Deuteronomy 9:4-5
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.
9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, 1 that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he 2 made on oath to your ancestors, 3 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 13:5
13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, 4 he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. 5
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 violated 6 his neighbor’s fiancée; 7 in this way you will purge 8 evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 31:29
31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally 9 corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly 10 before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” 11
1 tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the Lord’s favor. As he states in both vv. 4-5, the main reason he allowed Israel to take this land was the sinfulness of the Canaanites who lived there (cf. Gen 15:16).
2 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
3 tn Heb “fathers.”
4 tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.
5 tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
6 tn Heb “humbled.”
7 tn Heb “wife.”
8 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
9 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”
10 tn Heb “do the evil.”
11 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”