15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation 1 of debts.
1:1 This is what 2 Moses said to the assembly of Israel 3 in the Transjordanian 4 wastelands, the arid country opposite 5 Suph, 6 between 7 Paran 8 and Tophel, 9 Laban, 10 Hazeroth, 11 and Di Zahab 12 1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey 13 from Horeb 14 to Kadesh Barnea 15 by way of Mount Seir. 16 1:3 However, it was not until 17 the first day of the eleventh month 18 of the fortieth year 19 that Moses addressed the Israelites just as 20 the Lord had instructed him to do. 1:4 This took place after the defeat 21 of King Sihon 22 of the Amorites, whose capital was 23 in Heshbon, 24 and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was 25 in Ashtaroth, 26 specifically in Edrei. 27 1:5 So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: 28
1:6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed 29 in the area of this mountain long enough. 1:7 Get up now, 30 resume your journey, heading for 31 the Amorite hill country, to all its areas 32 including the arid country, 33 the highlands, the Shephelah, 34 the Negev, 35 and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 1:8 Look! I have already given the land to you. 36 Go, occupy the territory that I, 37 the Lord, promised 38 to give to your ancestors 39 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.” 40 1:9 I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself. 1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population 41 to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. 42 1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you 43 just as he said he would! 1:12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? 1:13 Select wise and practical 44 men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.” 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose 45 as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they 46 should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens 47 and judge fairly, 48 whether between one citizen and another 49 or a citizen and a resident foreigner. 50 1:17 They 51 must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly 52 and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.
1:18 So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. 1:19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea. 1:20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the Amorite hill country which the Lord our God is about to give 53 us. 1:21 Look, he 54 has placed the land in front of you! 55 Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!” 1:22 So all of you approached me and said, “Let’s send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there.” 1:23 I thought this was a good idea, 56 so I sent 57 twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 1:24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, 58 which they scouted out. 1:25 Then they took 59 some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”
1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. 60 1:27 You complained among yourselves privately 61 and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 62 by describing people who are more numerous 63 and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 64 itself! Moreover, they said they saw 65 Anakites 66 there.” 1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified 67 of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go 68 ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 69 1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him 70 carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.” 1:32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, 1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
1:34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: 71 1:35 “Not a single person 72 of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! 1:36 The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; 73 he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.” 74 1:37 As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, “You also will not be able to go there. 1:38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, 75 will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. 76 1:39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, 77 and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, 78 will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. 1:40 But as for you, 79 turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.” 80
1:41 Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. 1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’” 1:43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord 81 and recklessly went up to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area 82 confronted 83 you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. 84 1:45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he 85 paid no attention to you whatsoever. 86 1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time. 87
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. 88 10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words 89 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 90 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 91 then wrote on the tablets the same words, 92 the ten commandments, 93 which he 94 had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he 95 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 96 to Moserah. 97 There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, 98 and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, 99 a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi 100 to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings 101 in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance 102 among his brothers; 103 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 104 said to me, “Get up, set out leading 105 the people so they may go and possess 106 the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” 107
10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, 108 to obey all his commandments, 109 to love him, to serve him 110 with all your mind and being, 111 10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving 112 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 113 show his loving favor, 114 and he chose you, their descendants, 115 from all peoples – as is apparent today. 10:16 Therefore, cleanse 116 your heart and stop being so stubborn! 117 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 118 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; 119 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. 120
1 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.”
2 tn Heb “These are the words.”
3 tn Heb “to all Israel.”
4 tn Heb “on the other side of the Jordan.” This would appear to favor authorship by someone living on the west side of the Jordan, that is, in Canaan, whereas the biblical tradition locates Moses on the east side (cf. v. 5). However the Hebrew phrase בְּעֵבֶר הַיּרְדֵּן (bÿ’ever hayyrÿden) is a frozen form meaning “Transjordan,” a name appropriate from any geographical vantage point. To this day, one standing east of the Jordan can describe himself as being in Transjordan.
5 tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
6 sn This place is otherwise unattested and its location is unknown. Perhaps it is Khirbet Sufah, 4 mi (6 km) SSE of Madaba, Jordan.
7 tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”
8 sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).
9 sn Tophel refers possibly to et£-T£afîleh, 15 mi (25 km) SE of the Dead Sea, or to Da‚bîlu, another name for Paran. See H. Cazelles, “Tophel (Deut. 1:1),” VT 9 (1959): 412-15.
10 sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).
11 sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.
12 sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.
13 sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).
14 sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.
15 sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.
16 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”
17 tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.
18 sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
19 sn The fortieth year would be 1406
20 tn Heb “according to all which.”
