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 6:3

6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number ³  – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, ⁴  said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

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 ⁵  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge ⁶  evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 25:7

25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she ⁷  must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!”

Deuteronomy 31:7

31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua ⁸  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ⁹  and you will enable them to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ¹⁰  to Israel ¹¹  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ¹²  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ¹³ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ¹⁴  to them.

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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 “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).

⁵ 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.”

⁶ tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

⁷ tn Heb “want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister in law.” In the second instance the pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

⁸ tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).

¹⁰ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

¹¹ tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.

tn Heb “him”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

¹³ tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.

¹⁴ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.