Deuteronomy 3:18

Instructions to the Transjordanian Tribes

3:18 At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites ¹  equipped for battle.

Deuteronomy 20:5

20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, ²  “Who among you ³  has built a new house and not dedicated ⁴  it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else ⁵  dedicate it.

Deuteronomy 20:7

20:7 Or who among you ⁶  has become engaged to a woman but has not married her? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marry her.”

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¹ tn Heb “your brothers, the sons of Israel.”

² tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).

³ tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).

⁴ tn The Hebrew term חָנַךְ (khanakh) occurs elsewhere only with respect to the dedication of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 8:63 = 2 Chr 7:5). There it has a religious connotation which, indeed, may be the case here as well. The noun form (חָנֻכָּה, khanukah) is associated with the consecration of the great temple altar (2 Chr 7:9) and of the postexilic wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27). In Maccabean times the festival of Hanukkah was introduced to celebrate the rededication of the temple following its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 Macc 4:36-61).

⁵ tn Heb “another man.”

⁶ tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”