Ulangan 11:1--26:19
Konteks11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments 1 at all times. 11:2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking 2 to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments 3 of the Lord your God, which revealed 4 his greatness, strength, and power. 5 11:3 They did not see 6 the awesome deeds he performed 7 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 8 overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he 9 annihilated them. 10 11:5 They did not see 11 what he did to you in the desert before you reached this place, 11:6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, 12 sons of Eliab the Reubenite, 13 when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp 14 and swallowed them, their families, 15 their tents, and all the property they brought with them. 16 11:7 I am speaking to you 17 because you are the ones who saw all the great deeds of the Lord!
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 18 I am giving 19 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 20 11:9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors 21 and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 11:10 For the land where you are headed 22 is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand 23 like a vegetable garden. 11:11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy 24 is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, 25 11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. 26 He is constantly attentive to it 27 from the beginning to the end of the year. 28 11:13 Now, if you pay close attention 29 to my commandments that I am giving you today and love 30 the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, 31 11:14 then he promises, 32 “I will send rain for your land 33 in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, 34 so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide pasture 35 for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”
11:16 Make sure you do not turn away to serve and worship other gods! 36 11:17 Then the anger of the Lord will erupt 37 against you and he will close up the sky 38 so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed 39 from the good land that the Lord 40 is about to give you. 11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, 41 and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols 42 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, 43 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. 44 11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments 45 I am giving you 46 and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, 47 and remain loyal to him, 11:23 then he 48 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 49 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. 50 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: 51 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart 52 the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, 11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention 53 to his 54 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before 55 you today to pursue 56 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. 57 11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River, 58 toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal 59 near the oak 60 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, 61 has given you to possess. 62 12:2 You must by all means destroy 63 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. 64 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 65 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 66 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 67 chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, 68 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, 69 your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families 70 must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he 71 has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone 72 doing what seems best to him, 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop 73 and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River 74 and settle in the land he 75 is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. 76 12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing 77 everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 78 and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. 79 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 80 (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). 81 12:13 Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, 12:14 for you may do so 82 only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. 83
12:15 On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the Lord your God blesses you 84 in all your villages. 85 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 86 chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites 87 in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the Lord your God in all the output of your labor. 88 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,” 89 you may do so as you wish. 90 12:21 If the place he 91 chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he 92 has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages 93 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 94 – 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. 95 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. 96 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 97 you must pour out on his 98 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. 99 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! 100 For everything that is abhorrent 101 to him, 102 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) 103 You 104 must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! 105 13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams 106 should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, 107 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, 108 for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him 109 with all your mind and being. 110 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, 111 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. 112
13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 113 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 114 that neither you nor your ancestors 115 have previously known, 116 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth 117 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! 118 Your own hand must be the first to strike him, 119 and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death 120 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. 121
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 122 have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, 123 saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 124 13:14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, 125 13:15 you must by all means 126 slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate 127 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 128 and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin 129 forever – it must never be rebuilt again. 13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. 130 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 131 you today and doing what is right 132 before him. 133
14:1 You are children 134 of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald 135 for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a people holy 136 to the Lord your God. He 137 has chosen you to be his people, prized 138 above all others on the face of the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden 139 thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex, 140 the gazelle, 141 the deer, 142 the wild goat, the antelope, 143 the wild oryx, 144 and the mountain sheep. 145 14:6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. 146 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. 147 (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, 148 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, 149 the vulture, 150 the black vulture, 151 14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah 152 after its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich, 153 the owl, 154 the seagull, the falcon 155 after its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, 156 14:17 the jackdaw, 157 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. 158 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 159 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. 160
14:22 You must be certain to tithe 161 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, 162 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 163 blesses you, if the 164 place where he chooses to locate his name is distant, 14:25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money, 165 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 166 of debts. 15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; 167 he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, 168 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 169 owes you, you must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord 170 will surely bless 171 you in the land that he 172 is giving you as an inheritance, 173 15:5 if you carefully obey 174 him 175 by keeping 176 all these commandments that I am giving 177 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 178 from one of your villages 179 in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 180 to his impoverished condition. 181 15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend 182 him whatever he needs. 183 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 184 be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite 185 and you do not lend 186 him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. 187 15:10 You must by all means lend 188 to him and not be upset by doing it, 189 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 190 your hand to your fellow Israelites 191 who are needy and poor in your land.
