6:1 Now these are the commandments, 3 statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 4 6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments 5 that I am giving 6 you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 7 I am giving 8 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 9 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 10
11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments 13 I am giving 14 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 15
12:20 When the Lord your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, “I want to eat meat just as I please,” 20 you may do so as you wish. 21
18:1 The Levitical priests 28 – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. 29
24:1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive 41 in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.
1 tn Heb “commanding.”
2 tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.
4 tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”
5 tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.
6 tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
7 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
8 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
9 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
10 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
11 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
12 sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.
13 tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).
14 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).
15 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
16 tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.
17 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
18 sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.
19 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
20 tn Heb “for my soul desires to eat meat.”
21 tn Heb “according to all the desire of your soul you may eat meat.”
22 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
23 tc The MT lacks (probably by haplography) the phrase וְשֹׁסַע שֶׁסַע פַּרְסָה (vÿshosa’ shesa’ parsah, “and is clovenfooted,” i.e., “has parted hooves”), a phrase found in the otherwise exact parallel in Lev 11:7. The LXX and Smr attest the longer reading here. The meaning is, however, clear without it.
24 tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).
25 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
26 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not referring to siblings (cf. NIV “your brother Israelites”; NLT “a fellow Israelite”). The same phrase also occurs in v. 20.
27 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
28 tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.
29 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
30 tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).
31 tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).
32 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).
33 tn Heb “another man.”
34 tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”
35 tn Heb “his brother’s.”
36 tn Heb “melted.”
37 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
38 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
39 tn Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
40 sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
41 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10).
42 tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”