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.
10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan 26 to Moserah. 27 There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 41 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.
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. 42
22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with 43 a married woman 44 both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge 45 evil from Israel.
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. 50
24:16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children 51 do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.
31:9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.
32:14 butter from the herd
and milk from the flock,
along with the fat of lambs,
rams and goats of Bashan,
along with the best of the kernels of wheat;
and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroy 59 both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 60
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 61
and the Lord had handed them over?
32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh –
the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
the chief 62 of the enemy’s leaders!’”
1 tn Heb “the mouth of the
2 sn Avvites. Otherwise unknown, these people were probably also Anakite (or Rephaite) giants who lived in the lower Mediterranean coastal plain until they were expelled by the Caphtorites.
3 sn Caphtorites. These peoples are familiar from both the OT (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7) and ancient Near Eastern texts (Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:37-38; ANET 138). They originated in Crete (OT “Caphtor”) and are identified as the ancestors of the Philistines (Gen 10:14; Jer 47:4).
4 tn Heb “Caphtor”; the modern name of the island of Crete is used in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
5 tn Heb “silver.”
6 tn Heb “and water for silver give to me so that I may drink.”
7 tc The translation follows the Qere or marginal reading; the Kethib (consonantal text) has the singular, “his son.”
8 tn Heb “all his people.”
9 tn Or “high walls and barred gates” (NLT); Heb “high walls, gates, and bars.” Since “bars” could be understood to mean “saloons,” the qualifying adjective “locking” has been supplied in the translation.
10 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (pÿraziy) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
11 sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).
12 sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.
13 tn Heb “lift your eyes to the west, north, south, and east and see with your eyes.” The translation omits the repetition of “your eyes” for stylistic reasons.
14 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
15 tn Heb “the slayer who slew his neighbor without knowledge.”
16 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day).” 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.
17 tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
18 tn Heb “the
19 tn Heb “the
20 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
21 tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
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).
22 tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
23 tn Heb “the
24 tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.
25 tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”
26 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).
27 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.
28 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
29 tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.
30 tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.
31 tn Heb “the
32 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.
33 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
34 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.
35 tn Heb “in your gates.”
36 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.
37 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
38 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
39 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
40 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
41 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
42 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).
43 tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.
44 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
45 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
46 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
47 tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
49 sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
50 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.
51 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
52 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”
53 tn Heb “the
54 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).
55 tn The Hebrew text includes “on you.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
56 tn The Hebrew text includes “from on your feet.”
57 tc The LXX reads “that he is the
58 tn Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.
59 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
60 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
61 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
62 tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).