Ulangan 1:2-3

1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey ¹  from Horeb ²  to Kadesh Barnea ³  by way of Mount Seir. ⁴  1:3 However, it was not until ⁵  the first day of the eleventh month ⁶  of the fortieth year ⁷  that Moses addressed the Israelites just as ⁸  the Lord had instructed him to do.

Ulangan 1:11

1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you ⁹  just as he said he would!

Ulangan 3:1

Defeat of King Og of Bashan

3:1 Next we set out on ¹⁰  the route to Bashan, ¹¹  but King Og of Bashan and his whole army ¹²  came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. ¹³ 

Ulangan 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹⁴  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ¹⁵  is giving you.

Ulangan 5:33

5:33 Walk just as he ¹⁶  has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long ¹⁷  in the land you are going to possess.

Ulangan 6:22

6:22 And he ¹⁸  brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family ¹⁹  before our very eyes.

Ulangan 6:24

6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him ²⁰  so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day.

Ulangan 7:2

7:2 and he ²¹  delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate ²²  them. Make no treaty ²³  with them and show them no mercy!

Ulangan 7:5

7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, ²⁴  cut down their sacred Asherah poles, ²⁵  and burn up their idols.

Ulangan 9:29

9:29 They are your people, your valued property, ²⁶  whom you brought out with great strength and power. ²⁷ 

Ulangan 10:6

Conclusion of the Historical Resume

10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan ²⁸  to Moserah. ²⁹  There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place.

Ulangan 11:25

11:25 Nobody will be able to resist you; the Lord your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.

Ulangan 11:28

11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention ³⁰  to his ³¹  commandments and turn from the way I am setting before ³²  you today to pursue ³³  other gods you have not known.

Ulangan 12:14

12:14 for you may do so ³⁴  only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you. ³⁵ 

Ulangan 14:1

The Holy and the Profane

14:1 You are children ³⁶  of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald ³⁷  for the sake of the dead.

Ulangan 15:2

15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; ³⁸  he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, ³⁹  for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.”

Ulangan 15:4

15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord ⁴⁰  will surely bless ⁴¹  you in the land that he ⁴²  is giving you as an inheritance, ⁴³ 

Ulangan 15:12

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ⁴⁴  – whether male or female ⁴⁵  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ⁴⁶  go free. ⁴⁷ 

Ulangan 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁴⁸  – 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. ⁴⁹ 

Ulangan 22:1

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

22:1 When you see ⁵⁰  your neighbor’s ⁵¹  ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; ⁵²  you must return it without fail ⁵³  to your neighbor.

Ulangan 22:3-4

22:3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor ⁵⁴  has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. ⁵⁵  22:4 When you see ⁵⁶  your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; ⁵⁷  instead, you must be sure ⁵⁸  to help him get the animal on its feet again. ⁵⁹ 

Ulangan 23:19

Respect for Others’ Property

23:19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, ⁶⁰  whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest.

Ulangan 24:7

24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ⁶¹  and regards him as mere property ⁶²  and sells him, that kidnapper ⁶³  must die. In this way you will purge ⁶⁴  evil from among you.

Ulangan 24:14

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ⁶⁵  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ⁶⁶ 

Ulangan 26:18

26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments.

Ulangan 28:54

28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children.

Ulangan 29:10

29:10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes, ⁶⁷  your elders, your officials, every Israelite man,

Ulangan 29:22

29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see ⁶⁸  the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it.

Ulangan 29:25

29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Ulangan 29:28

29:28 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.”

Ulangan 31:9-10

The Deposit of the Covenant Text

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. 31:10 He ⁶⁹  commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts, ⁷⁰  at the Feast of Temporary Shelters, ⁷¹ 

Ulangan 34:11

34:11 He did ⁷²  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,

[1:2]  ¹ sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).

[1:2]  ² sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.

[1:2]  ³ sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.

[1:2]  ⁴ sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”

[1:3]  ⁵ 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.

[1:3]  ⁶ sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.

[1:3]  ⁷ sn The fortieth year would be 1406 b.c. according to the “early” date of the exodus. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66-75.

[1:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “may he bless you.”

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “turned and went up.”

[3:1]  ¹¹ sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.

[3:1]  ¹² tn Heb “people.”

[3:1]  ¹³ sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).

[4:1]  ¹⁴ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[5:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[5:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”

[6:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.

[6:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.

[6:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord our God.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.

[7:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:2]  ²² tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”

[7:2]  ²³ tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”

[7:5]  ²⁴ 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 Lord (Gen 28:18, 22; 31:13; 35:14; Exod 24:4), these pillars were usually associated with pagan cults and rituals (Exod 23:24; 34:13; Deut 12:3; 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 17:10; Hos 3:4; 10:1; Jer 43:13).

[7:5]  ²⁵ 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).

[9:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.

[9:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”

[10:6]  ²⁸ sn Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan. This Hebrew name could be translated “the wells of Bene-Yaaqan” or “the wells of the sons of Yaaqan,” a site whose location cannot be determined (cf. Num 33:31-32; 1 Chr 1:42).

[10:6]  ²⁹ sn Moserah. Since Aaron in other texts (Num 20:28; 33:38) is said to have died on Mount Hor, this must be the Arabah region in which Hor was located.

[11:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.

[11:28]  ³¹ tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[11:28]  ³² tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).

[11:28]  ³³ tn Heb “walk after”; NIV “by following”; NLT “by worshiping.” This is a violation of the first commandment, the most serious of the covenant violations (Deut 5:6-7).

[12:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “offer burnt offerings.” The expression “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[12:14]  ³⁵ 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).

[14:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”

[14:1]  ³⁷ sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.

[15:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.

[15:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”

[15:4]  ⁴⁰ tc After the phrase “the Lord” many mss and versions add “your God” to complete the usual full epithet.

[15:4]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “surely.” Note however, that the use is rhetorical, for the next verse attaches a condition.

[15:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[15:4]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”

[15:12]  ⁴⁴ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[18:1]  ⁴⁸ 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.

[18:1]  ⁴⁹ sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

[22:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.

[22:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”

[22:1]  ⁵² tn Heb “hide yourself.”

[22:1]  ⁵³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”

[22:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).

[22:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”

[22:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.

[22:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”

[22:4]  ⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”

[22:4]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.

[23:19]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).

[24:7]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.

[24:7]  ⁶² tn Or “and enslaves him.”

[24:7]  ⁶³ tn Heb “that thief.”

[24:7]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.

[24:14]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

[24:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:10]  ⁶⁷ tc Heb “your heads, your tribes.” The Syriac presupposes either “heads of your tribes” or “your heads, your judges,” etc. (reading שֹׁפְטֵכֶם [shofÿtekhem] for שִׁבְטֵיכֶם [shivtekhem]). Its comparative difficulty favors the originality of the MT reading. Cf. KJV “your captains of your tribes”; NRSV “the leaders of your tribes”; NLT “your tribal leaders.”

[29:22]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.

[31:10]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:10]  ⁷⁰ tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּה (shÿmittah), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the procedure whereby debts of all fellow Israelites were to be canceled. Since the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated God’s own deliverance of and provision for his people, this was an appropriate time for Israelites to release one another. See note on this word at Deut 15:1.

[31:10]  ⁷¹ tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] ([khag] hassukot, “[festival of] huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. See note on the name of the festival in Deut 16:13.

[31:10]  sn For the regulations on this annual festival see Deut 16:13-15.

[34:11]  ⁷² 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.