Ulangan 9:5

9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, ¹  that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he ²  made on oath to your ancestors, ³  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Ulangan 12:29-31

The Abomination of Pagan Gods

12:29 When the Lord your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land. ⁴  12:30 After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.” 12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do! ⁵  For everything that is abhorrent ⁶  to him, ⁷  everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!

[9:5]  ¹ tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the Lord’s favor. As he states in both vv. 4-5, the main reason he allowed Israel to take this land was the sinfulness of the Canaanites who lived there (cf. Gen 15:16).

[9:5]  ² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[12:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “dwell in their land” (so NASB). In the Hebrew text vv. 29-30 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides it into two.

[12:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the Lord your God.”

[12:31]  ⁶ tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.

[12:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “every abomination of the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 27.