1tn Heb includes and he said to them. This is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
2tn Heb the Lord. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
3tn Heb fathers.
4tn Heb there must not be for you other gods. The expression for you indicates possession.
5tn Heb upon my face, or before me (y^n`P*-lu^). Some understand this in a locative sense: in my sight. The translation assumes that the phrase indicates exclusion. The idea is that of placing any other god before the Lord in the sense of taking his place. Contrary to the view of some, this does not leave the door open for a henotheistic system where the Lord is the primary god among others. In its literary context the statement must be taken in a monotheistic sense. See, e.g., 4:39; 6:13-15.
6tn Heb an image, any likeness.
7tn Heb under the earth.
8tn In the Hebrew text the form is a participle, which is subordinated to what precedes. For the sake of English style, the translation divides this lengthy verse into two sentences.
9tn Heb who hate. Just as to love (bha) means, in a covenant context, to choose, obey so to hate (anc) means to reject, disobey (cf. the note on the word loved in Deut 4:37; see also 5:10).
10tn Heb visiting the sin of fathers upon sons and upon a third (generation) and upon a fourth (generation) of those who hate me. God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9). On the principle of corporate solidarity and responsibility in OT thought see Joel Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible, JSOTSup, 196 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1995). In the idiom of the text, the father is the first generation and the sons the second generation, making grandsons the third and great-grandsons the fourth. The reference to a third and fourth generation is a way of emphasizing that the sinners punishment would last throughout his lifetime. In this culture, where men married and fathered children at a relatively young age, it would not be unusual for one to see his great-grandsons. In an Aramaic tomb inscription from Nerab dating to the seventh century b.c., Agbar observes that he was surrounded by children of the fourth generation as he lay on his death bed. See James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University, 1969), 661. The language of the text differs from Exod 34:7, the sons are the first generation, the grandsons (literally, sons of the sons) the second, great-grandsons the third, and great-great-grandsons the fourth. One could argue that formulation in Deut 5:9 (see also Exod 20:50) is elliptical/abbreviated or that it suffers from textual corruption (the repetition of the words sons would invite accidental omission).
11tn This theologically rich term (ds#j#) describes Gods loyalty to those who keep covenant with him. Sometimes it is used synonymously with tyr!B=, covenant (Deut 7:9), and sometimes interchangeably with it (Deut 7:12). See H.-J. Zobel, TDOT 5:44-64.
12tc By a slight emendation (<yp!WLa&l^ for <yp!l*a&l^) clans could be read in place of the MT reading thousands. However, no ms or versional evidence exists to support this emendation.
tn Another option is to understand this as referring to thousands (of generations) of those who love me. See Deut 7:9.
13tn Heb love. See note on the word reject in v. 9.
14tn Heb take up the name of the Lord your God to emptiness. The idea here is not cursing or profanity in the modern sense of these terms but the use of the divine Name for unholy, mundane purposes, that is, for meaningless (the Hebrew term is aw+v*) and empty ends. In ancient Israel this would include using the Lords name as a witness in vows one did not intend to keep.
15tn Heb who takes up his name to emptiness.
16tn Heb to make holy, that is, to put to special use, in this case, to sacred purposes (cf. vv. 13-15).
17tn There is some degree of paronomasia (wordplay) here: the seventh (yu!yb!V=h^) day is the Sabbath (tB*v^). Otherwise, the words have nothing in common, since Sabbath is derived from the verb tbv (to cease).
18tn Heb in your gates.
19tn Heb by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength.
20tn The imperative here means, literally, regard as heavy (dB@K^). The meaning is that great importance must be ascribed to parents by their children.
21tn Heb the Lord your God. See note on He in 5:3.
22tn Traditionally kill. The verb here (jxr) is generic for homicide but in the OT both killing in war and capital punishment were permitted and even commanded (Deut 13:5, 9; 20:13, 16-17), so the technical meaning here is murder.
23tn Heb your neighbor. Clearly this is intended generically, however, and not to be limited only to those persons who live nearby (frequently the way neighbor is understood in contemporary contexts). So also in v. 20.
24tn The Hebrew verb used here (dmj) is different from the one translated crave (hwa) in the next line. The former has sexual overtones (lust or the like; cf. Song of Sol 2:3) whereas the latter has more the idea of a desire or craving for material things.
25tn Heb your neighbors. See note on the term fellow man in v. 19.
26tn Heb your neighbors.
27tn Heb or anything that is your neighbors.
28tn Heb them; the referent (the words spoken by the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29tn Heb this day we have seen.
30tn Heb all flesh.
31tn Heb the Lord our God. See note on He in 5:3.
32tn Heb the Lord. See note on He in 5:3.
33tn Heb commandment. The MT actually has singular (hw`x=M!h^) suggesting, perhaps, that the following terms (<yQ!j% and <yf!p*v=m!) are in epexegetical apposition to commandment. That is, the phrase could be translated the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances. This would essentially make hw`x=m! synonymous with hr`oT, the usual term for the whole collection of law.
34tn Heb to possess it.
35tn Heb the Lord your God. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
36tn Heb commanded you.