1tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.” 2tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. 3sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14. 4tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX mss have “my God,” a contextually superior rendition followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, TEV). Perhaps the text reflects dittography of the kaf (כ) at the end of the word with the following preposition כִּי (ki). 5tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula. 6tn Heb “swore on oath.” 7tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15). 8tn Heb “your hand.” 9tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions. 10sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42). 11tn Heb “father.” 12tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity. 13tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 26:2. 14tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). 15tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 26:2. 16tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV). 17tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy. 18tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13). 19tn Heb “gates.” 20tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away. 21tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons. 22sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36. 23tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2. 24tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.” 25tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”). 26tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.” 27tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
1tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
2tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
3sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14.
4tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX mss have “my God,” a contextually superior rendition followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, TEV). Perhaps the text reflects dittography of the kaf (כ) at the end of the word with the following preposition כִּי (ki).
5tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
6tn Heb “swore on oath.”
7tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
8tn Heb “your hand.”
9tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.
10sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).
11tn Heb “father.”
12tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
13tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
14tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
15tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
16tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
17tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
18tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
19tn Heb “gates.”
20tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away.
21tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
22sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.
23tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
24tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
25tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).
26tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
27tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.