translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: DEU

label: NET translator note

text: This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת ( mishmarot , “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת ( khuqot ), מִשְׁפָּטִים ( mishppatim ), and מִצְוֹת ( mitsot ).


text: Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord.” The collocation of the verbs “know” and “see” indicates that personal experience (knowing by seeing) is in view. The term translated “discipline” (KJV, ASV “chastisement”) may also be rendered “instruction,” but vv. 2 b-6 indicate that the referent of the term is the various acts of divine judgment the Israelites had witnessed.


text: The words “which revealed” have been supplied in the translation to show the logical relationship between the terms that follow and the divine judgments. In the Hebrew text the former are in apposition to the latter.


text: Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”


text: In the Hebrew text vv. 2-7 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the English translation divides the passage into three sentences. To facilitate this stylistic decision the words “They did not see” are supplied at the beginning of both v. 3 and v. 5 , and “I am speaking” at the beginning of v. 7 .


text: Heb “his signs and his deeds which he did” (NRSV similar). The collocation of “signs” and “deeds” indicates that these acts were intended to make an impression on observers and reveal something about God’s power (cf. v. 2 b). The word “awesome” has been employed to bring out the force of the word “signs” in this context.


text: Heb “Reed Sea.” “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף ( yam suf ), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18 .


text: Heb “the Lord .” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.


text: Heb “and the Lord destroyed them to this day” (cf. NRSV); NLT “he has kept them devastated to this very day.” The translation uses the verb “annihilated” to indicate the permanency of the action.


text: See note on these same words in v. 3 .


text: Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”


text: Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.


text: Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”


text: Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”


text: On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3 .


text: 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 ).


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


text: Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”


text: Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21 ).


text: Heb “you are going there to possess it”; NASB “into which you are about to cross to possess it”; NRSV “that you are crossing over to occupy.”


text: Heb “with your foot” (so NASB, NLT). There is a two-fold significance to this phrase. First, Egypt had no rain so water supply depended on human efforts at irrigation. Second, the Nile was the source of irrigation waters but those waters sometimes had to be pumped into fields and gardens by foot-power, perhaps the kind of machinery (Arabic shaduf ) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians , 181). Nevertheless, the translation uses “by hand,” since that expression is the more common English idiom for an activity performed by manual labor.


text: Heb “rain of heaven.”


text: Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.


text: Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “always on it.” sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the Lord is understandable in light of the centrality of the land in the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen 12:1, 7; 13:15; 15:7, 16, 18; 17:8; 26:3 ).


text: 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.”


text: 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 ).


text: Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5 .


text: The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13 ) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15 .


text: Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.


text: Heb “grass in your field.”


text: Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”


text: Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”


text: Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם ( shamayim ) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.


text: Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”


text: On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת ( totafot , “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9 .


text: Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”


text: Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.


text: Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30 .


text: 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.


text: Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”


text: Heb “the Lord .” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.


text: Heb “the sole of your foot walks.” The placing of the foot symbolizes conquest and dominion, especially on land or on the necks of enemies (cf. Deut 1:36 ; Ps 7:13 ; Isa 63:3 Hab 3:19 ; Zech 9:13 ). See E. H. Merrill, NIDOTTE 1:992.


text: Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”


text: Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.


text: Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.


text: Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.


text: Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).


text: 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 ).


text: The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.


label: NET textual note

text: The MT plural “oaks” ( אֵלוֹנֵי , ’ eloney ) should probably be altered (with many Greek texts) to the singular “oak” ( אֵלוֹן , ’ elon ; cf. NRSV) in line with the only other occurrence of the phrase ( Gen 12:6 ). The Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J. read mmrá , confusing this place with the “oaks of Mamre” near Hebron ( Gen 13:18 ). Smr also appears to confuse “Moreh” with “Mamre” (reading mwr ’, a combined form), adding the clarification mwl shkm (“near Shechem”) apparently to distinguish it from Mamre near Hebron.