2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, 11 and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! 2:25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth 12 with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.” 13
3:12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: The territory extending from Aroer 14 by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. 15 3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. 16 (All the region of Argob, 17 that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim.
3:18 At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites 18 equipped for battle.
5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 23 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 27 I am giving 28 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 29 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 30
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 47 I am giving 48 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 49
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,”
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 65 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.
28:1 “If you indeed 75 obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving 76 you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.
28:15 “But if you ignore 77 the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 78
30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses 79 I have set before you, you will reflect upon them 80 in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.
31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent 81 of meeting 82 so that I can commission him.” 83 So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 84
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back
at the time their foot slips;
for the day of their disaster is near,
and the impending judgment 85 is rushing upon them!”
32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh –
the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
the chief 86 of the enemy’s leaders!’”
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 89
and he did not acknowledge his own brothers
or know his own children,
for they kept your word,
and guarded your covenant.
1 tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”
2 tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
3 tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.
4 tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).
5 tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”
6 tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”
7 sn Caleb had, with Joshua, brought back to Israel a minority report from Canaan urging a conquest of the land, for he was confident of the
8 tn Heb “the
9 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
10 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
11 sn Heshbon is the name of a prominent site (now Tell Hesba„n, about 7.5 mi [12 km] south southwest of Amman, Jordan). Sihon made it his capital after having driven Moab from the area and forced them south to the Arnon (Num 21:26-30). Heshbon is also mentioned in Deut 1:4.
12 tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).
13 tn Heb “from before you.”
14 tn The words “the territory extending” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sn Aroer. See note on this term in Deut 2:36.
15 sn Reubenites and Gadites. By the time of Moses’ address the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had already been granted permission to settle in the Transjordan, provided they helped the other tribes subdue the occupants of Canaan (cf. Num 32:28-42).
16 sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).
17 sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.
18 tn Heb “your brothers, the sons of Israel.”
19 tn Heb “the
20 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there.”
21 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).
22 tn The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
23 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
24 tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”
25 tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.
26 tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
27 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
28 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
29 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
30 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
31 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
32 tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
33 tn Heb “the
34 tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).
35 tn Heb “burned it with fire.”
36 tn Heb “the
37 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
38 tn Heb “the
39 tn Heb “Lord
40 tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.
41 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
42 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
43 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
44 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.
45 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.
46 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
47 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).
48 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).
49 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
50 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.”
51 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).
52 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
53 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.
54 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
55 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.
56 tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.
57 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.
58 tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”
59 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
60 tn Heb “the commandments of the
61 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
62 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).
63 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
64 tn Heb “your brother.”
65 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
66 tn Heb “the
67 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
68 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
69 tn Heb “the
70 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
71 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).
72 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
73 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.
74 tn Heb “the
75 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”
76 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).
77 tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”
78 tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”
79 tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”
80 tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”
81 tc The LXX reads “by the door of the tent” in line with v. 10 but also, perhaps, as a reflection of its tendency to avoid over-familiarity with Yahweh and his transcendence.
82 tn Heb “tent of assembly” (מוֹעֵד אֹהֶל, ’ohel mo’ed); this is not always the same as the tabernacle, which is usually called מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”), a reference to its being invested with God’s presence. The “tent of meeting” was erected earlier than the tabernacle and was the place where Yahweh occasionally appeared, especially to Moses (cf. Exod 18:7-16; 33:7-11; Num 11:16, 24, 26; 12:4).
83 tn Heb “I will command him.”
84 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
85 tn Heb “prepared things,” “impending things.” See BDB 800 s.v. עָתִיד.
86 tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).
87 sn Abarim. This refers to the high plateau region of the Transjordan, the highest elevation of which is Mount Pisgah (or Nebo; cf. Deut 34:1). See also the note on the name “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.
88 map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
89 sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).