Ulangan 13:1-3

13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams ¹  should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, ²  13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.” 13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, ³  for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him ⁴  with all your mind and being. ⁵ 

Ulangan 13:5

13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, ⁶  he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. ⁷ 

Ulangan 18:15

18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you – from your fellow Israelites; ⁸  you must listen to him.

Ulangan 18:18-22

18:18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. 18:19 I will personally hold responsible ⁹  anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet ¹⁰  speaks in my name.

18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized ¹¹  him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, ¹²  ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ ¹³  – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my ¹⁴  name and the prediction ¹⁵  is not fulfilled, ¹⁶  then I have ¹⁷  not spoken it; ¹⁸  the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”

Ulangan 34:10-12

34:10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face. ¹⁹  34:11 He did ²⁰  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, 34:12 and he displayed great power ²¹  and awesome might in view of all Israel. ²² 

[13:1]  ¹ tn Heb “or a dreamer of dreams” (so KJV, ASV, NASB). The difference between a prophet (נָבִיא, navi’) and one who foretells by dreams (חֹלֵם אוֹ, ’o kholem) was not so much one of office – for both received revelation by dreams (cf. Num 12:6) – as it was of function or emphasis. The prophet was more a proclaimer and interpreter of revelation whereas the one who foretold by dreams was a receiver of revelation. In later times the role of the one who foretold by dreams was abused and thus denigrated as compared to that of the prophet (cf. Jer 23:28).

[13:1]  ² tn The expression אוֹת אוֹ מוֹפֵת (’ot ’o mofet) became a formulaic way of speaking of ways of authenticating prophetic messages or other works of God (cf. Deut 28:46; Isa 20:3). The NT equivalent is the Greek term σημεῖον (shmeion), a sign performed (used frequently in the Gospel of John, cf. 2:11, 18; 20:30-31). They could, however, be counterfeited or (as here) permitted to false prophets by the Lord as a means of testing his people.

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

[13:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “all your heart and soul” (so NRSV, CEV, NLT); or “heart and being” (NCV “your whole being”). See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[13:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

[13:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).

[18:15]  ⁸ tc The MT expands here on the usual formula by adding “from among you” (cf. Deut 17:15; 18:18; Smr; a number of Greek texts). The expansion seems to be for the purpose of emphasis, i.e., the prophet to come must be not just from Israel but an Israelite by blood.

[18:15]  tn “from your brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NAB “from among your own kinsmen”; NASB “from your countrymen”; NRSV “from among your own people.” A similar phrase occurs in v. 17.

[18:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”

[18:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[18:21]  ¹² tn Heb “in your heart.”

[18:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.

[18:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on the word “his” in v. 5.

[18:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”

[18:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”

[18:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord has.” See note on the word “his” in v. 5.

[18:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”

[34:10]  ¹⁹ sn See Num 12:8; Deut 18:15-18.

[34:11]  ²⁰ 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.

[34:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “strong hand.”

[34:12]  ²² tn The Hebrew text of v. 12 reads literally, “with respect to all the strong hand and with respect to all the awesome greatness which Moses did before the eyes of all Israel.”