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 4:5

4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in ³  the land you are about to enter and possess.

Ulangan 17:11

17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you.

Ulangan 32:41

32:41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,

and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; ⁴ 

I will execute vengeance on my foes,

and repay those who hate me! ⁵ 

Ulangan 33:21

33:21 He has selected the best part for himself,

for the portion of the ruler ⁶  is set aside ⁷  there;

he came with the leaders ⁸  of the people,

he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord

and his ordinances with Israel.

[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).

[4:5]  ³ tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).

[32:41]  ⁴ tn Heb “judgment.” This is a metonymy, a figure of speech in which the effect (judgment) is employed as an instrument (sword, spear, or the like), the means, by which it is brought about.

[32:41]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) in this covenant context speaks of those who reject Yahweh’s covenant overtures, that is, who disobey its stipulations (see note on the word “rejecting” in Deut 5:9; also see Deut 7:10; 2 Chr 19:2; Ps 81:15; 139:20-21).

[33:21]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term מְחֹקֵק (mÿkhoqeq; Poel participle of חָקַק, khaqaq, “to inscribe”) reflects the idea that the recorder of allotments (the “ruler”) is able to set aside for himself the largest and best. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 444-45.

[33:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “covered in” (if from the root סָפַן, safan; cf. HALOT 764-65 s.v. ספן qal).

[33:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “heads” (in the sense of chieftains).