Deuteronomy 14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Deuteronomy 14:1 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”
2. Deuteronomy 14:1 sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not to be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.
3. Deuteronomy 14:2 tn Or “set apart.”
4. Deuteronomy 14:2 tn Heb “The Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
5. Deuteronomy 14:2 tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (s^egullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.sn The Hebrew term translated “select” (and the whole verse) is reminiscent of the classic covenant text (Exod 19:4-6) which describes Israel’s entry into covenant relationship with the Lord. Israel must resist paganism and its trappings precisely because she is a holy people elected by the Lord from among the nations to be his instrument of world redemption (cf. Deut 7:6; 26:18; Ps 135:4; Mal 3:17; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9).
6. Deuteronomy 14:3 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (toʿevah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the Lord because of its innate evil or inconsistency with his own nature and character. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25. Cf. KJV “abominable”; NIV “detestable”; NRSV “abhorrent.”sn This verse acts as a header for several short lists that describe what may and may not be eaten: land animals (vv. 4-8), water creatures (vv. 9-10), birds and bats (vv. 11-18), other winged creatures (vv. 19-20). Each set refers to clean and unclean animals.
7. Deuteronomy 14:5 tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (ʾayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ʾayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”
8. Deuteronomy 14:5 tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (ts^evi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).
9. Deuteronomy 14:5 tn The Hebrew term יַחְמוּר (yakhmur) may refer to a “fallow deer”; cf. Arabic yahmur (“deer”). Cf. NAB, NIV, NCV “roe deer”; NEB, NRSV, NLT “roebuck.”
10. Deuteronomy 14:5 tn The Hebrew term דִּישֹׁן (dishon) is a hapax legomenon. Its referent is uncertain but the animal is likely a variety of antelope (cf. NEB “white-rumped deer”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “ibex”).
11. Deuteronomy 14:5 tn The Hebrew term תְּאוֹ (t^eʾo; a variant is תּוֹא, toʾ) could also refer to another species of antelope. Cf. NEB “long-horned antelope”; NIV, NRSV “antelope.”
12. Deuteronomy 14:5 tn The Hebrew term זֶמֶר (zemer) is another hapax legomenon with the possible meaning “wild sheep.” Cf. KJV, ASV “chamois”; NEB “rock-goat”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “mountain sheep.”
13. Deuteronomy 14:6 tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14. Deuteronomy 14:7 tn The Hebrew term שָׁפָן (shafan) may refer to the “coney” (cf. KJV, NIV) or hyrax (“rock badger,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
15. Deuteronomy 14:8 tc The MT lacks (probably by haplography) the phrase וְשֹׁסַע שֶׁסַע פַּרְסָה (v^eshosaʿ shesaʿ parsah, “and is clovenfooted,” i.e., “has parted hooves”), a phrase found in the otherwise exact parallel in Lev 11:7. The LXX and Smr attest the longer reading here. The meaning is, however, clear without it.
16. Deuteronomy 14:11 tn According to HALOT the Hebrew term צִפּוֹר (tsippor) can to a “bird” or “winged creature” (HALOT 1047 s.v.). In this list it appears to include bats, while insects are put in their own list next. Hebrew terminology seems to have focused on the mode of movement or environment rather than our modern zoological taxonomies.
17. Deuteronomy 14:12 tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”
18. Deuteronomy 14:12 tn The Hebrew term פֶּרֶס (peres) describes a large vulture otherwise known as the ossifrage (cf. KJV). This largest of the vultures takes its name from its habit of dropping skeletal remains from a great height so as to break the bones apart.
19. Deuteronomy 14:12 tn The Hebrew term עָזְנִיָּה (ʿozniyyah) may describe the black vulture (so NIV) or it may refer to the osprey (so NAB, NRSV, NLT), an eagle-like bird subsisting mainly on fish.
20. Deuteronomy 14:13 tn The Hebrew term is דַּיָּה (dayyah). This, with the previous two terms (רָאָה [raʾah] and אַיָּה [ʾayyah]), is probably a kite of some species but otherwise impossible to specify.
21. Deuteronomy 14:15 tn Or “owl.” The Hebrew term בַּת הַיַּעֲנָה (bat hayyaʿanah) is sometimes taken as “ostrich” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but may refer instead to some species of owl (cf. KJV “owl”; NEB “desert-owl”; NIV “horned owl”).
22. Deuteronomy 14:15 tn The Hebrew term תַּחְמָס (takhmas) is either a type of owl (cf. NEB “short-eared owl”; NIV “screech owl”) or possibly the nighthawk (so NRSV, NLT).
23. Deuteronomy 14:15 tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).
24. Deuteronomy 14:16 tn The Hebrew term תִּנְשֶׁמֶת (tinshemet) may refer to a species of owl (cf. ASV “horned owl”; NASB, NIV, NLT “white owl”) or perhaps even to the swan (so KJV); cf. NRSV “water hen.”
