Deuteronomy 1:27

1:27 You complained among yourselves privately ¹  and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us!

Deuteronomy 4:31

4:31 (for he ²  is a merciful God), he will not let you down ³  or destroy you, for he cannot ⁴  forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.

Deuteronomy 7:4

7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you.

Deuteronomy 7:16

Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism

7:16 You must destroy ⁵  all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship ⁶  their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

Deuteronomy 7:22

7:22 He, ⁷  the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you.

Deuteronomy 9:3

9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he ⁸  has told you.

Deuteronomy 9:26

9:26 I prayed to him: ⁹  O, Lord God, ¹⁰  do not destroy your people, your valued property ¹¹  that you have powerfully redeemed, ¹²  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 10:10

10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you.

Deuteronomy 12:2

12:2 You must by all means destroy ¹⁴  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. ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 29:19

29:19 When such a person ¹⁶  hears the words of this oath he secretly ¹⁷  blesses himself ¹⁸  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ¹⁹  This will destroy ²⁰  the watered ground with the parched. ²¹ 

Deuteronomy 31:3

31:3 As for the Lord your God, he is about to cross over before you; he will destroy these nations before you and dispossess them. As for Joshua, he is about to cross before you just as the Lord has said.

Deuteronomy 32:25

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ²²  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

---

¹ tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.

² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

³ tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁴ tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.

⁵ tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”

⁶ tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 7:19.

⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style to avoid redundancy.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

¹¹ 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.

¹² tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

¹³ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

¹⁴ 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.”

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Heb “in his heart.”

¹⁸ tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.

¹⁹ tn Heb “heart.”

²⁰ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

²¹ tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”

²² tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.