
[20:20] 599 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
[20:20] 600 tn Heb “[an] enclosure.” The term מָצוֹר (matsor) may refer to encircling ditches or to surrounding stagings. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238.
[21:1] 601 tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).
[21:1] 602 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:1] 603 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
[21:2] 604 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
[21:3] 605 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:4] 606 tn The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.
[21:4] 607 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.
[21:5] 608 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
[21:5] 609 tn Heb “in the name of the
[21:5] 610 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
[21:5] 611 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
[21:6] 612 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:6] 613 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
[21:7] 614 tn Heb “our eyes.” This is a figure of speech known as synecdoche in which the part (the eyes) is put for the whole (the entire person).
[21:7] 615 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:8] 616 tn Heb “Atone for.”
[21:8] 617 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
[21:9] 618 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
[21:10] 619 tn Heb “gives him into your hands.”
[21:11] 620 tn Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:12] 621 sn This requirement for the woman to shave her head may symbolize the putting away of the old life and customs in preparation for being numbered among the people of the
[21:13] 622 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
[21:13] 623 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
[21:13] 624 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
[21:14] 625 sn Heb “send her off.” The Hebrew term שִׁלַּחְתָּה (shillakhtah) is a somewhat euphemistic way of referring to divorce, the matter clearly in view here (cf. Deut 22:19, 29; 24:1, 3; Jer 3:1; Mal 2:16). This passage does not have the matter of divorce as its principal objective, so it should not be understood as endorsing divorce generally. It merely makes the point that if grounds for divorce exist (see Deut 24:1-4), and then divorce ensues, the husband could in no way gain profit from it.
[21:14] 626 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
[21:14] 627 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:14] 628 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
[21:14] 629 sn You have humiliated her. Since divorce was considered rejection, the wife subjected to it would “lose face” in addition to the already humiliating event of having become a wife by force (21:11-13). Furthermore, the Hebrew verb translated “humiliated” here (עָנָה, ’anah), commonly used to speak of rape (cf. Gen 34:2; 2 Sam 13:12, 14, 22, 32; Judg 19:24), likely has sexual overtones as well. The woman may not be enslaved or abused after the divorce because it would be double humiliation (see also E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy [NAC], 291).
[21:15] 630 tn Heb “one whom he loves and one whom he hates.” For the idea of שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) meaning to be rejected or loved less (cf. NRSV “disliked”), see Gen 29:31, 33; Mal 1:2-3. Cf. A. Konkel, NIDOTTE 3:1256-60.
[21:15] 631 tn Heb “both the one whom he loves and the one whom he hates.” On the meaning of the phrase “one whom he loves and one whom he hates” see the note on the word “other” earlier in this verse. The translation has been simplified for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:16] 632 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
[21:16] 633 tn Heb “the hated.”
[21:17] 634 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
[21:17] 635 tn Heb “measure of two.” The Hebrew expression פִּי שְׁנַיִם (piy shÿnayim) suggests a two-thirds split; that is, the elder gets two parts and the younger one part. Cf. 2 Kgs 2:9; Zech 13:8. The practice is implicit in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen 25:31-34) and Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim (Gen 48:8-22).
[21:17] 636 tn Heb “his generative power” (אוֹן, ’on; cf. HALOT 22 s.v.). Cf. NAB “the first fruits of his manhood”; NRSV “the first issue of his virility.”
[21:18] 637 tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”
[21:20] 638 tc The LXX and Smr read “to the men,” probably to conform to this phrase in v. 21. However, since judicial cases were the responsibility of the elders in such instances (cf. Deut 19:12; 21:3, 6; 25:7-8) the reading of the MT is likely original and correct here.
[21:21] 639 tn The Hebrew term בִּעַרְתָּה (bi’artah), here and elsewhere in such contexts (cf. Deut 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:9), suggests God’s anger which consumes like fire (thus בָעַר, ba’ar, “to burn”). See H. Ringgren, TDOT 2:203-4.
[21:21] 640 tc Some LXX traditions read הַנִּשְׁאָרִים (hannish’arim, “those who remain”) for the MT’s יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”), understandable in light of Deut 19:20. However, the more difficult reading found in the MT is more likely original.
[21:23] 642 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
[21:23] 643 tn Heb “hung,” but this could convey the wrong image in English (hanging with a rope as a means of execution). Cf. NCV “anyone whose body is displayed on a tree.”
[21:23] 644 sn The idea behind the phrase cursed by God seems to be not that the person was impaled because he was cursed but that to leave him exposed there was to invite the curse of God upon the whole land. Why this would be so is not clear, though the rabbinic idea that even a criminal is created in the image of God may give some clue (thus J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 198). Paul cites this text (see Gal 3:13) to make the point that Christ, suspended from a cross, thereby took upon himself the curse associated with such a display of divine wrath and judgment (T. George, Galatians [NAC], 238-39).
[22:1] 645 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
[22:1] 646 tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”
[22:1] 647 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
[22:1] 648 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
[22:2] 649 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
[22:2] 650 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
[22:2] 651 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
[22:2] 652 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:3] 653 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
[22:3] 654 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
[22:4] 655 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
[22:4] 656 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
[22:4] 657 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
[22:4] 658 tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.
