Deuteronomy 22:21

22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing ¹  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge ²  evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 31:16

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ³  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ⁴  are going. They ⁵  will reject ⁶  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ⁷ 

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¹ tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

² tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

³ tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

⁴ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

⁶ tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

⁷ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.