Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
Three chapters of Mosheh giving his rather personalised version of recent history, very much in favour of those hoping to write a positive and flattering biography of him; and now, as he begins to give a "second reading" to the laws, we have to wonder whether there will be similar differences and discrepancies here too.
4:1 VE ATAH YISRA-EL SHEMA EL HA CHUKIM VE EL HA MISHPATIM ASHER ANOCHI MELAMED ET'CHEM LA'ASOT LEMA'AN TIHEYU U VATEM VE YERISHTEM ET HA ARETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEY AVOTEYCHEM NOTEN LACHEM
וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע אֶל הַחֻקִּים וְאֶל הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ וּבָאתֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם נֹתֵן לָכֶם
KJ (King James translation): Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
BN (BibleNet translation): And now, Yisra-El, listen to the statutes and the ordinances which I am going to teach you, so that you can follow them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which YHVH, the god of your fathers, is giving you.
And we need to understand, from the tone, the anachronisms, the language, the detail, that this text cannot have been written (in the sense of created, not simply written down) until the 5th century BCE at the earliest. Though the narrator claims to be Mosheh - and of course, his name may very well have been Mosheh - but it was not that Mosheh.
And from that historical context, it is actually more feasible to imagine this opening verse being recited to the captives in Bav-El, after Koresh (Cyrus) issued his edict permitting the captives to return to Yehudah and rebuild Yeru-Shala'im (Ezra1:1), or seventy years later, in Ezra's own time, than by old-man-Mosheh in the Mo-Avi wilderness.
4:2 LO TOSIPHU AL HA DAVAR ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM VE LO TIGRE'U MIMEYNU LISHMOR ET MITSVOT YHVH ELOHEYCHEM ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM
KJ: Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
BN: You may not add to the words that I am instructing you, nor may you take anything away from them, so that you may keep the instructions of YHVH your god which I will now instruct you.
Given the number, and the detail, of the laws that he will give in the coming chapters, he must either have had the most extraordinary memory, or the words must have been written down somewhere. We have been told that the Ten Commandments were written down, carved in stone indeed, by the deity himself (see verse 13, below), using the sharp edge of a sapphire (Exodus 34:28), or possibly it was the tablets themselves that were made of sapphire (click here); and these were kept in the Ark of the Covenant, in a special box made for them by Betsal-El... but this is only the Ten, and there were another 603 beside them: where were they written down, and on what materials (stone? papyrus?), and in what language (ancient Egyptian presumably; Yehudit didn't yet exist as the language if the Beney Yisra-El). And if they did exist in physical form, Mosheh would surely have called the Kohanim to bring them to him, so that he or they could read them to the people; but that doesn't happen. So is he making them up as he goes along... all these questions lead to the same conclusion: that these laws were created at some later date, probably the Ezraic, and written down then, and given retroactive legitimacy by attributing them to Mosheh...
לֹא תֹסִפוּ עַל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם וְלֹא תִגְרְעוּ מִמֶּנּוּ לִשְׁמֹר אֶת מִצְוֹת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם
KJ: Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
BN: You may not add to the words that I am instructing you, nor may you take anything away from them, so that you may keep the instructions of YHVH your god which I will now instruct you.
Given the number, and the detail, of the laws that he will give in the coming chapters, he must either have had the most extraordinary memory, or the words must have been written down somewhere. We have been told that the Ten Commandments were written down, carved in stone indeed, by the deity himself (see verse 13, below), using the sharp edge of a sapphire (Exodus 34:28), or possibly it was the tablets themselves that were made of sapphire (click here); and these were kept in the Ark of the Covenant, in a special box made for them by Betsal-El... but this is only the Ten, and there were another 603 beside them: where were they written down, and on what materials (stone? papyrus?), and in what language (ancient Egyptian presumably; Yehudit didn't yet exist as the language if the Beney Yisra-El). And if they did exist in physical form, Mosheh would surely have called the Kohanim to bring them to him, so that he or they could read them to the people; but that doesn't happen. So is he making them up as he goes along... all these questions lead to the same conclusion: that these laws were created at some later date, probably the Ezraic, and written down then, and given retroactive legitimacy by attributing them to Mosheh...
