Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 1:3 
Context1:3 However, it was not until 1 the first day of the eleventh month 2 of the fortieth year 3 that Moses addressed the Israelites just as 4 the Lord had instructed him to do.
Deuteronomy 1:33
Context1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
Deuteronomy 1:42-43
Context1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’” 1:43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord 5 and recklessly went up to the hill country.
Deuteronomy 2:1
Context2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea 6 just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.
Deuteronomy 2:21-22
Context2:21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites 7 in advance of the Ammonites, 8 so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 2:22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day.
Deuteronomy 2:31
Context2:31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.”
Deuteronomy 3:26
Context3:26 But the Lord was angry at me because of you and would not listen to me. Instead, he 9 said to me, “Enough of that! 10 Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.
Deuteronomy 4:12
Context4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard. 11
Deuteronomy 4:14-15
Context4:14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. 12
4:15 Be very careful, 13 then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire.
Deuteronomy 4:20
Context4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, 14 to be his special people 15 as you are today.
Deuteronomy 5:3
Context5:3 He 16 did not make this covenant with our ancestors 17 but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now.
Deuteronomy 5:8
Context5:8 You must not make for yourself an image 18 of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. 19
Deuteronomy 6:12
Context6:12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. 20
Deuteronomy 6:21-22
Context6:21 you must say to them, 21 “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way. 22 6:22 And he 23 brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family 24 before our very eyes.
Deuteronomy 7:5
Context7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 25 cut down their sacred Asherah poles, 26 and burn up their idols.
Deuteronomy 7:7
Context7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.
Deuteronomy 7:15
Context7:15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.
Deuteronomy 8:16
Context8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you 27 and eventually bring good to you.
Deuteronomy 9:11
Context9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.
Deuteronomy 10:1
Context10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 28
Deuteronomy 10:5
Context10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.
Deuteronomy 10:11
Context10:11 Then he 29 said to me, “Get up, set out leading 30 the people so they may go and possess 31 the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” 32
Deuteronomy 10:15
Context10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he 33 show his loving favor, 34 and he chose you, their descendants, 35 from all peoples – as is apparent today.
Deuteronomy 11:9
Context11:9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors 36 and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 11:21
Context11:21 so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself. 37
Deuteronomy 11:23
Context11:23 then he 38 will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
Deuteronomy 12:14
Context12:14 for you may do so 39 only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. 40
Deuteronomy 12:25-26
Context12:25 You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight. 41 12:26 Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the Lord will choose. 42
Deuteronomy 16:19
Context16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort 43 the words of the righteous. 44
Deuteronomy 18:1
Context18:1 The Levitical priests 45 – 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. 46
Deuteronomy 18:6
Context18:6 Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will 47 from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, 48 to the place the Lord chooses
Deuteronomy 19:17
Context19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 49 who will be in office in those days.
Deuteronomy 21:9
Context21:9 In this manner you will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before 50 the Lord.
Deuteronomy 23:2-3
Context23:2 A person of illegitimate birth 51 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. 52
23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite 53 may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever 54 do so, 55
Deuteronomy 26:8
Context26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, 56 as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders.
Deuteronomy 26:18
Context26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments.
Deuteronomy 27:20
Context27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with 57 his father’s former wife, 58 for he dishonors his father.’ 59 Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
Deuteronomy 27:22-23
Context27:22 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:23 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
Deuteronomy 27:26
Context27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
Deuteronomy 28:4
Context28:4 Your children 60 will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.
Deuteronomy 28:7
Context28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack 61 you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction 62 but flee from you in seven different directions.
Deuteronomy 28:18
Context28:18 Your children 63 will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.
Deuteronomy 28:21-22
Context28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases 64 until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He 65 will afflict you with weakness, 66 fever, inflammation, infection, 67 sword, 68 blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish.
Deuteronomy 28:24
Context28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
Deuteronomy 28:35
Context28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
Deuteronomy 28:49
Context28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth 69 as the eagle flies, 70 a nation whose language you will not understand,
Deuteronomy 28:61
Context28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, 71 until you have perished.
Deuteronomy 28:65
Context28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.
Deuteronomy 29:1
Context29:1 (28:69) 72 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. 73
Deuteronomy 29:21
Context29:21 The Lord will single him out 74 for judgment 75 from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.
Deuteronomy 29:24
Context29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger 76 all about?”
Deuteronomy 29:28
Context29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”
Deuteronomy 31:4-5
Context31:4 The Lord will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their land, which he destroyed. 31:5 The Lord will deliver them over to you and you will do to them according to the whole commandment I have given you.
Deuteronomy 31:8-9
Context31:8 The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”
31:9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.