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew 192 – whether male or female 193 – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant 194 go free. 195 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously 196 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 197 says to you, “I do not want to leave 198 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. 199 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 200 the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
15:19 You must set apart 201 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 202 chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else 203 – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, 204 whether you are ritually impure or clean, 205 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 206 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 207 he 208 brought you out of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal 209 (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he 210 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 211 for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 212 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages 213 that the Lord your God is giving you, 16:6 but you must sacrifice it 214 in the evening in 215 the place where he 216 chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 16:7 You must cook 217 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. 218
16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them 219 from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 16:10 Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks 220 before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering 221 that you will bring, in proportion to how he 222 has blessed you. 16:11 You shall rejoice before him 223 – you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, 224 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 225 for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 226 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. 227 16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he 228 chooses, for he 229 will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; 230 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 231 empty-handed. 16:17 Every one of you must give as you are able, 232 according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 233 for each tribe in all your villages 234 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 235 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 236 the words of the righteous. 237 16:20 You must pursue justice alone 238 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 239 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 240 a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him 241 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive 242 to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages 243 that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God 244 and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, 245 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 246 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 247 is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates 248 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 249 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 250 must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people 251 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, 252 legal claim, 253 or assault 254 – matters of controversy in your villages 255 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 256 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 257 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 258 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 259 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 260 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 261 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 262 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 263 on a scroll 264 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 265 in Israel.
18:1 The Levitical priests 266 – 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. 267 18:2 They 268 will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; 269 the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests’ fair allotment 270 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 271 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 272 and serve in his name 273 permanently. 18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 274 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 275 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. 276
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, 277 anyone who practices divination, 278 an omen reader, 279 a soothsayer, 280 a sorcerer, 281 18:11 one who casts spells, 282 one who conjures up spirits, 283 a practitioner of the occult, 284 or a necromancer. 285 18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things 286 the Lord your God is about to drive them out 287 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; 288 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 289 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 290 anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet 291 speaks in my name.
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 292 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 293 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 294 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 295 name and the prediction 296 is not fulfilled, 297 then I have 298 not spoken it; 299 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 300 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 301 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 302 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, 303 if he has accidentally killed another 304 without hating him at the time of the accident. 305 19:5 Suppose he goes with someone else 306 to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax 307 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose 308 from the handle and strikes 309 his fellow worker 310 so hard that he dies. The person responsible 311 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 312 19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, 313 and kill him, 314 though this is not a capital case 315 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 316 and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 317 19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments 318 I am giving 319 you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities 320 to these three. 19:10 You must not shed innocent blood 321 in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 322 19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else 323 and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, 324 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 325 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent 326 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 327 which will have been defined 328 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 329
19:15 A single witness may not testify 330 against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established 331 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false 332 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 333 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 334 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, 335 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 336 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. 337
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry 338 and troops 339 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 340 will approach and say to the soldiers, 341 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.” 342 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, 343 “Who among you 344 has built a new house and not dedicated 345 it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else 346 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 347 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 348 heart as fearful 349 as his own.” 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking, 350 they must appoint unit commanders 351 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 352 and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. 353 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 354 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 355 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 356 to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them 357 – the Hittites, 358 Amorites, 359 Canaanites, 360 Perizzites, 361 Hivites, 362 and Jebusites 363 – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship 364 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, 365 you must not chop down its trees, 366 for you may eat fruit 367 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 368 20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 369 and you may use it to build siege works 370 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
21:1 If a homicide victim 371 should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, 372 and no one knows who killed 373 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. 374 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse 375 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, 376 to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. 377 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests 378 will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, 379 and to decide 380 every judicial verdict 381 ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse 382 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 383 21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we 384 witnessed the crime. 385 21:8 Do not blame 386 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” 387 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 388 the Lord.
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail 389 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them 390 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, 391 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, 392 and stay 393 in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations 394 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 395 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell 396 her; 397 you must not take advantage of 398 her, since you have already humiliated 399 her.