4:3 EYNEYCHEM HARO'OT ET ASHER ASAH YHVH BE VA'AL PE'OR KI CHOL HA ISH ASHER HALACH ACHAREY VA'AL PE'OR HISHMIDO YHVH ELOHEYCHA MI KIRBECHA
KJ: Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
BN: You have seen with your own eyes what YHVH did in Ba'al Pe'or; for all the men who followed the Ba'al of Pe'or, YHVH has destroyed them from among you.
See Numbers 25.
עֵינֵיכֶם הָרֹאוֹת אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהוָה בְּבַעַל פְּעוֹר כִּי כָל הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הָלַךְ אַחֲרֵי בַעַל פְּעוֹר הִשְׁמִידוֹ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִקִּרְבֶּךָ
BN: You have seen with your own eyes what YHVH did in Ba'al Pe'or; for all the men who followed the Ba'al of Pe'or, YHVH has destroyed them from among you.
See Numbers 25.
4:4 VA ATEM HADVEYKIM BA YHVH ELOHEYCHEM CHAYIM KULCHEM HAYOM
KJ: But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
BN: But you who remained loyal to YHVH your god, every one of you is alive this day.
Highly unlikely, in a community of more than 1.5 million, that no one has died in the intervening days and weeks, even from old age or sickness.
4:5 RE'EH LIMADETI ET'CHEM CHUKIM U MISHPATIM KA ASHER TSIVANI YHVH ELOHAY LA'ASOT KEN BE KEREV HA ARETS ASHER ATEM BA'IM SHAMAH LERISHTAH
KJ: Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
BN: Behold, I shall teach you statutes and ordinances, even as YHVH my god has instructed me, so you will know what you should when you come into the land to which you are going to take possession of it.
Except that he hasn't yet - he has announced that he is going to, but the action is yet to come. So I have treated this as a reversal of the Vav Consecutive, and translated it into the future tense.
4:6 U SHEMARTEM VA ASITEM KI HI CHACHMAT'CHEM U VINAT'CHEM LE EYNEY HA AMIM ASHER YISHME'UN ET KOL HA CHUKIM HA ELEH VE AMRU RAK AM CHACHAM VE NAVON HA GOY HA GADOL HA ZEH
KJ: Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
BN: Therefore observe them, carry them out; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the other nations, that, when they hear all these statutes, they shall say: Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
An interesting starting-point this, for an extended essay on the causes and explanations of historical anti-Semitism.
4:7 KI MI GOY GADOL ASHER LO ELOHIM KEROVIM ELAV KA YHVH ELOHEYNU BE CHOL KARENU ELAV
KJ: For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
BN: For what great nation is there, which has their god so near to them as YHVH our god is whenever we call on him?
4:8 U MI GOY GADOL ASHER LO CHUKIM U MISHPATIM TSADIKIM KE CHOL HA TORAH HA ZOT ASHER ANOCHI NOTEN LIPHNEYCHEM HAYOM
KJ: And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
BN: And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances as righteous as all this law, which I am setting before you today?
4:9 RAK HISHAMER LECHA U SHEMOR NAPHSHECHA ME'OD PEN TISHKACH ET HA DEVARIM ASHER RA'U EYNEYCHA, U PHEN YASURU MI LEVAVECHA KOL YEMEY CHAYEYCHA VE HODATAM LEVANEYCHA VE LIVNEY VANEYCHA
KJ: Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
BN: Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children.
A variation (perhaps an early draft) of the Shema: ve shinantam le vanecha... see Deuteronomy 6:4-9. or click here.
4:10 YOM ASHER AMADETA LIPHNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE CHOREV BE EMOR YHVH ELAY HAKHEL LI ET HA AM VA ASHMI'EM ET DEVARAY ASHER YILMEDUN LE YIRAH OTI KOL HA YAMIM ASHER HEM CHAYIM AL HA ADAMAH VE ET BENEYHEM YELAMEYDUN
KJ: Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
BN: The day that you stood before YHVH your god at Chorev, when YHVH said to me: Assemble the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the Earth, and that they may teach their children.