Deuteronomy 31:23
Context31:23 and the Lord 77 commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” 78
Deuteronomy 32:13
Context32:13 He enabled him 79 to travel over the high terrain of the land,
and he ate of the produce of the fields.
He provided honey for him from the cliffs, 80
and olive oil 81 from the hardest of 82 rocks, 83
Deuteronomy 32:27
Context32:27 But I fear the reaction 84 of their enemies,
for 85 their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great, 86
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
Deuteronomy 32:30
Context32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 87
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 88
and the Lord had handed them over?
Deuteronomy 32:36
Context32:36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerning 89 his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
Deuteronomy 33:13
Context33:13 Of Joseph he said:
May the Lord bless his land
with the harvest produced by the sky, 90 by the dew,
and by the depths crouching beneath;
Deuteronomy 33:23
Context33:23 Of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, overflowing with favor,
and full of the Lord’s blessing,
possess the west and south.
Deuteronomy 34:1
Context34:1 Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. 91 The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan,
Deuteronomy 34:6
Context34:6 He 92 buried him in the land of Moab near Beth Peor, but no one knows his exact burial place to this very day.
Deuteronomy 34:11
Context34:11 He did 93 all the signs and wonders the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land,
1 tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.
2 sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
3 sn The fortieth year would be 1406
4 tn Heb “according to all which.”
5 tn Heb “the mouth of the
6 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.
7 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “the
10 tn Heb “much to you” (an idiom).
11 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
12 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”
13 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
14 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.
15 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.
16 tn Heb “the
17 tn Heb “fathers.”
18 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
19 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”
20 tn Heb “out of the house of slavery” (so NASB, NRSV).
21 tn Heb “to your son.”
22 tn Heb “by a strong hand.” The image is that of a warrior who, with weapon in hand, overcomes his enemies. The
23 tn Heb “the
24 tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.
25 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the
26 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
27 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
28 tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.
29 tn Heb “the
30 tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”
31 tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.
32 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).
33 tn Heb “the
34 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
35 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
36 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
37 tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
38 tn Heb “the
39 tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
40 sn This injunction to worship in a single and central sanctuary – one limited and appropriate to the thrice-annual festival celebrations (see Exod 23:14-17; 34:22-24; Lev 23:4-36; Deut 16:16-17) – marks a departure from previous times when worship was carried out at local shrines (cf. Gen 8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 22:9; 26:25; 35:1, 3, 7; Exod 17:15). Apart from the corporate worship of the whole theocratic community, however, worship at local altars would still be permitted as in the past (Deut 16:21; Judg 6:24-27; 13:19-20; 1 Sam 7:17; 10:5, 13; 2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Kgs 18:30).
41 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
42 tc Again, to complete a commonly attested wording the LXX adds after “choose” the phrase “to place his name there.” This shows insensitivity to deliberate departures from literary stereotypes. The MT reading is to be preferred.
43 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
44 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
45 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.
46 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
47 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
48 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
49 tn The appositional construction (“before the
50 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
51 tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”
52 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
53 sn An Ammonite or Moabite. These descendants of Lot by his two daughters (cf. Gen 19:30-38) were thereby the products of incest and therefore excluded from the worshiping community. However, these two nations also failed to show proper hospitality to Israel on their way to Canaan (v. 4).
54 tn The Hebrew term translated “ever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ’ad-’olam) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.
55 tn Heb “enter the assembly of the
56 tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
57 tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).
58 tn See note at Deut 22:30.
59 tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.
60 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
61 tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).
62 tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).
63 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
64 tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”
65 tn Heb “The
66 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
67 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
68 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
69 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
70 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
71 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”
72 sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
73 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
74 tn Heb “set him apart.”
75 tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”
76 tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”
77 tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the
78 tc The LXX reads, “as the
79 tn The form of the suffix on this verbal form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. Note as well the preterites with vav (ו) consecutive that follow in the verse.
80 tn Heb “he made him suck honey from the rock.”
81 tn Heb “oil,” but this probably refers to olive oil; see note on the word “rock” at the end of this verse.
82 tn Heb “flinty.”
83 sn Olive oil from rock probably suggests olive trees growing on rocky ledges and yet doing so productively. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 415; cf. TEV “their olive trees flourished in stony ground.”
84 tn Heb “anger.”
85 tn Heb “lest.”
86 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”
87 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
88 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
89 tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.
90 tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.
91 sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.
map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
92 tc Smr and some LXX
93 tn Heb “to,” “with respect to.” In the Hebrew text vv. 10-12 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two, using the verb “he did” at the beginning of v. 11 and “he displayed” at the beginning of v. 12.
