Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:3-21 
Context4:3 You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, 1 how he 2 eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. 3 4:4 But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. 4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in 4 the land you are about to enter and possess. 4:6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding 5 to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise 6 people.” 4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just 7 as this whole law 8 that I am about to share with 9 you today?
4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, 10 lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. 4:10 You 11 stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he 12 said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. 13 Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” 4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it 14 and yet dark with a thick cloud. 15 4:12 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. 16 4:13 And he revealed to you the covenant 17 he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, 18 writing them on two stone tablets. 4:14 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. 19
4:15 Be very careful, 20 then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 4:16 I say this 21 so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, 4:17 any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, 4:18 anything that crawls 22 on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. 23 4:19 When you look up 24 to the sky 25 and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation 26 – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, 27 for the Lord your God has assigned 28 them to all the people 29 of the world. 30 4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, 31 to be his special people 32 as you are today. 4:21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he 33 is about to give you. 34
1 tc The LXX and Syriac read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in Deut 3:29.
2 tn Heb “the
3 tn Or “
4 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).
5 tn Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”
6 tn Heb “wise and understanding.”
7 tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”
8 tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.
9 tn Heb “place before.”
10 tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
11 tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
12 tn Heb “the
13 tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
14 tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
15 tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
16 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
17 sn This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, TDOT 2:255.
18 tn Heb “the ten words.”
19 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”
20 tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”
21 tn The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
22 tn Heb “creeping thing.”
23 tn Heb “under the earth.”
24 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.
25 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
26 tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”
27 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.
28 tn Or “allotted.”
29 tn Or “nations.”
30 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.
31 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.
32 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.
33 tn Heb “the
34 tn The Hebrew text includes “(as) an inheritance,” or “(as) a possession.”