YILMEDUN... ASHIMEM... YELAMEYDUN: All these gerunds and subjunctives and other sophisticated grammatical forms, this is a literary language of much development, way beyond the basics of Genesis or even Judges. Next verse the same: TIKREVUN, TA'AMADUN; in the earlier books we would get VE HIKRAVTEM, VE AMADETA... I spoke, at the start of this chapter, of this text being of a much later date than the Mosaic, and here is the first major piece of evidence (and yes, it is entirely possible, as we do today with Chaucer and Shakespeare, to make them accessible to younger students, that the text we have was a deliberate modernisation at the time of Ezra; possible, but given the circumstances, highly unlikely, because they would have needed the physical ancient text to work from).
4:11 VA TIKREVUN VA TA'AMADUN TACHAT HA HAR VE HA HAR BO'ER BA EYSH AD LEV HA SHAMAYIM CHOSHECH ANAN VA ARAPHEL
וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם חַיִּים כֻּלְּכֶם הַיּוֹם
BN: But you who remained loyal to YHVH your god, every one of you is alive this day.
Highly unlikely, in a community of more than 1.5 million, that no one has died in the intervening days and weeks, even from old age or sickness.
4:5 RE'EH LIMADETI ET'CHEM CHUKIM U MISHPATIM KA ASHER TSIVANI YHVH ELOHAY LA'ASOT KEN BE KEREV HA ARETS ASHER ATEM BA'IM SHAMAH LERISHTAH
רְאֵה לִמַּדְתִּי אֶתְכֶם חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוַּנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּאִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
KJ: Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
BN: Behold, I shall teach you statutes and ordinances, even as YHVH my god has instructed me, so you will know what you should when you come into the land to which you are going to take possession of it.
Except that he hasn't yet - he has announced that he is going to, but the action is yet to come. So I have treated this as a reversal of the Vav Consecutive, and translated it into the future tense.
4:6 U SHEMARTEM VA ASITEM KI HI CHACHMAT'CHEM U VINAT'CHEM LE EYNEY HA AMIM ASHER YISHME'UN ET KOL HA CHUKIM HA ELEH VE AMRU RAK AM CHACHAM VE NAVON HA GOY HA GADOL HA ZEH
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם כִּי הִוא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן אֵת כָּל הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה וְאָמְרוּ רַק עַם חָכָם וְנָבוֹן הַגּוֹי הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה
KJ: Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
BN: Therefore observe them, carry them out; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the other nations, that, when they hear all these statutes, they shall say: Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
An interesting starting-point this, for an extended essay on the causes and explanations of historical anti-Semitism.
4:7 KI MI GOY GADOL ASHER LO ELOHIM KEROVIM ELAV KA YHVH ELOHEYNU BE CHOL KARENU ELAV
כִּי מִי גוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ אֱלֹהִים קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו כַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּכָל קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָיו
BN: For what great nation is there, which has their god so near to them as YHVH our god is whenever we call on him?
4:8 U MI GOY GADOL ASHER LO CHUKIM U MISHPATIM TSADIKIM KE CHOL HA TORAH HA ZOT ASHER ANOCHI NOTEN LIPHNEYCHEM HAYOM
וּמִי גּוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים צַדִּיקִם כְּכֹל הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם
KJ: And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
BN: And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances as righteous as all this law, which I am setting before you today?
4:9 RAK HISHAMER LECHA U SHEMOR NAPHSHECHA ME'OD PEN TISHKACH ET HA DEVARIM ASHER RA'U EYNEYCHA, U PHEN YASURU MI LEVAVECHA KOL YEMEY CHAYEYCHA VE HODATAM LEVANEYCHA VE LIVNEY VANEYCHA
רַק הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ וּשְׁמֹר נַפְשְׁךָ מְאֹד פֶּן תִּשְׁכַּח אֶת הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ וּפֶן יָסוּרוּ מִלְּבָבְךָ כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ וְהוֹדַעְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְלִבְנֵי בָנֶיךָ
KJ: Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
BN: Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children.
A variation (perhaps an early draft) of the Shema: ve shinantam le vanecha... see Deuteronomy 6:4-9. or click here.
