¹tn 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 torm*v=m! (“obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow—tQ)j%, <yf!P*v=m!, and tox=m!.
²tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
³tn 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” may also be rendered “instruction,” but vv. 2b-6 indicate that the referent of the term is the various acts of divine judgment the Israelites had witnessed.
⁴tn 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.
⁵tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
⁶tn 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.
⁷tn Heb “his signs and his deeds which he did.” 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. 2b). The word “awesome” has been employed to bring out the force of the word “signs” in this context.
⁸tn Heb “Reed Sea.” “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression [Ws <y`, traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.
<sup>9</sup>tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
<sup>10</sup>tn Heb “and the Lord destroyed them to this day.” The translation uses the verb “annihilated” to indicate the permanency of the action.
<sup>11</sup>tn See note on these same words in v. 3.
<sup>12</sup>sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).
<sup>13</sup>tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
<sup>14</sup>tn Heb “in the midst of 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.
<sup>15</sup>tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household.
<sup>16</sup>tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
<sup>17</sup>tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.
<sup>18</sup>tn Heb “the commandment.” The singular hw`x=m! (“commandment”) speaks here as elsewhere of the whole corpus of covenant stipulations in Deuteronomy (cf. 6:1, 25; 7:11; 8:1).
¹⁹tn Heb “commanding.”
²⁰tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
²¹tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).
²²tn Heb “you are going there to possess it.”
²³tn Heb “with your foot.” 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 shadu„f) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians, 181).
²⁴tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
²⁵tn Heb “rain of heaven.”
²⁶tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
²⁷tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on 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).
²⁸sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.
²⁹tn 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.”
³⁰tn Heb “commanding.”
³¹tn Again, the Hebrew term bha draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).
³²tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
³³tn 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.
³⁴tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
³⁵sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (hr#oy, yor#h) and “latter” (voql=m^, m^l=qov) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.
³⁶tn Heb “grass in your field.”
³⁷tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
³⁸tn Heb “become hot.”
³⁹tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term <y]m^v* (v*m^y]<) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
⁴⁰tn Or “be destroyed.”
⁴¹tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 11:4.
⁴²tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
⁴³tn On the Hebrew term tp)f*of (“reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.
⁴⁴tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.
⁴⁵tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.
⁴⁶tn Heb “commanding you to do it.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “walk in all his ways.”
⁴⁸tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
⁴⁹tn 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.
⁵⁰tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation.
⁵¹sn A blessing and a curse. Every extant treaty text of the late Bronze Age attests to a section known as the “blessings and curses,” the former for covenant loyalty and the latter for covenant breach. Blessings were promised rewards for obedience; curses were threatened judgments for disobedience. In the Book of Deuteronomy these are fully developed in 27:1-28:68. Here Moses adumbrates the whole by way of anticipation.
⁵²tn Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.
⁵³tn Heb “commanding.”
⁵⁴tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
⁵⁵tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
⁵⁶tn Heb “commanding.”
⁵⁷tn Heb “walk after.” This is a violation of the first commandment, the most serious of the covenant violations (Deut 5:6-7).
⁵⁸sn Mount Gerizim…Mount Ebal. These two mountains are near the ancient site of Shechem and the modern city of Nablus. The valley between them is like a great amphitheater with the mountain slopes as seating sections. The place was sacred because it was there that Abraham pitched his camp and built his first altar after coming to Canaan (Gen 12:6). Jacob also settled at Shechem for a time and dug a well from which Jesus once requested a drink of water (Gen 33:18-20; John 4:5-7). When Joshua and the Israelites finally brought Canaan under control they assembled at Shechem as Moses commanded and undertook a ritual of covenant reaffirmation (Josh 8:30-35; 24:1, 25). Half the tribes stood on Mt. Gerizim and half on Mt. Ebal and in antiphonal chorus pledged their loyalty to the Lord before Joshua and the Levites who stood in the valley below (Josh 8:33; cf. Deut 27:11-13).
⁵⁹tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
⁶⁰sn Gilgal. From a Hebrew verb root llg (gll, “to roll”) this place name means “circle” or “rolling,” a name given because God had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (Josh 5:9). It is perhaps to be identified with Khirbet el-Metjir, 1.2 mi (2 km) NE of OT Jericho.
⁶¹tc The MT plural “oaks” (yn}ola@) should probably be altered (with many Greek texts) to the singular “oak” (/ola@) in line with the only other occurrence of the phrase (Gen 12:6). The Syr, Tg Jn read mmrá, confusing this place with the “oaks of Mamre” near Hebron (Gen 13:18). The SP also appears to confuse “Moreh” with “Mamre” (reading mwrá, a combined form), adding the clarification mwl sŒkm (“near Shechem”) apparently to distinguish it from Mamre near Hebron.