Ulangan 4:23-27

4:23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he ¹  has forbidden ²  you. 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. ³ 

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ⁴  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ⁵  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ⁶  4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ⁷  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ⁸  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ⁹  annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ¹⁰  among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Ulangan 29:23-28

29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. ¹¹  29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ¹²  all about?” 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. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ¹³  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ¹⁴  written in this scroll. 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 31:17-18

31:17 At that time ¹⁵  my anger will erupt against them ¹⁶  and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome ¹⁷  them ¹⁸  so that they ¹⁹  will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters ²⁰  overcome us ²¹  because our ²²  God is not among us ²³ ?’ 31:18 But I will certainly ²⁴  hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they ²⁵  will have done by turning to other gods.

[4:23]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:23]  ² tn Heb “commanded.”

[4:24]  ³ tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the Lord is seen as a jealous God whose anger bursts into a destructive fire. For God to be “jealous” means that his holiness and uniqueness cannot tolerate pretended or imaginary rivals. It is not petty envy but response to an act of insubordination that must be severely judged (see H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:937-40).

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

[4:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”

[4:25]  ⁶ tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.

[4:26]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

[4:26]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

[29:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.

[29:24]  ¹² tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

[29:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

[29:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

[31:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.

[31:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”

[31:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “evils.”

[31:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

[31:17]  ²² tn Heb “my.”

[31:17]  ²³ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

[31:18]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”

[31:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.