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 4:9

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, ³  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.

Ulangan 4:12-14

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. ⁴  4:13 And he revealed to you the covenant ⁵  he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, ⁶  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. ⁷ 

Ulangan 4:29-31

4:29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. ⁸  4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ⁹  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ¹⁰  4:31 (for he ¹¹  is a merciful God), he will not let you down ¹²  or destroy you, for he cannot ¹³  forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.

[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).

[4:9]  ³ tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”

[4:12]  ⁴ tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.

[4:13]  ⁵ 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.

[4:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the ten words.”

[4:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”

[4:29]  ⁸ tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.

[4:30]  ⁹ sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.

[4:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.

[4:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:31]  ¹² tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:31]  ¹³ tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.