21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, 400 and they both 401 bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife. 21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance 402 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other 403 wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved 404 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion 405 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power 406 – 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, 407 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 408 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 409 wickedness from among you, and all Israel 410 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 411 on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury 412 him that same day, for the one who is left exposed 413 on a tree is cursed by God. 414 You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22:1 When you see 415 your neighbor’s 416 ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; 417 you must return it without fail 418 to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner 419 does not live 420 near you or you do not know who the owner is, 421 then you must corral the animal 422 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 423 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 424 22:4 When you see 425 your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; 426 instead, you must be sure 427 to help him get the animal on its feet again. 428
22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, 429 nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive 430 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, 431 you must not take the mother from the young. 432 22:7 You must be sure 433 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 434 around your roof to avoid being culpable 435 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. 436 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. 437 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels 438 for the four corners of the clothing you wear.
22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, 439 and then rejects 440 her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety 441 and defaming her reputation 442 by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations 443 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 444 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 445 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 446 before the city’s elders. 22:18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish 447 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 448 ruined the reputation 449 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 450 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge 451 evil from among you.
22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with 452 a married woman 453 both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge 454 evil from Israel.
22:23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets 455 her in the city and has sexual relations with 456 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 457 his neighbor’s fiancée; 458 in this way you will purge 459 evil from among you. 22:25 But if the man came across 460 the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped 461 her, then only the rapist 462 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 463 and murders him, 22:27 for the man 464 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 465 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) 466 A man may not marry 467 his father’s former 468 wife and in this way dishonor his father. 469
23:1 A man with crushed 470 or severed genitals 471 may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 472 23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 473 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 474
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 475 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 476 do so, 477 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired 478 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 479 the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves 480 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; 481 you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner 482 in his land. 23:8 Children of the third generation born to them 483 may enter the assembly of the Lord.
23:9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure. 484 23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, 485 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. 486 23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself 487 outside you must dig a hole with the spade 488 and then turn and cover your excrement. 489 23:14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat 490 your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent 491 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. 492 23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages 493 he prefers; you must not oppress him.
23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute 494 among the young women 495 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute 496 among the young men 497 of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute 498 or the wage of a male prostitute 499 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, 500 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 501 will surely 502 hold you accountable as a sinner. 503 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, 504 but you must not take away any in a container. 505 23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, 506 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 507 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 508 she may go and become someone else’s wife. 24:3 If the second husband rejects 509 her and then divorces her, 510 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 511 her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. 512 You must not bring guilt on the land 513 which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into 514 the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to 515 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. 516
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 517 and regards him as mere property 518 and sells him, that kidnapper 519 must die. In this way you will purge 520 evil from among you.
24:8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely 521 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 522 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. 523 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. 524 24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 525 24:13 You must by all means 526 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 527 deed by the Lord your God.
24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites 528 or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 529 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 530 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, 531 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. 532 24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; 533 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; 534 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, 535 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 536 hear the case, they shall exonerate 537 the innocent but condemn 538 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 539 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 540 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 541 25:3 The judge 542 may sentence him to forty blows, 543 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 544 with contempt.
25:4 You must not muzzle your 545 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, 546 and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. 547 25:6 Then 548 the first son 549 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 550 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. 551 She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!” 552 25:10 His family name will be referred to 553 in Israel as “the family 554 of the one whose sandal was removed.” 555
25:11 If two men 556 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, 557 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, 558 a heavy and a light one. 559 25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, 560 a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct 561 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 562 to the Lord your God.
25:17 Remember what the Amalekites 563 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. 564 25:19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he 565 is giving you as an inheritance, 566 you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven 567 – do not forget! 568
26:1 When 569 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 570 chooses to locate his name. 571 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your 572 God that I have come into the land that the Lord 573 promised 574 to our ancestors 575 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you 576 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering 577 Aramean 578 was my ancestor, 579 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, 580 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 581 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 582 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. 583 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, 584 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
26:12 When you finish tithing all 585 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 586 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 587 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering 588 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 589 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; 590 I have obeyed you 591 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. 592 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 593 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. 594 You will 595 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.
[11:1] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[11:2] 3 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] 4 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] 5 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
[11:3] 6 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] 7 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] 8 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] 9 tn Heb “the
[11:4] 10 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] 11 tn See note on these same words in v. 3.
[11:6] 12 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] 13 tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
[11:6] 14 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] 15 tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”
[11:6] 16 tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
[11:7] 17 tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.
[11:8] 18 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] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:9] 21 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
[11:10] 22 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] 23 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] 24 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
[11:11] 25 tn Heb “rain of heaven.”