4:10 YOM ASHER AMADETA LIPHNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE CHOREV BE EMOR YHVH ELAY HAKHEL LI ET HA AM VA ASHMI'EM ET DEVARAY ASHER YILMEDUN LE YIRAH OTI KOL HA YAMIM ASHER HEM CHAYIM AL HA ADAMAH VE ET BENEYHEM YELAMEYDUN
יוֹם אֲשֶׁר עָמַדְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּחֹרֵב בֶּאֱמֹר יְהוָה אֵלַי הַקְהֶללִי אֶת הָעָם וְאַשְׁמִעֵם אֶת דְּבָרָי אֲשֶׁר יִלְמְדוּן לְיִרְאָה אֹתִי כָּל הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר הֵם חַיִּים עַל הָאֲדָמָה וְאֶתבְּנֵיהֶם יְלַמֵּדוּן
KJ: Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
BN: The day that you stood before YHVH your god at Chorev, when YHVH said to me: Assemble the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the Earth, and that they may teach their children.
YILMEDUN... ASHIMEM... YELAMEYDUN: All these gerunds and subjunctives and other sophisticated grammatical forms, this is a literary language of much development, way beyond the basics of Genesis or even Judges. Next verse the same: TIKREVUN, TA'AMADUN; in the earlier books we would get VE HIKRAVTEM, VE AMADETA... I spoke, at the start of this chapter, of this text being of a much later date than the Mosaic, and here is the first major piece of evidence (and yes, it is entirely possible, as we do today with Chaucer and Shakespeare, to make them accessible to younger students, that the text we have was a deliberate modernisation at the time of Ezra; possible, but given the circumstances, highly unlikely, because they would have needed the physical ancient text to work from).
4:11 VA TIKREVUN VA TA'AMADUN TACHAT HA HAR VE HA HAR BO'ER BA EYSH AD LEV HA SHAMAYIM CHOSHECH ANAN VA ARAPHEL
וַתִּקְרְבוּן וַתַּעַמְדוּן תַּחַת הָהָר וְהָהָר בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ עַד לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם חֹשֶׁךְ עָנָן וַעֲרָפֶל
BN: And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire into the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Is that not a description of a volcanic eruption?
4:12 VA YEDABER YHVH ALEYCHEM MITOCH HA EYSH KOL DEVARIM ATEM SHOMIM U TEMUNAH EYNCHEM RO'IM ZULATI KOL
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֲלֵיכֶם מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ קוֹל דְּבָרִים אַתֶּם שֹׁמְעִים וּתְמוּנָה אֵינְכֶם רֹאִים זוּלָתִי קוֹל
KJ: And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
BN: Then YHVH spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard all the words, but you saw no form; only a voice.
4:13 VA YAGED LACHEM ET BRITO ASHER TSIVAH ET'CHEM LA'ASOT ASERET HA DEVARIM VA YICHTEVEM AL SHENEY LUCHOT AVANIM
וַיַּגֵּד לָכֶם אֶת בְּרִיתוֹ אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים וַיִּכְתְּבֵם עַל שְׁנֵי לֻחוֹת אֲבָנִים
BN: And he declared to you his covenant, which he instructed you to ratify, namely the Ten Commandments; and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
Vital verse for the orthodox-modernist argument over who wrote the Torah, and which parts when, and whether it was given by YHVH to Mosheh on Mount Sinai (Or Mount Chorev, according to this text) in the form we have it now. Here it is stated very clearly: only the Ten Commandments. And in what form? On two tablets of stone. And in what written language? That it does not say, but we have to assume imagine that Egyptian hieroglyphys would have fitted rather more easily than alphabetic sentences - though of course, no alphabet had yet been invented, or would be for several centuries.
4:14 VE OTI TSIVAH YHVH BA ET HA HI LELAMED ET'CHEM CHUKIM U MISHPATIM LA'ASOT'CHEM OTAM BA ARETS ASHER ATEM OVRIM SHAMAH LERISHTAH
וְאֹתִי צִוָּה יְהוָה בָּעֵת הַהִוא לְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לַעֲשֹׂתְכֶם אֹתָם בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
KJ: And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
BN: Then YHVH instructed me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might live by them in the land to which you are going over to possess it.
Is this perhaps the root of the name "Hebrew"? Or more likely, given the unwieldiness of the sentence, a conscious attempt to insert the word, so it would look like it provided the root, but done very badly.
