2tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”

3tn Heb “hide yourself.”

4tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”

5tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).

6tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.

7tn Heb “and you do not know him.”

8tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

9tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).

10tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”

11tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.

12tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”

13tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”

14tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.

15tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”

16tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “offense”) speaks of anything that runs counter to ritual or moral order, especially (in the OT) to divine standards. Cross-dressing in this covenant context may suggest homosexuality, fertility cult ritual, or some other forbidden practice.

17tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”

18tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.

19tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”

20tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”

21tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”

22tn Heb “set apart.” The verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) in the Qal verbal stem (as here) has the idea of being holy or being treated with special care. Some take the meaning as “be off-limits, forfeited,” i.e., the total produce of the vineyard, both crops and grapes, have to be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Exod 29:37; 30:29; Lev 6:18, 27; Num 16:37-38; Hag 2:12).

23tn The Hebrew term שַׁעַטְנֵז (sha’atnez) occurs only here and in Lev 19:19. HALOT 1610-11 s.v. takes it to be a contraction of words (שַׁשׁ [shash, “headdress”] + עַטְנַז [’atnaz, “strong”]). BDB 1043 s.v. שַׁעַטְנֵז offers the translation “mixed stuff” (cf. NEB “woven with two kinds of yarn”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “woven together”). The general meaning is clear even if the etymology is not.

24tn Heb “twisted threads” (גְּדִלִים, g˙dilim) appears to be synonymous with צִיצִת (tsitsit) which, in Num 15:38, occurs in a passage instructing Israel to remember the covenant. Perhaps that is the purpose of the tassels here as well. Cf. KJV, ASV “fringes”; NAB “twisted cords.”

25tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.

26tn Heb “hate.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15. Cf. NAB “comes to dislike”; NASB “turns against”; TEV “decides he doesn’t want.”

27tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”

28tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”

29tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.

30sn In light of v. 17 this would evidently be blood-stained sheets indicative of the first instance of intercourse. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 302-3.

31tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.

32tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”

33tn Heb “discipline.”

34tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.

35tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”

36tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (n˙valah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

37tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

38tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.

39tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”

40tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

41tn Heb “finds.”

42tn Heb “lies with.”

43tn Heb “humbled.”

44tn Heb “wife.”

45tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

46tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.

47tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.

48tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”

49tn Heb “his neighbor.”

50tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

51tn Heb “lies with.”

52sn Beginning with 22:30, the verse numbers through 23:25 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:30 ET = 23:1 HT, 23:1 ET = 23:2 HT, 23:2 ET = 23:3 HT, etc., through 23:25 ET = 23:26 HT. With 24:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

53tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”

54sn This presupposes either the death of the father or their divorce since it would be impossible for one to marry his stepmother while his father was still married to her.

55tn Heb “uncover his father’s skirt” (so ASV, NASB). This appears to be a circumlocution for describing the dishonor that would come to a father by having his own son share his wife’s sexuality (cf. NAB, NIV “dishonor his father’s bed”).