Deuteronomy 4:20

4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, ¹  to be his special people ²  as you are today.

Deuteronomy 10:15

10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he ³  show his loving favor, ⁴  and he chose you, their descendants, ⁵  from all peoples – as is apparent today.

Deuteronomy 12:23

12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself ⁶  – you must not eat the life with the meat!

Deuteronomy 15:4

15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord ⁷  will surely bless ⁸  you in the land that he ⁹  is giving you as an inheritance, ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 15:16

15:16 However, if the servant ¹¹  says to you, “I do not want to leave ¹²  you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,

Deuteronomy 19:11

19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else ¹³  and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, ¹⁴  and then flees to one of these cities.

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¹ tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.

² tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.

³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

⁴ tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the Lord’s initiative in calling the patriarchal ancestors to be the founders of a people special to him (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37).

⁵ tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.

⁶ sn The blood is life itself. This is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which the cause or means (the blood) stands for the result or effect (life). That is, life depends upon the existence and circulation of blood, a truth known empirically but not scientifically tested and proved until the 17th century a.d. (cf. Lev 17:11).

⁷ tc After the phrase “the Lord” many mss and versions add “your God” to complete the usual full epithet.

⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “surely.” Note however, that the use is rhetorical, for the next verse attaches a condition.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”

¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.

¹³ tn Heb “his neighbor.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”