Deuteronomy 11:10-17

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Deuteronomy 11:10 tn Heb “you are going there to possess it”; NASB “into which you are about to cross to possess it”; NRSV “that you are crossing over to occupy.”
2. Deuteronomy 11:10 tn Heb “with your foot” (so NASB, NLT). There is a two-fold significance to this phrase. First, Egypt had no rain so water supply depended on human efforts at irrigation. Second, the Nile was the source of irrigation waters but those waters sometimes had to be pumped into fields and gardens by foot-power, perhaps the kind of machinery (Arabic shaduf) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians, 181). Nevertheless, the translation uses “by hand,” since that expression is the more common English idiom for an activity performed by manual labor.
3. Deuteronomy 11:11 tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”
4. Deuteronomy 11:11 tn Heb “rain of heaven.”
5. Deuteronomy 11:12 tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
6. Deuteronomy 11:12 tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “always on it.” sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the Lord is understandable in light of the centrality of the land in the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen 12:1, 7; 13:15; 15:7, 16, 18; 17:8; 26:3).
7. Deuteronomy 11:12 sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.
8. Deuteronomy 11:13 tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”
9. Deuteronomy 11:13 tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהֵב (ʾahev) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).
10. Deuteronomy 11:13 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
11. Deuteronomy 11:14 tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.
12. Deuteronomy 11:14 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
13. Deuteronomy 11:14 sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.
14. Deuteronomy 11:15 tn Heb “grass in your field.”
15. Deuteronomy 11:16 tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
16. Deuteronomy 11:17 tn Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”
17. Deuteronomy 11:17 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
18. Deuteronomy 11:17 tn Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”
19. Deuteronomy 11:17 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 11:4.