translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: DEU

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”


text: Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”


text: Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”


text: Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord. ” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.


text: The Hebrew term translated “ever” ( עַד־עוֹלָם , ’ ad- ’ olam ) suggests that “tenth generation” (vv. 2, 3 ) also means “forever.” However, in the OT sense “forever” means not “for eternity” but for an indeterminate future time. See A. Tomasino, NIDOTTE 3:346.


text: Heb “hired against you.”


text: Heb “the Lord your God changed.” The phrase “the Lord your God” has not been included in the translation here for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. Moreover, use of the pronoun “he” could create confusion regarding the referent (the Lord or Balaam).


text: The verb אָהַב (’ ahav , “love”) here and commonly elsewhere in the Book of Deuteronomy speaks of God’s elective grace toward Israel. See note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37 .


text: Heb “brother.”


text: Heb “sojourner.”


text: Heb “evil.” The context makes clear that this is a matter of ritual impurity, not moral impurity, so it is “evil” in the sense that it disbars one from certain religious activity.


text: Heb “nocturnal happening.” The Hebrew term קָרֶה ( qareh ) merely means “to happen” so the phrase here is euphemistic (a “night happening”) for some kind of bodily emission such as excrement or semen. Such otherwise normal physical functions rendered one ritually unclean whether accidental or not. See Lev 15:16-18; 22:4 .


text: Heb “so that one may go outside there.” This expression is euphemistic.


text: Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.


text: Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.


text: Heb “give [over] your enemies.”


text: Heb “nakedness of a thing”; NLT “any shameful thing.” The expression עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ ervat davar ) refers specifically to sexual organs and, by extension, to any function associated with them. There are some aspects of human life that are so personal and private that they ought not be publicly paraded. Cultically speaking, even God is offended by such impropriety (cf. Gen 9:22-23 ; Lev 18:6-12, 16-19; 20:11, 17-21 ). See B. Seevers, NIDOTTE 3:528-30.


text: The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.


text: Heb “gates.”


text: The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here ( קְדֵשָׁה [ qÿdeshah ], from קַדֵשׁ [ qadesh , “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22 ; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47 ; 2 Kgs 23:7 ; Hos 4:14 ). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה ( zonah ).


text: Heb “daughters.”


text: The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ ( qadesh ; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב ( kelev , “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).


text: Heb “sons.”


text: Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה ( zonah ) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17 .


text: Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17 .


text: Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).


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


text: The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”


text: Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”


text: Heb “grapes according to your appetite, your fullness.”


text: Heb “in your container”; NAB, NIV “your basket.”