19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, 8 which will have been defined 9 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 10
20:16 As for the cities of these peoples that 11 the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing 12 to survive.
32:8 When the Most High 15 gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided up humankind, 16
he set the boundaries of the peoples,
according to the number of the heavenly assembly. 17
1 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.
2 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the
4 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.
5 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”
6 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.
7 tn Heb “border.”
8 tn Heb “border.” Cf. NRSV “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker.”
9 tn Heb “which they set off from the beginning.”
10 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” This phrase has been left untranslated to avoid redundancy.
11 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”
12 tn Heb “any breath.”
13 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
14 tn Heb “the hated.”
15 tn The Hebrew term עֶליוֹן (’elyon) is an abbreviated form of the divine name El Elyon, frequently translated “God Most High” (so here NCV, CEV) or something similar. This full name (or epithet) occurs only in Gen 14, though the two elements are parallel in Ps 73:11; 107:11; etc. Here it is clear that Elyon has to do with the nations in general whereas in v. 9, by contrast, Yahweh relates specifically to Israel. See T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:400-401. The title depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world, who is enthroned high above his dominion.
16 tn Heb “the sons of man” (so NASB); or “the sons of Adam” (so KJV).
17 tc Heb “the sons of Israel.” The idea, perhaps, is that Israel was central to Yahweh’s purposes and all other nations were arranged and distributed according to how they related to Israel. See S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy (ICC), 355-56. For the MT יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי (bÿney yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) a Qumran fragment has “sons of God,” while the LXX reads ἀγγέλων θεοῦ (angelwn qeou, “angels of God”), presupposing בְּנֵי אֵל (bÿney ’el) or בְּנֵי אֵלִים (beney ’elim). “Sons of God” is undoubtedly the original reading; the MT and LXX have each interpreted it differently. MT assumes that the expression “sons of God” refers to Israel (cf. Hos. 1:10), while LXX has assumed that the phrase refers to the angelic heavenly assembly (Pss 29:1; 89:6; cf. as well Ps 82). The phrase is also attested in Ugaritic, where it refers to the high god El’s divine assembly. According to the latter view, which is reflected in the translation, the Lord delegated jurisdiction over the nations to his angelic host (cf. Dan. 10:13-21), while reserving for himself Israel, over whom he rules directly. For a defense of the view taken here, see M. S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” BSac 158 (2001): 52-74.