2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea 6 just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.
4:15 Be very careful, 13 then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire.
7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.
10:1 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. 28
18:1 The Levitical priests 45 – 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. 46
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 53 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 54 do so, 55
29:1 (28:69) 72 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. 73
31:9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.
32:13 He enabled him 79 to travel over the high terrain of the land,
and he ate of the produce of the fields.
He provided honey for him from the cliffs, 80
and olive oil 81 from the hardest of 82 rocks, 83
32:27 But I fear the reaction 84 of their enemies,
for 85 their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great, 86
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 87
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 88
and the Lord had handed them over?
32:36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerning 89 his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
33:13 Of Joseph he said:
May the Lord bless his land
with the harvest produced by the sky, 90 by the dew,
and by the depths crouching beneath;
33:23 Of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, overflowing with favor,
and full of the Lord’s blessing,
possess the west and south.
34:1 Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. 91 The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan,
1 tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.
2 sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
3 sn The fortieth year would be 1406
4 tn Heb “according to all which.”
5 tn Heb “the mouth of the
6 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.
7 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “the
10 tn Heb “much to you” (an idiom).
11 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
12 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”
13 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
14 tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.
15 tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.
16 tn Heb “the
17 tn Heb “fathers.”
18 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
19 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”
20 tn Heb “out of the house of slavery” (so NASB, NRSV).
21 tn Heb “to your son.”
22 tn Heb “by a strong hand.” The image is that of a warrior who, with weapon in hand, overcomes his enemies. The
23 tn Heb “the
24 tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.
25 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the
26 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
27 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
28 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.
29 tn Heb “the
30 tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”
31 tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.
32 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).
33 tn Heb “the
34 tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the
35 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
36 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
37 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
38 tn Heb “the
39 tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
40 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).
41 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
42 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.
43 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
44 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
45 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.
46 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
47 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
48 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
49 tn The appositional construction (“before the
50 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
51 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
52 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
53 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).
54 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.
55 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
56 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).
57 tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).
58 tn See note at Deut 22:30.
59 tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.
60 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
61 tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).
62 tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).
63 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
64 tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”
65 tn Heb “The
66 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
67 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
68 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
69 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
70 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
71 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”
72 sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
73 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
74 tn Heb “set him apart.”
75 tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”
76 tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”
77 tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the
78 tc The LXX reads, “as the
79 tn The form of the suffix on this verbal form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. Note as well the preterites with vav (ו) consecutive that follow in the verse.
80 tn Heb “he made him suck honey from the rock.”
81 tn Heb “oil,” but this probably refers to olive oil; see note on the word “rock” at the end of this verse.
82 tn Heb “flinty.”
83 sn Olive oil from rock probably suggests olive trees growing on rocky ledges and yet doing so productively. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 415; cf. TEV “their olive trees flourished in stony ground.”
84 tn Heb “anger.”
85 tn Heb “lest.”
86 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”
87 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
88 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
89 tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.
90 tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.
91 sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.
map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
92 tc Smr and some LXX
93 tn Heb “to,” “with respect to.” In the Hebrew text vv. 10-12 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two, using the verb “he did” at the beginning of v. 11 and “he displayed” at the beginning of v. 12.