Deuteronomy 4:19

4:19 When you look up¹ to the sky² and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation³ – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them,⁴ for the Lord your God has assigned⁵ them to all the people⁶ of the world.⁷

Deuteronomy 9:4

9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you.

Deuteronomy 11:6

11:6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram,⁸ sons of Eliab the Reubenite,⁹ when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp¹⁰ and swallowed them, their families,¹¹ their tents, and all the property they brought with them.¹²

Deuteronomy 20:19

20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it,¹³ you must not chop down its trees,¹⁴ for you may eat fruit¹⁵ from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it!¹⁶

Deuteronomy 22:24

22:24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated¹⁷ his neighbor’s fiancée;¹⁸ in this way you will purge¹⁹ evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 31:20

31:20 For after I have brought them²⁰ to the land I promised to their²¹ ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they²² eat their fill²³ and become fat, then they²⁴ will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant.

¹tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

²tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

³tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”

⁴tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.

⁵tn Or “allotted.”

⁶tn Or “nations.”

⁷tn Heb “under all the heaven.”

sn The OT views the heavenly host as God’s council, which surrounds his royal throne ready to do his bidding (see 1 Kgs 22:19). God has given this group, sometimes called the “sons of God” (cf. Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps 89:6), jurisdiction over the nations. See Deut 32:8 (LXX). Some also see this assembly as the addressee in Ps 82. While God delegated his council to rule over the nations, he established a theocratic government over Israel and ruled directly over his chosen people via the Mosaic covenant. See v. 20, as well as Deut 32:9.

⁸sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).

⁹tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”

¹⁰tn Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.

¹¹tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”

¹²tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”

¹³tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”

¹⁴tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).

¹⁵tn Heb “you may eat from them.” The direct object is not expressed; the word “fruit” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”

¹⁷tn Heb “humbled.”

¹⁸tn Heb “wife.”

¹⁹tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

²⁰tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

²¹tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

²²tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

²³tn Heb “and are satisfied.”

²⁴tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.