[11:12] 26 tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
[11:12] 27 tn Heb “the eyes of the
[11:12] sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the
[11:12] 28 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] 29 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] 30 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] 31 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:14] 32 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] 33 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
[11:14] 34 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] 35 tn Heb “grass in your field.”
[11:16] 36 tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[11:17] 37 tn Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”
[11:17] 38 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[11:17] 39 tn Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”
[11:17] 40 tn Heb “the
[11:18] 41 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
[11:18] 42 tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.
[11:19] 43 tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
[11:21] 44 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
[11:22] 45 tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.
[11:22] 46 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] 47 tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”
[11:23] 48 tn Heb “the
[11:24] 49 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] 50 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] 51 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] 52 tn Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.
[11:28] 53 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
[11:28] 54 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[11:28] 55 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[11:28] 56 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] 57 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] 58 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:30] 59 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] 60 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] 62 tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the
[12:2] 63 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] 64 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] 65 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] 66 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] 67 tn Heb “the
[12:5] 68 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] 69 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:7] 70 tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.
[12:7] 71 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 74 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:10] 75 tn Heb “the
[12:10] 76 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] 77 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] 78 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
[12:11] 79 tn Heb “the
[12:12] 80 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”
[12:12] 81 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.
[12:14] 82 tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[12:14] 83 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] 84 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] 85 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB; likewise in vv. 17, 18).
[12:18] 86 tn Heb “the
[12:18] 87 tn See note at Deut 12:12.
[12:18] 88 tn Heb “in all the sending forth of your hands.”
[12:20] 89 tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”
[12:20] 90 tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”
[12:21] 91 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 92 tn Heb “the
[12:21] 93 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”
[12:23] 94 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] 95 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
[12:26] 96 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] 97 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] 98 tn Heb “on the altar of the
[12:29] 99 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] 100 tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the
[12:31] 101 tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.
[12:31] 102 tn Heb “every abomination of the
[12:32] 103 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] 104 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] 105 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] 106 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] 107 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] 108 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:3] 109 tn Heb “the
[13:3] 110 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] 111 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
[13:5] 112 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] 113 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] 114 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] 115 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).
[13:6] 116 tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).
[13:7] 117 tn Or “land” (so NIV, NCV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “land” or “earth.”
[13:9] 118 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] 119 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] 120 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] 121 sn Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
[13:13] 122 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] 123 tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”
[13:13] 124 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] 125 tc Theodotian adds “in Israel,” perhaps to broaden the matter beyond the local village.
[13:15] 126 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] 127 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] 129 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] 130 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] 131 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
[13:18] 132 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] 133 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[14:1] 134 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”
[14:1] 135 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] 137 tn Heb “The
[14:2] 138 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] 139 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the
[14:5] 140 tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (’ayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ’ayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”
[14:5] 141 tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (tsÿvi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).
[14:5] 142 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] 143 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] 144 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] 145 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] 146 tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:7] 147 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] 148 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] 149 tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”
[14:12] 150 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] 151 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] 152 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] 153 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] 154 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] 155 tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).
[14:16] 156 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] 157 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] 158 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] 159 tn Heb “gates” (also in vv. 27, 28, 29).
[14:21] 160 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] 161 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “be certain.”
[14:23] 162 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] 163 tn Heb “the
[14:24] 164 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] 165 tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”
[15:1] 166 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] 167 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
[15:2] 168 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] 169 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:4] 170 tc After the phrase “the
[15:4] 171 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] 172 tn Heb “the
[15:4] 173 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
[15:5] 174 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] 175 tn Heb “the
[15:5] 176 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
[15:5] 177 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
[15:7] 178 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] 180 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
[15:7] 181 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
[15:8] 182 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] 183 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:9] 185 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
[15:9] 186 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
[15:9] 187 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
[15:10] 188 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
[15:10] 189 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] 190 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
[15:11] 191 tn Heb “your brother.”
[15:12] 192 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] 193 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
[15:12] 194 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
[15:12] 195 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
[15:14] 196 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
[15:16] 197 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 198 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
[15:17] 199 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] 200 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] 201 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the
[15:20] 202 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
[15:21] 203 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
[15:22] 204 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[15:22] 205 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] 206 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
[16:1] 207 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:1] 208 tn Heb “the
[16:2] 209 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[16:2] 210 tn Heb “the
[16:4] 211 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
[16:4] 212 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:6] 214 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:6] 215 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] 216 tn Heb “the
[16:7] 217 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] 218 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] 219 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
[16:10] 220 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] 221 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
[16:10] 222 tn Heb “the
[16:11] 223 tn Heb “the
[16:13] 225 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] 226 tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
[16:14] 227 tn Heb “in your gates.”
