5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: 8 “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!
7:16 You must destroy 9 all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship 10 their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. 14
16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants 26 for each tribe in all your villages 27 that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 28
29:1 (28:69) 43 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. 44
32:21 They have made me jealous 47 with false gods, 48
enraging me with their worthless gods; 49
so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, 50
with a nation slow to learn 51 I will enrage them.
32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroy 52 both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
32:36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerning 53 his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
33:7 And this is the blessing 54 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.
33:21 He has selected the best part for himself,
for the portion of the ruler 55 is set aside 56 there;
he came with the leaders 57 of the people,
he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord
and his ordinances with Israel.
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 “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”
2 tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”
3 sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).
4 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “from before you.”
8 tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”
9 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.”
10 tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
11 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
12 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
13 tn Heb “the
14 tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.
15 tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
sn The Hebrew word translated stubborn means “stiff-necked.” The image is that of a draft animal that is unsubmissive to the rein or yoke and refuses to bend its neck to draw the load. This is an apt description of OT Israel (Exod 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut 9:13).
16 tn Heb “the
17 tn Heb “Lord
18 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.
19 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
20 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
21 tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”
22 tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”
23 tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.
24 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
25 tn Heb “your brother.”
26 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
27 tn Heb “gates.”
28 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
29 tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
30 tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”
31 tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).
32 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
33 tn Heb “Atone for.”
34 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
35 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”).
36 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
37 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
38 tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.
39 tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
40 tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”
41 tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.
42 tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
43 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.
44 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
45 tn Heb “in order to establish you today to him for a people and he will be to you for God.” Verses 10-13 are one long sentence in Hebrew. The translation divides this into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
46 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).
47 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.
48 tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”
49 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!”).
50 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).
51 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.”
52 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
53 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.
54 tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
55 tn The Hebrew term מְחֹקֵק (mÿkhoqeq; Poel participle of חָקַק, khaqaq, “to inscribe”) reflects the idea that the recorder of allotments (the “ruler”) is able to set aside for himself the largest and best. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 444-45.
56 tn Heb “covered in” (if from the root סָפַן, safan; cf. HALOT 764-65 s.v. ספן qal).
57 tn Heb “heads” (in the sense of chieftains).