4:15 VE NISHMARTEM ME'OD LE NAPHSHOTEYCHEM KI LO RE'ITEM KOL TEMUNAH BE YOM DIBER YHVH ALEYCHEM BE CHOREV MI TOCH HA EYSH
וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם כָּל תְּמוּנָה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְהוָה אֲלֵיכֶם בְּחֹרֵב מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ
KJ: Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
BN: Therefore take good heed to yourselves, for you saw no manner of form on the day that YHVH spoke to you on Chorev out of the midst of the fire.
TEMUNAH: the translation is imprecise; the word has appeared before (Exodus 20:3) and its meaning there is very precise: it is not the form itself, which is concrete-physical, but an image representing the form, which is abstract-artificial. The word today is used for a photograph; then it would have been an ikon, a graven image. The point is, that it makes no difference whether the god appeared physically or only as an image in their minds, because he cannot be made into an artificial image either way. The next verse confirms this (and see verse 3 of Yigdal).
The abstractness, the absolute non-anthropomorphickness, of YHVH, could not be more strongly emphasised than in this and the following verses; and yet Judaism today still envisages an ubermensch divinity who writes in the book of life, and worships the Torah as a kind of king-by-proxy, just as Mosheh is about to predict, and to condemn them for doing.
4:16 PEN TASHCHITUN VA ASITEM LACHEM PESEL TEMUNAT KOL SAMEL TAVNIT ZACHAR O NEKEVAH
פֶּן תַּשְׁחִתוּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כָּל סָמֶל תַּבְנִית זָכָר אוֹ נְקֵבָה
BN: Lest you deal corruptly, and make for yourselves a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female.
Not just of the deity, but of any living creature. Thereby ruling out any form of figurative art, including sculpture - for the best ever account of this, read Chaim Potok's novel "My Name Is Asher Lev".
4:17 TAVNIT KOL BEHEMAH ASHER BA ARETS TAVNIT KOL TSIPUR KANAPH ASHER TA'UPH BE SHAMAYIM
תַּבְנִית כָּל בְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ תַּבְנִית כָּל צִפּוֹר כָּנָף אֲשֶׁר תָּעוּף בַּשָּׁמָיִם
BN: The likeness of any beast that is on the Earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air.
The point being that every Egyptian god and goddess was represented in this manner, or put it the other way around, that every bird and beast and sea-creature was considered to be a god or goddess, in the sense that an El is a force of Nature, and therefore everything in Nature is a manifestation of the El.
4:18 TAVNIT KOL ROMES BA ADAMAH TAVNIT KOL DAGAH ASHER BA MAYIM MI TACHAT LA ARETS
תַּבְנִית כָּל רֹמֵשׂ בָּאֲדָמָה תַּבְנִית כָּל דָּגָה אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ
BN: The likeness of any thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
4:19 U PHEN TISA EYNEYCHA HA SHAMAYIMAH VE RA'ITA ET HA SHEMESH VE ET HA YAREYACH VE ET HA KOCHAVIM KOL TSEVA HA SHAMAYIM VE NIDACHTA VE HISHTACHAVITA LAHEM, VA AVADETEM ASHER CHALAK YHVH ELOHEYCHA OTAM LE CHOL HA AMIM TACHAT KOL HA SHAMAYIM
וּפֶן תִּשָּׂא עֵינֶיךָ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְרָאִיתָ אֶת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְאֶת הַיָּרֵחַ וְאֶת הַכּוֹכָבִים כֹּל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ לָהֶם וַעֲבַדְתָּם אֲשֶׁר חָלַק יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֹתָם לְכֹל הָעַמִּים תַּחַת כָּל הַשָּׁמָיִם
BN: And lest you lift up your eyes to the skies, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, the entire host of the heavens indeed, you be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which YHVH your god has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
This verse is hugely problematic, because both throughout the Biblical period, at every stage from the annunciation of Yitschak through Jacob's Ladder to David's Tower in Yeru-Shala'im, through all the major Prophets and as far as Dani-El (Daniel), and on into modern Judaism, one of the principal forms of the deity has been Adonai Tseva'ot - "the entire host of the heavens indeed", as it is clearly defined and described in this verse - the sun-god surrounded by his planetary chamberlains (King Arthur at his Round Table, Jesus at his Passover Supper), and his moon-consort, surrounded by her angelic ministers in the form of star-messengers. And yes, some of these are represented, right onto the flag of the modern State of Israel - the blue Magen David, the Shield of David, which is also Lyra, the star of Orpheus (Biblical Ephron), the Lyre, with Vega at its heart; this the star (the word for a constellation in Yehudit/Hebrew is Mazal; which people don't realise they mean when they wish congratulations or good luck (the latter a prohibited superstition) by saying "Mazal Tov": literally "may the stars allign in your favour".