[16:15] 228 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 229 tn Heb “the
[16:15] 230 tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”
[16:16] 231 tn Heb “the
[16:17] 232 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] 233 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] 235 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
[16:19] 236 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
[16:19] 237 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
[16:20] 238 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
[16:21] 239 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] 240 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] 241 tn Heb “to the
[17:1] 242 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] 244 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
[17:3] 245 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] 246 tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:4] 247 tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.
[17:5] 249 tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”
[17:7] 250 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] 251 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
[17:8] 252 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
[17:8] 253 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
[17:8] 254 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
[17:8] 256 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] 257 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
[17:15] 258 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
[17:15] 259 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] 260 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
[17:16] 261 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] 262 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
[17:18] 263 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] 264 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] 265 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] 266 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] 267 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[18:2] 268 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
[18:2] 269 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
[18:3] 270 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
[18:4] 271 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
[18:5] 272 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the
[18:5] 273 tn Heb “the name of the
[18:6] 274 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
[18:6] 275 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
[18:8] 276 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] 277 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] 278 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] 279 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] 280 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] 281 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] 282 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] 283 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] 284 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] 285 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] 286 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] 287 tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.
[18:15] 288 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] 289 tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”
[18:19] 290 tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”
[18:19] 291 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:20] 292 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[18:21] 293 tn Heb “in your heart.”
[18:21] 294 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] 295 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 296 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
[18:22] 297 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
[18:22] 298 tn Heb “the
[18:22] 299 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
[19:1] 300 tn Heb “the
[19:2] 301 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
[19:4] 303 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
[19:4] 304 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
[19:4] 305 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] 306 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
[19:5] 307 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
[19:5] 308 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
[19:5] 310 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:5] 311 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:6] 313 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
[19:6] 314 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
[19:6] 315 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
[19:8] 317 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
[19:9] 318 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] 319 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
[19:9] 320 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] 321 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] 322 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
[19:11] 323 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[19:11] 324 tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”
[19:12] 325 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] 326 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] 327 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
[19:14] 328 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
[19:14] 329 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
[19:15] 330 tn Heb “rise up” (likewise in v. 16).
[19:15] 331 tn Heb “may stand.”
[19:16] 332 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] 333 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 334 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 335 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 336 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] 337 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] 338 tn Heb “horse and chariot.”
[20:2] 340 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] 341 tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”
[20:4] 342 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
[20:5] 343 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
[20:5] 344 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
[20:5] 345 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] 346 tn Heb “another man.”
[20:7] 347 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
[20:8] 348 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
[20:9] 350 tn The Hebrew text includes “to the people,” but this phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 351 tn Heb “princes of hosts.”
[20:11] 352 tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”
[20:11] 353 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] 354 tn Heb “to your hands.”
[20:16] 355 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
[20:16] 356 tn Heb “any breath.”
[20:17] 357 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] 358 sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[20:17] 359 sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[20:17] 360 sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[20:17] 361 sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[20:17] 362 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] 363 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] 364 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
[20:19] 365 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
[20:19] 366 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
[20:19] 367 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] 368 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
[20:20] 369 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
[20:20] 370 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] 371 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] 372 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:1] 373 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
[21:2] 374 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
[21:3] 375 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:4] 376 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] 377 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.
[21:5] 378 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
[21:5] 379 tn Heb “in the name of the
[21:5] 380 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
[21:5] 381 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
[21:6] 382 tn Heb “slain [one].”
[21:6] 383 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
[21:7] 384 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] 385 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:8] 386 tn Heb “Atone for.”
[21:8] 387 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
[21:9] 388 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
[21:10] 389 tn Heb “gives him into your hands.”
[21:11] 390 tn Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
[21:12] 391 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] 392 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
[21:13] 393 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
[21:13] 394 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
[21:14] 395 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] 396 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
[21:14] 397 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[21:14] 398 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
[21:14] 399 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] 400 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] 401 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] 402 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
[21:16] 403 tn Heb “the hated.”