21 tn Heb “when he struck [or “smote”].”
22 sn See Deut 2:26–3:22.
23 tn Heb “who lived.”
24 sn Heshbon is probably modern Tell Hesban, about 7.5 mi (12 km) south southwest of Amman, Jordan.
25 tn Heb “who lived.”
26 sn Ashtaroth is probably Tell àAshtarah, about 22 mi (35 km) due east of the Sea of Galilee.
27 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31).
28 tn Heb “this instruction”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “this law”; TEV “God’s laws and teachings.” The Hebrew noun תוֹרָה (torah) is derived from the verb יָרָה (yarah, “to teach”) and here it refers to the Book of Deuteronomy, not the Pentateuch as a whole.
29 tn Heb “lived”; “dwelled.”
30 tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”
31 tn Heb “go (to).”
32 tn Heb “its dwelling places.”
33 tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
34 tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”
sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country.
35 sn The Hebrew term Negev means literally “desert” or “south” (so KJV, ASV). It refers to the area south of Beer Sheba and generally west of the Arabah Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.
36 tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”
37 tn Heb “the
38 tn Heb “swore” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to God’s promise, made by solemn oath, to give the patriarchs the land.
39 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).
40 tn Heb “their seed after them.”
41 tn Heb “multiplied you.”
42 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
43 tn Heb “may he bless you.”
44 tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).
45 tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”
46 tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
47 tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.
48 tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).
49 tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”
50 tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”
51 tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).
52 tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.
53 tn The Hebrew participle has an imminent future sense here, although many English versions treat it as a present tense (“is giving us,” NAB, NIV, NRSV) or a predictive future (“will give us,” NCV).
54 tn Heb “the
55 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
56 tn Heb “the thing was good in my eyes.”
57 tn Or “selected” (so NIV, NRSV, TEV); Heb “took.”
58 tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).
sn The Eshcol Valley is a verdant valley near Hebron, still famous for its viticulture (cf. Num 13:22-23). The Hebrew name “Eshcol” means “trestle,” that is, the frame on which grape vines grow.
59 tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.
60 tn Heb “the mouth of the
61 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
62 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”
63 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).
64 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
65 tn Heb “we have seen.”
66 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”
sn Anakites were giant people (Num 13:33; Deut 2:10, 21; 9:2) descended from a certain Anak whose own forefather Arba founded the city of Kiriath Arba, i.e., Hebron (Josh 21:11).
67 tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.
68 tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).
69 tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
70 tn Heb “the
71 tn Heb “and swore,” i.e., made an oath or vow.
72 tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”
73 sn Caleb had, with Joshua, brought back to Israel a minority report from Canaan urging a conquest of the land, for he was confident of the
74 tn Heb “the
75 tn Heb “the one who stands before you”; NAB “your aide”; TEV “your helper.”
76 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
77 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
78 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
79 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, as are the following verbs, indicating that Moses and the people are addressed (note v. 41).
80 tn Heb “the Reed Sea.” “Reed” is a better translation of the Hebrew סוּף (suf), traditionally rendered “red.” The name “Red Sea” is based on the LXX which referred to it as ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης (eruqra" qalassh", “red sea”). Nevertheless, because the body of water in question is known in modern times as the Red Sea, this term was used in the translation. The part of the Red Sea in view here is not the one crossed in the exodus but its eastern arm, now known as the Gulf of Eilat or Gulf of Aqaba.
81 tn Heb “the mouth of the
82 tn Heb “in that hill country,” repeating the end of v. 43.
83 tn Heb “came out to meet.”
84 sn Hormah is probably Khirbet el-Meshash, 5.5 mi (9 km) west of Arad and 7.5 mi (12 km) SE of Beer Sheba. Its name is a derivative of the verb חָרָם (kharam, “to ban; to exterminate”). See Num 21:3.
85 tn Heb “the
86 tn Heb “did not hear your voice and did not turn an ear to you.”
87 tn Heb “like the days which you lived.” This refers to the rest of the forty-year period in the desert before Israel arrived in Moab.
88 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.
89 sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the
90 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.
91 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
92 tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.
93 tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”
94 tn Heb “the
95 tn Heb “the
96 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).
97 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.
98 sn Gudgodah. This is probably the same as Haggidgad, which is also associated with Jotbathah (Num 33:33).
99 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.
100 sn The
101 sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.
102 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
103 tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.
104 tn Heb “the
105 tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”
106 tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.
107 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).
108 tn Heb “the
109 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”
110 tn Heb “the
111 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
112 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
113 tn Heb “the
114 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
115 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
116 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).
117 tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
118 tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.”
119 tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).
120 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.