4:20 VE ET'CHEM LAKACH YHVH VA YOTSI ET'CHEM MI KUR HA BARZEL MI MITSRAYIM LIHEYOT LO LE AM NACHALAH KA YOM HAZEH
וְאֶתְכֶם לָקַח יְהוָה וַיּוֹצִא אֶתְכֶם מִכּוּר הַבַּרְזֶל מִמִּצְרָיִם לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם נַחֲלָה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה
BN: But YHVH has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Mitsrayim, to be to him a people of inheritance, as you are this day.
Horrible translation! But it really is what the text requires.
4:21 VA YHVH HITANAPH BI AL DIVREYCHEM VA YISHAVA LE VILTI AVRI ET HA YARDEN U LE VILTI VO EL HA ARETS HA TOVAH ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA NACHALAH
וַיהוָה הִתְאַנַּף בִּי עַל דִּבְרֵיכֶם וַיִּשָּׁבַע לְבִלְתִּי עָבְרִי אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן וּלְבִלְתִּי בֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה
KJ: Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
BN: But YHVH was cross with me because of you, and swore that I should not go over the Yarden, that I should not go in to that good land, which YHVH your god is giving you for an inheritance.
Once again this conflicts with the precise detail of the Merivah story. Mosheh is being disingenuous (as well as self-pitying and trying to pass his guilt over to his people). See Numbers 20.
4:22 KI ANOCHI MET BA ARETS HA ZOT, EYNENI OVER ET HA YARDEN VE ATEM OVRIM VIYRISHTEM ET HA ARETS HA TOVAH HA ZOT
כִּי אָנֹכִי מֵת בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת אֵינֶנִּי עֹבֵר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן וְאַתֶּם עֹבְרִים וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה הַזֹּאת
BN: But I must die in this land. I may not go over the Yarden. But you are to go over, and possess that good land.
He is definitely sulking!
OVRIM: Written without pointing, the word is indistinguishable from IVRIM = Hebrews. The second attempt to make that aetiology in this chapter.
4:23 HISHAMRU LACHEM PEN TISHKECHU ET BRIT YHVH ELOHEYCHEM ASHER KARAT IMACHEM VA ASITEM LACHEM PESEL TEMUNAT KOL ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ELOHEYCHA
KJ: Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
BN: Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of YHVH your god, which he has made with you, and make a graven image for yourselves, even the likeness of anything which YHVH your god has forbidden you.
4:24 KI YHVH ELOHEYCHA EYSH OCHLAH HU EL KANAH
KJ: For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
BN: For YHVH your god is a devouring fire, a jealous god.
pey break
4:25 KI TOLID BANIM U VENEY VANIM VE NOSHANTEM BA ARETS VE HISHCHATEM VA ASITEM PESEL TEMUNAT KOL VA ASITEM HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA LE HACH'ISO
KJ: When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
BN: When you have begotten children, and grandchildren, and been long in the land, and stray from the covenanted path, and make a graven image, no matter in or of what form, this will be regarded as doing evil in the sight of YHVH your god, and it will provoke him.
Once again this is Mosheh at his most incompetent; he is giving a pep-talk to his team before they play, and his method is: "OK, boys, you know you're going to lose today, you know you're going to be thrashed, and it will be your own fault for not listening to my strategies..." And if not that, then this is the voice of a later Prophet, telling the story in this manner in order to berate the people of his time for what they have done - which of course is much a more likely explanation of the passage, but you can't tell that to orthodox Jews.
OVRIM: Written without pointing, the word is indistinguishable from IVRIM = Hebrews. The second attempt to make that aetiology in this chapter.
4:23 HISHAMRU LACHEM PEN TISHKECHU ET BRIT YHVH ELOHEYCHEM ASHER KARAT IMACHEM VA ASITEM LACHEM PESEL TEMUNAT KOL ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ELOHEYCHA
הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן תִּשְׁכְּחוּ אֶת בְּרִית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת עִמָּכֶם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כֹּל אֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
KJ: Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
BN: Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of YHVH your god, which he has made with you, and make a graven image for yourselves, even the likeness of anything which YHVH your god has forbidden you.
