Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ²  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:5-6

4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in ³  the land you are about to enter and possess. 4:6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding ⁴  to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise ⁵  people.”

Deuteronomy 4:8

4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just ⁶  as this whole law ⁷  that I am about to share with ⁸  you today?

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¹ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

³ tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).

⁴ tn Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”

⁵ tn Heb “wise and understanding.”

⁶ tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.

⁸ tn Heb “place before.”