Deuteronomy 9:23

9:23 And when he ¹  sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God ²  and would neither believe nor obey him.

Deuteronomy 13:6

False Prophets in the Family

13:6 Suppose your own full brother, ³  your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods ⁴  that neither you nor your ancestors ⁵  have previously known, ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 21:4

21:4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, ⁷  to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. ⁸  There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck.

Deuteronomy 28:64

28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone.

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¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

² tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.

³ tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.

⁴ tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”

⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).

⁶ tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).

⁷ tn The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.

⁸ sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.