Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:19 
Context4:19 When you look up 1 to the sky 2 and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation 3 – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, 4 for the Lord your God has assigned 5 them to all the people 6 of the world. 7
Deuteronomy 9:4
Context9:4 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.
Deuteronomy 11:6
Context11:6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, 8 sons of Eliab the Reubenite, 9 when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp 10 and swallowed them, their families, 11 their tents, and all the property they brought with them. 12
Deuteronomy 20:19
Context20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, 13 you must not chop down its trees, 14 for you may eat fruit 15 from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 16
Deuteronomy 22:24
Context22:24 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 17 his neighbor’s fiancée; 18 in this way you will purge 19 evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 31:20
Context31:20 For after I have brought them 20 to the land I promised to their 21 ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they 22 eat their fill 23 and become fat, then they 24 will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant.
1 tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
2 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
3 tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”
4 tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.
5 tn Or “allotted.”
6 tn Or “nations.”
7 tn Heb “under all the heaven.”
sn The OT views the heavenly host as God’s council, which surrounds his royal throne ready to do his bidding (see 1 Kgs 22:19). God has given this group, sometimes called the “sons of God” (cf. Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps 89:6), jurisdiction over the nations. See Deut 32:8 (LXX). Some also see this assembly as the addressee in Ps 82. While God delegated his council to rule over the nations, he established a theocratic government over Israel and ruled directly over his chosen people via the Mosaic covenant. See v. 20, as well as Deut 32:9.
8 sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).
9 tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
10 tn Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.
11 tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”
12 tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
13 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
14 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
15 tn Heb “you may eat from them.” The direct object is not expressed; the word “fruit” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
17 tn Heb “humbled.”
18 tn Heb “wife.”
19 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
20 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
21 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
22 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
23 tn Heb “and are satisfied.”
24 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