[22:5] 659 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
[22:5] 660 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “offense”) speaks of anything that runs counter to ritual or moral order, especially (in the OT) to divine standards. Cross-dressing in this covenant context may suggest homosexuality, fertility cult ritual, or some other forbidden practice.
[22:6] 661 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
[22:6] 662 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
[22:7] 663 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
[22:8] 664 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
[22:8] 665 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
[22:9] 666 tn Heb “set apart.” The verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) in the Qal verbal stem (as here) has the idea of being holy or being treated with special care. Some take the meaning as “be off-limits, forfeited,” i.e., the total produce of the vineyard, both crops and grapes, have to be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Exod 29:37; 30:29; Lev 6:18, 27; Num 16:37-38; Hag 2:12).
[22:11] 667 tn The Hebrew term שַׁעַטְנֵז (sha’atnez) occurs only here and in Lev 19:19. HALOT 1610-11 s.v. takes it to be a contraction of words (שַׁשׁ [shash, “headdress”] + עַטְנַז [’atnaz, “strong”]). BDB 1043 s.v. שַׁעַטְנֵז offers the translation “mixed stuff” (cf. NEB “woven with two kinds of yarn”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “woven together”). The general meaning is clear even if the etymology is not.
[22:12] 668 tn Heb “twisted threads” (גְּדִלִים, gÿdilim) appears to be synonymous with צִיצִת (tsitsit) which, in Num 15:38, occurs in a passage instructing Israel to remember the covenant. Perhaps that is the purpose of the tassels here as well. Cf. KJV, ASV “fringes”; NAB “twisted cords.”
[22:13] 669 tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.
[22:13] 670 tn Heb “hate.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15. Cf. NAB “comes to dislike”; NASB “turns against”; TEV “decides he doesn’t want.”
[22:14] 671 tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”
[22:14] 672 tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”
[22:14] 673 tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.
[22:15] 674 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.
[22:16] 675 tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[22:17] 676 tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”
[22:18] 677 tn Heb “discipline.”
[22:19] 678 tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.
[22:19] 679 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
[22:21] 680 tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”
[22:21] 681 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.
[22:22] 682 tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.
[22:22] 683 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
[22:22] 684 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:23] 686 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:24] 689 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:25] 690 tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.
[22:25] 691 tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.
[22:25] 692 tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”
[22:26] 693 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[22:27] 694 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:28] 695 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:30] 696 sn Beginning with 22:30, the verse numbers through 23:25 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:30 ET = 23:1 HT, 23:1 ET = 23:2 HT, 23:2 ET = 23:3 HT, etc., through 23:25 ET = 23:26 HT. With 24:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[22:30] 697 tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
[22:30] 698 sn This presupposes either the death of the father or their divorce since it would be impossible for one to marry his stepmother while his father was still married to her.
[22:30] 699 tn Heb “uncover his father’s skirt” (so ASV, NASB). This appears to be a circumlocution for describing the dishonor that would come to a father by having his own son share his wife’s sexuality (cf. NAB, NIV “dishonor his father’s bed”).
[23:1] 700 tn Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”
[23:1] 701 tn Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”
[23:1] 702 sn The Hebrew term translated “assembly” (קָהָל, qahal) does not refer here to the nation as such but to the formal services of the tabernacle or temple. Since emasculated or other sexually abnormal persons were commonly associated with pagan temple personnel, the thrust here may be primarily polemical in intent. One should not read into this anything having to do with the mentally and physically handicapped as fit to participate in the life and ministry of the church.
[23:2] 703 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
[23:2] 704 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:3] 705 sn An Ammonite or Moabite. These descendants of Lot by his two daughters (cf. Gen 19:30-38) were thereby the products of incest and therefore excluded from the worshiping community. However, these two nations also failed to show proper hospitality to Israel on their way to Canaan (v. 4).
[23:3] 706 tn The Hebrew term translated “ever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ’ad-’olam) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.
[23:3] 707 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:4] 708 tn Heb “hired against you.”
[23:5] 709 tn Heb “the
[23:5] 710 tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”) here and commonly elsewhere in the Book of Deuteronomy speaks of God’s elective grace toward Israel. See note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[23:7] 712 tn Heb “sojourner.”
[23:8] 713 sn Concessions were made to the Edomites and Egyptians (as compared to the others listed in vv. 1-6) because the Edomites (i.e., Esauites) were full “brothers” of Israel and the Egyptians had provided security and sustenance for Israel for more than four centuries.
[23:9] 714 tn Heb “evil.” The context makes clear that this is a matter of ritual impurity, not moral impurity, so it is “evil” in the sense that it disbars one from certain religious activity.
[23:10] 715 tn Heb “nocturnal happening.” The Hebrew term קָרֶה (qareh) merely means “to happen” so the phrase here is euphemistic (a “night happening”) for some kind of bodily emission such as excrement or semen. Such otherwise normal physical functions rendered one ritually unclean whether accidental or not. See Lev 15:16-18; 22:4.