25. Deuteronomy 14:17 tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qaʾat) may also refer to a type of owl (NAB, NIV, NRSV “desert owl”) or perhaps the pelican (so KJV, NASB, NLT).
26. Deuteronomy 14:19 tn The term עוֹף (ʿof) refers to winged creatures more broadly than “birds” and is repeated in v. 20. Here “swarming winged things” (שֶׁרֶץ הָעוֹף, sherets haʿof) most likely refers to “insects.”sn It is debatable whether vv. 11-20 form one list (e.g. NASB) or two (e.g. NIV) as it is taken here. Verses 11 and 20 each say “you may eat any clean X” and refer to flying creatures. The terms עוֹף (ʿof) and צִפּוֹר (tsippor, see v. 11) can both refer to birds, but are not limited to birds. Verse 12 begins and v. 19 ends with a clause saying what may not be eaten, while specific animals or classes of animals are listed in between. This has the appearance of a chiastic structure for one list. On the other hand, the lists of land animals and fish are simply divided into what one may eat and may not eat, suggesting that vv. 11-18 and 19-20 (each including both kinds of statements) are separate lists. Also an issue, the phrase in v. 19 “it is unclean” might refer back to v.12 and the singular זֶה (zeh, “this,” but translated “these in most English versions for stylistic reasons). This would help tie 12-19 together as one list, but the closer referent is “any…winged thing” earlier in v. 19. Verses 19 and 20 are also tied by the use of the term עוֹף.
27. Deuteronomy 14:19 sn Lev 11:20-23 gives more details about unclean insects allowing locusts and grasshopper to be eaten. Cf. Matt 3:4; Mark 1:6.
28. Deuteronomy 14:19 tc The Vulgate and fragments from the Cairo Genizah read “it shall not be eaten.” The LXX and Smr read “you shall not eat from them” (cf. 14:12). The MT, reading the Niphal (passive), is less likely to have been harmonized and the harder reading should stand.
29. Deuteronomy 14:21 tn Heb “gates” (also in vv. 27, 28, 29).
30. Deuteronomy 14:21 sn Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. This strange prohibition—one whose rationale is unclear but probably related to pagan ritual—may seem out of place here but actually is not for the following reasons: (1) the passage as a whole opens with a prohibition against heathen mourning rites (i.e., death, vv. 1-2) and closes with what appear to be birth and infancy rites. (2) In the other two places where the stipulation occurs (Exod 23:19 and Exod 34:26) it similarly concludes major sections. (3) Whatever the practice signified it clearly was abhorrent to the Lord and fittingly concludes the topic of various breaches of purity and holiness as represented by the ingestion of unclean animals (vv. 3-21). See C. M. Carmichael, “On Separating Life and Death: An Explanation of Some Biblical Laws,” HTR 69 (1976): 1-7; J. Milgrom, “You Shall Not Boil a Kid In Its Mother’s Milk,” BRev 1 (1985): 48-55; R. J. Ratner and B. Zuckerman, “In Rereading the ‘Kid in Milk’ Inscriptions,” BRev 1 (1985): 56-58; and M. Haran, “Seething a Kid in its Mother’s Milk,” JJS 30 (1979): 23-35.
31. Deuteronomy 14:22 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “be certain.”
32. Deuteronomy 14:23 tn This refers to wine in the early stages of fermentation. In its later stages it becomes wine (יַיִן, yayin) in its mature sense.
33. Deuteronomy 14:24 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “He” in 14:2.
34. Deuteronomy 14:24 tn The Hebrew text includes “way is so far from you that you are unable to carry it because the.” These words have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because they are redundant.
35. Deuteronomy 14:25 tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”
36. Deuteronomy 15:1 tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטִּת (sh^emittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”
37. Deuteronomy 15:2 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
38. Deuteronomy 15:2 tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”
39. Deuteronomy 15:3 tn Heb “your brother.”
40. Deuteronomy 15:4 tc After the phrase “the Lord” many mss and versions add “your God” to complete the usual full epithet.
41. Deuteronomy 15:4 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “surely.” Note however, that the use is rhetorical, for the next verse attaches a condition.
42. Deuteronomy 15:4 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
43. Deuteronomy 15:4 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
44. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “if listening you listen to the voice of.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “carefully.” The idiom “listen to the voice” means “obey.”
45. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 15:4.
46. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
47. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
48. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.
49. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “gates.”
50. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
51. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
52. Deuteronomy 15:8 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.
53. Deuteronomy 15:8 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
54. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “your eye.”
55. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
56. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
57. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
58. Deuteronomy 15:10 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
59. Deuteronomy 15:10 tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.
60. Deuteronomy 15:11 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
61. Deuteronomy 15:11 tn Heb “your brother.”
62. Deuteronomy 15:12 sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ʿivri) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ʾapiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.
