Deuteronomy 11:12

11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. ¹  He is constantly attentive to it ²  from the beginning to the end of the year. ³ 

Deuteronomy 11:14

11:14 then he promises, ⁴  “I will send rain for your land ⁵  in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, ⁶  so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil.

Deuteronomy 11:31

11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it.

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¹ tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.

² tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “always on it.”

sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the Lord is understandable in light of the centrality of the land in the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen 12:1, 7; 13:15; 15:7, 16, 18; 17:8; 26:3).

³ sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.

⁶ 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.