Deuteronomy 9:5
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 30:20
30:20 I also call on you 4 to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually 5 in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
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 The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.
5 tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”