Keluaran 34:15

34:15 Be careful ¹  not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when ²  they prostitute themselves ³  to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, ⁴  you will eat from his sacrifice;

Ulangan 4:25-28

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ⁵  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ⁶  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ⁷  4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ⁸  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ⁹  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ¹⁰  annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ¹¹  among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 4:28 There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

Hakim-hakim 2:12

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ¹²  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ¹³  them and made the Lord angry.

[34:15]  ¹ tn The sentence begins simply “lest you make a covenant”; it is undoubtedly a continuation of the imperative introduced earlier, and so that is supplied here.

[34:15]  ² tn The verb is a perfect with a vav consecutive. In the literal form of the sentence, this clause tells what might happen if the people made a covenant with the inhabitants of the land: “Take heed…lest you make a covenant…and then they prostitute themselves…and sacrifice…and invite…and you eat.” The sequence lays out an entire scenario.

[34:15]  ³ tn The verb זָנָה (zanah) means “to play the prostitute; to commit whoredom; to be a harlot” or something similar. It is used here and elsewhere in the Bible for departing from pure religion and engaging in pagan religion. The use of the word in this figurative sense is fitting, because the relationship between God and his people is pictured as a marriage, and to be unfaithful to it was a sin. This is also why God is described as a “jealous” or “impassioned” God. The figure may not be merely a metaphorical use, but perhaps a metonymy, since there actually was sexual immorality at the Canaanite altars and poles.

[34:15]  ⁴ tn There is no subject for the verb. It could be rendered “and one invites you,” or it could be made a passive.

[4:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.

[4:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”

[4:25]  ⁷ tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.

[4:26]  ⁸ sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

[4:26]  ⁹ tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

[4:26]  ¹⁰ tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.

[4:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

[2:12]  ¹² tn Or “fathers.”

[2:12]  ¹³ tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).