[23:12] 716 tn Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 717 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 718 tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:13] 719 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
[23:14] 720 tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”
[23:14] 721 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing”; NLT “any shameful thing.” The expression עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers specifically to sexual organs and, by extension, to any function associated with them. There are some aspects of human life that are so personal and private that they ought not be publicly paraded. Cultically speaking, even God is offended by such impropriety (cf. Gen 9:22-23; Lev 18:6-12, 16-19; 20:11, 17-21). See B. Seevers, NIDOTTE 3:528-30.
[23:15] 722 tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.
[23:17] 724 tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qÿdeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah).
[23:17] 725 tn Heb “daughters.”
[23:17] 726 tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).
[23:18] 728 tn Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה (zonah) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17.
[23:18] 729 tn Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17.
[23:19] 730 tn Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).
[23:21] 731 tn Heb “the
[23:21] 732 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”
[23:21] 733 tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”
[23:24] 734 tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”
[23:24] 735 tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”
[23:25] 736 sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
[24:1] 737 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10).
[24:2] 738 tn Heb “his house.”
[24:3] 739 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[24:3] 740 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
[24:4] 741 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
[24:4] 742 sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.
[24:4] 743 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
[24:5] 744 tn Heb “go out with.”
[24:5] 745 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
[24:6] 746 sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.
[24:7] 747 tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.
[24:7] 748 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
[24:7] 749 tn Heb “that thief.”
[24:7] 750 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
[24:8] 751 tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
[24:9] 752 sn What the
[24:10] 753 tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
[24:11] 754 tn Heb “his pledge.”
[24:12] 755 tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”
[24:13] 756 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
[24:13] 757 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
[24:14] 758 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”
[24:14] 759 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 760 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
[24:19] 761 tn Heb “in the field.”
[24:19] 762 tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).
[24:20] 763 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
[24:21] 764 tn Heb “glean after you.”
[25:1] 766 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:1] 767 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
[25:1] 768 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
[25:2] 769 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[25:2] 770 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
[25:2] 771 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
[25:3] 772 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:3] 773 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] 774 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
[25:4] 775 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
[25:5] 776 tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
[25:5] 777 sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6).
[25:6] 778 tn Heb “and it will be that.”
[25:6] 779 tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.
[25:7] 780 tn Heb “want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister in law.” In the second instance the pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[25:9] 781 sn The removal of the sandal was likely symbolic of the relinquishment by the man of any claim to his dead brother’s estate since the sandal was associated with the soil or land (cf. Ruth 4:7-8). Spitting in the face was a sign of utmost disgust or disdain, an emotion the rejected widow would feel toward her uncooperative brother-in-law (cf. Num 12:14; Lev 15:8). See W. Bailey, NIDOTTE 2:544.
[25:9] 782 tn Heb “build the house of his brother”; TEV “refuses to give his brother a descendant”; NLT “refuses to raise up a son for his brother.”
[25:10] 783 tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.”
[25:10] 785 tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.”
[25:11] 786 tn Heb “a man and his brother.”
[25:11] 787 tn Heb “shameful parts.” Besides the inherent indelicacy of what she has done, the woman has also threatened the progenitive capacity of the injured man. The level of specificity given this term in modern translations varies: “private parts” (NAB, NIV, CEV); “genitals” (NASB, NRSV, TEV); “sex organs” (NCV); “testicles” (NLT).
[25:13] 788 tn Heb “a stone and a stone.” The repetition of the singular noun here expresses diversity, as the following phrase indicates. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
[25:13] 789 tn Heb “a large and a small,” but since the issue is the weight, “a heavy and a light one” conveys the idea better in English.
[25:14] 790 tn Heb “an ephah and an ephah.” An ephah refers to a unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to five U.S. gallons (just under 20 liters). On the repetition of the term to indicate diversity, see IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
[25:15] 791 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
[25:16] 792 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.
[25:17] 793 tn Heb “what Amalek” (so NAB, NRSV). Here the individual ancestor, the namesake of the tribe, is cited as representative of the entire tribe at the time Israel was entering Canaan. Consistent with this, singular pronouns are used in v. 18 and the singular name appears again in v. 19. Since readers unfamiliar with the tribe of Amalekites might think this refers to an individual, the term “Amalekites” and the corresponding plural pronouns have been used throughout these verses (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[25:18] 794 sn See Exod 17:8-16.
[25:19] 795 tn Heb “ the
[25:19] 796 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”
[25:19] 797 tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[25:19] 798 sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.
[26:1] 799 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
[26:2] 800 tn Heb “the
[26:2] 801 sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14.
[26:3] 802 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
[26:3] 803 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
[26:3] 804 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[26:3] 805 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
[26:4] 806 tn Heb “your hand.”
[26:5] 807 tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.
[26:5] 808 sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).
[26:5] 810 tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
[26:7] 811 tn Heb “the
[26:8] 812 tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[26:10] 813 tn Heb “the
[26:11] 814 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
[26:12] 815 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[26:12] 816 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
[26:13] 818 tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the
[26:13] 819 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:14] 820 sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.
[26:14] 821 tn Heb “the
[26:16] 822 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
[26:19] 823 tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).
[26:19] 824 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
[26:19] 825 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
