5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 6 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!
10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 11
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,” 12 you may do so as you wish. 13
31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent 18 of meeting 19 so that I can commission him.” 20 So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
33:7 And this is the blessing 21 to Judah. He said,
Listen, O Lord, to Judah’s voice,
and bring him to his people.
May his power be great,
and may you help him against his foes.
33:8 Of Levi he said:
Your Thummim and Urim 22 belong to your godly one, 23
whose authority you challenged at Massah, 24
and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. 25
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 26
and he did not acknowledge his own brothers
or know his own children,
for they kept your word,
and guarded your covenant.
1 tn Heb “the
2 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
4 tn Heb “the
5 tn Heb “much to you” (an idiom).
6 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
7 tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”
8 sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself – not Moses in any way – was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).
9 tn Heb “according to all the words.”
10 tn Heb “the
11 tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.
12 tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”
13 tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”
14 tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).
15 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”).
16 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
17 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
18 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.
19 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).
20 tn Heb “I will command him.”
21 tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
22 sn Thummim and Urim. These terms, whose meaning is uncertain, refer to sacred stones carried in a pouch on the breastplate of the high priest and examined on occasion as a means of ascertaining God’s will or direction. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; 1 Sam 28:6. See also C. Van Dam, NIDOTTE 1:329-31.
23 tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.
24 sn Massah means “testing” in Hebrew; the name is a wordplay on what took place there. Cf. Exod 17:7; Deut 6:16; 9:22; Ps 95:8-9.
25 sn Meribah means “contention, argument” in Hebrew; this is another wordplay on the incident that took place there. Cf. Num 20:13, 24; Ps 106:32.
26 sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).