[21:17] 404 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
[21:17] 405 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] 406 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] 407 tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”
[21:20] 408 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] 409 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] 410 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] 412 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
[21:23] 413 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] 414 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] 415 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
[22:1] 416 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] 417 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
[22:1] 418 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
[22:2] 419 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
[22:2] 420 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
[22:2] 421 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
[22:2] 422 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:3] 423 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
[22:3] 424 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
[22:4] 425 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
[22:4] 426 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
[22:4] 427 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
[22:4] 428 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] 429 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
[22:5] 430 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] 431 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
[22:6] 432 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
[22:7] 433 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
[22:8] 434 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
[22:8] 435 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
[22:9] 436 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] 437 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] 438 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] 439 tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.
[22:13] 440 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] 441 tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”
[22:14] 442 tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”
[22:14] 443 tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.
[22:15] 444 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] 445 tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[22:17] 446 tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”
[22:18] 447 tn Heb “discipline.”
[22:19] 448 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] 449 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
[22:21] 450 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] 451 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.
[22:22] 452 tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.
[22:22] 453 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
[22:22] 454 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:23] 456 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:24] 459 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
[22:25] 460 tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.
[22:25] 461 tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.
[22:25] 462 tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”
[22:26] 463 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
[22:27] 464 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:28] 465 tn Heb “lies with.”
[22:30] 466 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] 467 tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
[22:30] 468 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] 469 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] 470 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] 471 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] 472 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] 473 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
[23:2] 474 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:3] 475 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] 476 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] 477 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
[23:4] 478 tn Heb “hired against you.”
[23:5] 479 tn Heb “the
[23:5] 480 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] 482 tn Heb “sojourner.”
[23:8] 483 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] 484 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] 485 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] 486 tn Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 487 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
[23:13] 488 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] 489 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
[23:14] 490 tn Heb “give [over] your enemies.”
[23:14] 491 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] 492 tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.
[23:17] 494 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] 495 tn Heb “daughters.”
[23:17] 496 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] 498 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] 499 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] 500 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] 501 tn Heb “the
[23:21] 502 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”
[23:21] 503 tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”
[23:24] 504 tn Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”
[23:24] 505 tn Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”
[23:25] 506 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] 507 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] 508 tn Heb “his house.”
[24:3] 509 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
[24:3] 510 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
[24:4] 511 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
[24:4] 512 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] 513 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
[24:5] 514 tn Heb “go out with.”
[24:5] 515 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
[24:6] 516 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] 517 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] 518 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
[24:7] 519 tn Heb “that thief.”
[24:7] 520 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
[24:8] 521 tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
[24:9] 522 sn What the
[24:10] 523 tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
[24:11] 524 tn Heb “his pledge.”
[24:12] 525 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] 526 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
[24:13] 527 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
[24:14] 528 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”
[24:14] 529 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 530 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
[24:19] 531 tn Heb “in the field.”
[24:19] 532 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] 533 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
[24:21] 534 tn Heb “glean after you.”
[25:1] 536 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:1] 537 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
[25:1] 538 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
[25:2] 539 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[25:2] 540 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
[25:2] 541 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
[25:3] 542 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:3] 543 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] 544 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
[25:4] 545 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
[25:5] 546 tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
[25:5] 547 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] 548 tn Heb “and it will be that.”
[25:6] 549 tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.
[25:7] 550 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] 551 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] 552 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] 553 tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.”
[25:10] 555 tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.”
[25:11] 556 tn Heb “a man and his brother.”
[25:11] 557 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] 558 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] 559 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] 560 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] 561 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
[25:16] 562 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] 563 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] 564 sn See Exod 17:8-16.
[25:19] 565 tn Heb “ the
[25:19] 566 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”
[25:19] 567 tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[25:19] 568 sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.
[26:1] 569 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
[26:2] 570 tn Heb “the
[26:2] 571 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] 572 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
[26:3] 573 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
[26:3] 574 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[26:3] 575 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
[26:4] 576 tn Heb “your hand.”
[26:5] 577 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] 578 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] 580 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] 581 tn Heb “the
[26:8] 582 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] 583 tn Heb “the
[26:11] 584 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
[26:12] 585 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[26:12] 586 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
[26:13] 588 tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the
[26:13] 589 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:14] 590 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] 591 tn Heb “the
[26:16] 592 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
[26:19] 593 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] 594 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
[26:19] 595 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
