¹tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase rb*D` tw~r+u# refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10). Jesus, citing this text, clearly had adultery in view, for the narrative uses the Greek term porneiva to identify the only justification for divorce (Matt 5:31-32; 19:7-9).
²tn Heb “his house.”
³tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
⁴tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
⁵tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
⁶sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.
⁷tn Heb “cause the land to sin.”
⁸tn Heb “go out with.”
⁹tc For the MT’s reading Piel jM^c! (“bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read jm^c* (“enjoy”).
¹⁰tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.
¹¹tn Or “and enslaves him.”
¹²tn Heb “that thief.”
¹³tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
¹⁴tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
¹⁵sn What the Lord your God did to Miriam. The reference is to Miriam’s having contracted leprosy because of her intemperate challenge to Moses’ leadership (Num 12:1-15). The purpose for the allusion here appears to be the assertion of the theocratic leadership of the priests who, like Moses, should not be despised.
¹⁶tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
¹⁷tn Heb “his pledge.”
¹⁸tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37).
¹⁹tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
²⁰tn Or “righteous.”
²¹tn Heb “your brothers.”
²²tn Heb “gates.”
²³tn Heb “sons” (twice in this verse).
²⁴tn Heb “in the field.”
²⁵tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).
²⁶tn Heb “knock down after you.”
²⁷tn Heb “glean after you.”