2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, 7 and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war!
4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, 11 lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.
13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 36 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 37 that neither you nor your ancestors 38 have previously known, 39
18:1 The Levitical priests 42 – 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. 43
18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 44 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.
19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 50 which will have been defined 51 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 52
28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you 70 in everything you undertake 71 until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. 72
32:21 They have made me jealous 89 with false gods, 90
enraging me with their worthless gods; 91
so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, 92
with a nation slow to learn 93 I will enrage them.
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 94
and he did not acknowledge his own brothers
or know his own children,
for they kept your word,
and guarded your covenant.
33:29 You have joy, Israel! Who is like you?
You are a people delivered by the Lord,
your protective shield
and your exalted sword.
May your enemies cringe before you;
may you trample on their backs.
1 tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”
2 tn Heb “the
3 tn Heb “swore” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to God’s promise, made by solemn oath, to give the patriarchs the land.
4 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).
5 tn Heb “their seed after them.”
6 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.
7 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.
8 tn Heb “the
9 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there.”
10 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).
11 tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
12 tn Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
13 tn Heb “the
14 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.
15 tn Heb “the
16 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
17 tn Heb “the
18 tn Heb “Lord
19 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.
20 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
21 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
22 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23 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.
24 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.
25 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
26 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
27 tn Heb “the commandments of the
28 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
29 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).
30 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
31 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”
32 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.
33 tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the
34 tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.
35 tn Heb “every abomination of the
36 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.
37 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.’”
38 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).
39 tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).
40 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.
41 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.
42 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.
43 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
44 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
45 tn Heb “the
46 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
47 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
48 tn Heb “the
49 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
50 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
51 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
52 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
53 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
54 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
55 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
56 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.
57 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
58 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
59 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
60 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).
61 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
62 tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.
63 tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
64 tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.
65 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
66 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX
67 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
68 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
69 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
70 tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”
71 tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”
72 tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.
tn Heb “the evil of your doings wherein you have forsaken me”; CEV “all because you rejected the Lord.”
73 tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
74 tn Heb “lack of everything.”
75 tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the
76 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
77 tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”
78 tn Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.
79 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
80 tn Heb “in his heart.”
81 tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.
82 tn Heb “heart.”
83 tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.
84 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.”
85 tn Heb “the
86 tn The phrase “this law” is not in the Hebrew text, but English style requires an object for the verb here. Other translations also supply the object which is otherwise implicit (cf. NIV “who do not know this law”; TEV “who have never heard the Law of the Lord your God”).
87 tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the
88 tc The LXX reads, “as the
89 sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.
90 tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”
91 tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).
92 tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).
93 tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”
94 sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).
95 tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
96 tn The Hebrew text includes “with your eyes,” but this is redundant in English and is left untranslated.