Ulangan 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹  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, ²  is giving you.

Ulangan 4:40

4:40 Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth ³  today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you as a permanent possession.

Ulangan 5:1

The Opening Exhortation

5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: ⁴  “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!

Ulangan 5:5

5:5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal to you the message ⁵  of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said:

Ulangan 5:9

5:9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish ⁶  the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject ⁷  me, ⁸ 

Ulangan 5:31

5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, ⁹  statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” ¹⁰ 

Ulangan 6:2

6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments ¹¹  that I am giving ¹²  you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days.

Ulangan 8:1

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ¹³  I am giving ¹⁴  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ¹⁵  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ¹⁶ 

Ulangan 11:8

The Abundance of the Land of Promise

11:8 Now pay attention to all the commandments ¹⁷  I am giving ¹⁸  you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, ¹⁹ 

Ulangan 11:13

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ²⁰  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ²¹  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ²² 

Ulangan 11:22

11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments ²³  I am giving you ²⁴  and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, ²⁵  and remain loyal to him,

Ulangan 11:28

11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention ²⁶  to his ²⁷  commandments and turn from the way I am setting before ²⁸  you today to pursue ²⁹  other gods you have not known.

Ulangan 12:11

12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing ³⁰  everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, ³¹  and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. ³² 

Ulangan 12:28

12:28 Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Ulangan 13:18

13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving ³³  you today and doing what is right ³⁴  before him. ³⁵ 

Ulangan 15:11

15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open ³⁶  your hand to your fellow Israelites ³⁷  who are needy and poor in your land.

Ulangan 19:9

19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments ³⁸  I am giving ³⁹  you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities ⁴⁰  to these three.

Ulangan 28:1

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ⁴¹  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ⁴²  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

Ulangan 28:13

28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his ⁴³  commandments which I am urging ⁴⁴  you today to be careful to do.

Ulangan 28:15

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore ⁴⁵  the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ⁴⁶ 

Ulangan 30:16

30:16 What ⁴⁷  I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. ⁴⁸ 

Ulangan 31:2

31:2 He said to them, “Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, ⁴⁹  and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

Ulangan 31:27

31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. ⁵⁰  Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! ⁵¹ 

Ulangan 32:46

32:46 he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law.

[4:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[4:40]  ³ tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Or “word” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV “words.”

[5:9]  ⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the form is a participle, which is subordinated to what precedes. For the sake of English style, the translation divides this lengthy verse into two sentences.

[5:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “who hate” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). Just as “to love” (אָהַב, ’ahav) means in a covenant context “to choose, obey,” so “to hate” (שָׂנֵא, sane’) means “to reject, disobey” (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37; see also 5:10).

[5:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “visiting the sin of fathers upon sons and upon a third (generation) and upon a fourth (generation) of those who hate me.” God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9). On the principle of corporate solidarity and responsibility in OT thought see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). In the idiom of the text, the father is the first generation and the “sons” the second generation, making grandsons the third and great-grandsons the fourth. The reference to a third and fourth generation is a way of emphasizing that the sinner’s punishment would last throughout his lifetime. In this culture, where men married and fathered children at a relatively young age, it would not be unusual for one to see his great-grandsons. In an Aramaic tomb inscription from Nerab dating to the seventh century b.c., Agbar observes that he was surrounded by “children of the fourth generation” as he lay on his death bed (see ANET 661). The language of the text differs from Exod 34:7, the sons are the first generation, the grandsons (literally, “sons of the sons”) the second, great-grandsons the third, and great-great-grandsons the fourth. One could argue that formulation in Deut 5:9 (see also Exod 20:50) is elliptical/abbreviated or that it suffers from textual corruption (the repetition of the words “sons” would invite accidental omission).

[5:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “commandment.” The MT actually has the singular (הַמִּצְוָה, hammitsvah), suggesting perhaps that the following terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) are in epexegetical apposition to “commandment.” That is, the phrase could be translated “the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances.” This would essentially make מִצְוָה (mitsvah) synonymous with תּוֹרָה (torah), the usual term for the whole collection of law.

[5:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”

[6:2]  ¹¹ tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.

[6:2]  ¹² tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.

[8:1]  ¹³ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[11:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular מִצְוָה (mitsvah, “commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).

[11:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in vv. 13, 27).

[11:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”

[11:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ²¹ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ²² tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:22]  ²³ tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.

[11:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.

[11:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”

[11:28]  ²⁶ tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.

[11:28]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).

[11:28]  ²⁹ 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).

[12:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”

[12:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

[12:11]  ³² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[13:18]  ³³ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).

[13:18]  ³⁴ tc The LXX and Smr add “and good” to bring the phrase in line with a familiar cliché (cf. Deut 6:18; Josh 9:25; 2 Kgs 10:3; 2 Chr 14:1; etc.). This is an unnecessary and improper attempt to force a text into a preconceived mold.

[13:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord your God.” See note on the word “him” in v. 3.

[15:11]  ³⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”

[15:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “your brother.”

[19:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “all this commandment.” This refers here to the entire covenant agreement of the Book of Deuteronomy as encapsulated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).

[19:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁰ sn You will add three more cities. Since these are alluded to nowhere else and thus were probably never added, this must be a provision for other cities of refuge should they be needed (cf. v. 8). See P. C. Craigie, Deuteronomy (NICOT), 267.

[28:1]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

[28:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

[28:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”

[28:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

[28:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”

[30:16]  ⁴⁷ tc A number of LXX mss insert before this verse, “if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,” thus translating אֲשֶׁר (’asher) as “which” and the rest as “I am commanding you today, to love,” etc., “then you will live,” etc.

[30:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”

[31:27]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

[31:27]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “How much more after my death?” The Hebrew text has a sarcastic rhetorical question here; the translation seeks to bring out the force of the question.