63. Deuteronomy 15:12 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
64. Deuteronomy 15:12 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
65. Deuteronomy 15:12 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
66. Deuteronomy 15:14 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
67. Deuteronomy 15:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
68. Deuteronomy 15:16 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
69. Deuteronomy 15:17 sn When the bondslave’s ear was drilled through to the door, the door in question was that of the master’s house. In effect, the bondslave is declaring his undying and lifelong loyalty to his creditor. The scar (or even hole) in the earlobe would testify to the community that the slave had surrendered independence and personal rights. This may be what Paul had in mind when he said “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).
70. Deuteronomy 15:18 tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.
71. Deuteronomy 15:19 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the Lord.
72. Deuteronomy 15:20 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
73. Deuteronomy 15:21 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
74. Deuteronomy 15:22 tn Heb “in your gates.”
75. Deuteronomy 15:22 tc The LXX adds ἐν σοί (en soi, “among you”) to make clear that the antecedent is the people and not the animals. That is, the people, whether ritually purified or not, may eat such defective animals.
76. Deuteronomy 16:1 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
77. Deuteronomy 16:1 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
78. Deuteronomy 16:1 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
79. Deuteronomy 16:2 tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
80. Deuteronomy 16:2 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.
81. Deuteronomy 16:3 tn Heb “bread of affliction.” Their affliction was part of the cause of why they ate this kind of bread. It could be understood as “the sort of bread made under oppressive circumstances.” The kind of bread was used to symbolize and remind of their affliction.
82. Deuteronomy 16:4 tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
83. Deuteronomy 16:4 tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
84. Deuteronomy 16:5 tn Heb “gates.”
85. Deuteronomy 16:6 tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
86. Deuteronomy 16:6 tc The MT reading אֶל (ʾel, “unto”) before “the place” should, following Smr, Syriac, Targums, and Vulgate, be omitted in favor of ב (bet; בַּמָּקוֹם, bammaqom), “in the place.”
87. Deuteronomy 16:6 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
88. Deuteronomy 16:7 tn The rules that governed the Passover meal are found in Exod 12:1-51, and Deut 16:1-8. The word translated “cook” (בָּשַׁל, bashal) here is translated “boil” in other places (e.g. Exod 23:19, 1 Sam 2:13-15). This would seem to contradict Exod 12:9 where the Israelites are told not to eat the Passover sacrifice raw or boiled. However, 2 Chr 35:13 recounts the celebration of a Passover feast during the reign of Josiah, and explains that the people “cooked (בָּשַׁל, bashal) the Passover sacrifices over the open fire.” The use of בָּשַׁל (bashal) with “fire” (אֵשׁ, ʾesh) suggests that the word could be used to speak of boiling or roasting.
89. Deuteronomy 16:8 tn The words “on that day” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for clarification (cf. TEV, NLT).
90. Deuteronomy 16:9 tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
91. Deuteronomy 16:10 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג שָׁבֻעוֹת (khag shavuʿot) is otherwise known in the OT (Exod 23:16) as קָצִיר (qatsir, “harvest”) and in the NT as πεντηχοστή (pentēhchostē, “Pentecost”).
92. Deuteronomy 16:10 tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
93. Deuteronomy 16:10 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
94. Deuteronomy 16:11 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
95. Deuteronomy 16:11 tn Heb “gates.”
96. Deuteronomy 16:11 sn The ger (גֵּר) “foreign resident” or “naturalized citizen,” (see Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:10-13) could make sacrifices (Lev 17:8; 22:18; Num 15:14) and participate in Israel’s religious festivals: Passover Exod 12:48; Day of Atonement Lev 16:29; Feast of Weeks Deut 16:10-14; Feast of Tabernacles Deut 31:12.
97. Deuteronomy 16:13 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכֹּת (khag hassukkot, “Feast of Shelters” or “Feast of Huts”) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is now preferable to the traditional “tabernacles” (KJV, ASV, NIV) in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. Clearer is the English term “shelters” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). This feast was a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt, in which they dwelt in temporary shelters.
98. Deuteronomy 16:13 tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
99. Deuteronomy 16:14 tn Heb “in your gates.”
100. Deuteronomy 16:15 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
101. Deuteronomy 16:15 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
102. Deuteronomy 16:15 tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”
103. Deuteronomy 16:16 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
104. Deuteronomy 16:17 tn Heb “a man must give according to the gift of his hand.” This has been translated as second person for stylistic reasons, in keeping with the second half of the verse, which is second person rather than third.
105. Deuteronomy 16:18 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (v^eshot^erim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
106. Deuteronomy 16:18 tn Heb “gates.”
107. Deuteronomy 16:18 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
108. Deuteronomy 16:19 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
109. Deuteronomy 16:19 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
110. Deuteronomy 16:20 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
111. Deuteronomy 16:21 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”sn Sacred Asherah pole. This refers to a tree (or wooden pole) dedicated to the worship of Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. See also Deut 7:5.
112. Deuteronomy 16:22 sn Sacred pillar. This refers to the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.