4:24 KI YHVH ELOHEYCHA EYSH OCHLAH HU EL KANAH
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה הוּא אֵל קַנָּא
BN: For YHVH your god is a devouring fire, a jealous god.
pey break
4:25 KI TOLID BANIM U VENEY VANIM VE NOSHANTEM BA ARETS VE HISHCHATEM VA ASITEM PESEL TEMUNAT KOL VA ASITEM HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA LE HACH'ISO
כִּי תוֹלִיד בָּנִים וּבְנֵי בָנִים וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם בָּאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁחַתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כֹּל וַעֲשִׂיתֶם הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְהַכְעִיסוֹ
BN: When you have begotten children, and grandchildren, and been long in the land, and stray from the covenanted path, and make a graven image, no matter in or of what form, this will be regarded as doing evil in the sight of YHVH your god, and it will provoke him.
Once again this is Mosheh at his most incompetent; he is giving a pep-talk to his team before they play, and his method is: "OK, boys, you know you're going to lose today, you know you're going to be thrashed, and it will be your own fault for not listening to my strategies..." And if not that, then this is the voice of a later Prophet, telling the story in this manner in order to berate the people of his time for what they have done - which of course is much a more likely explanation of the passage, but you can't tell that to orthodox Jews.
HISHCHATEM: Interesting choice of verb, given that SHECHITAH, from the same root, is the act of ritual slaughter, the required method of killing animals for food under Mosaic law. But here it is being used in its primal sense, "to destroy", and in the Hiphil or causative form, which conveys a sense of wilful destruction. What is not clear, and the variant translations (click here) endorse this, is whether the graven images come as a consequence of going astray from the covenanted path, or are themselves the act of going astray. I have gone for the former, but it is impossible to say which is correct.
4:26 HA'IDOTI VACHEM HAYOM ET HA SHAMAYIM VE ET HA ARETS KI AVOD TOVEYDUN MAHER MEY AL HA ARETS ASHER OVRIM ET HA YARDEN SHAMAH LERISHTAH LO TA'ARICHUN YAMIM ALEYHA KI HISHAMED TISHAMEDUN
KJ: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
BN: I call the heavens and the Earth to witness against you this day, that you shall very quickly be obliterated from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
HA SHAMAYIM: There is no concept of Heaven in the Biblical world; there are only "the heavens", which are both the skies that are visible by day, and what appears to be a much larger blackness filled with stars and planets and comets that are visible by night.
4:26 HA'IDOTI VACHEM HAYOM ET HA SHAMAYIM VE ET HA ARETS KI AVOD TOVEYDUN MAHER MEY AL HA ARETS ASHER OVRIM ET HA YARDEN SHAMAH LERISHTAH LO TA'ARICHUN YAMIM ALEYHA KI HISHAMED TISHAMEDUN
הַעִידֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּי אָבֹד תֹּאבֵדוּן מַהֵר מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ לֹא תַאֲרִיכֻן יָמִים עָלֶיהָ כִּי הִשָּׁמֵד תִּשָּׁמֵדוּן
KJ: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
BN: I call the heavens and the Earth to witness against you this day, that you shall very quickly be obliterated from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
HA SHAMAYIM: There is no concept of Heaven in the Biblical world; there are only "the heavens", which are both the skies that are visible by day, and what appears to be a much larger blackness filled with stars and planets and comets that are visible by night.
AVOD TOVEYDUN... HISHAMED TISHAMEDUN: Wonderful poetry! But of a level of linguistic skill that we have never previously witnessed chez Mosheh. Any one of the great prophets, yes, but not Mosheh. As to the choice of vocabulary: SHECHITAH in the previous verse, was a moral form of destruction, a collapse of values. When something is IBUD it has been totally obliterated, physically, usually as a consequence of SHEMIDAH. What is being described here is Holocaust, or the front page of the website of Hamas.
All of which recalculates LE OLAM VA ED (eternity) as mere days, and sadly redefines YHVH's rainbow-promise as equivocal.
4:27 VE HEPHITS YHVH ET'CHEM BA AMIM, VE NISHARTEM METEY MISPAR BA GO'IM ASHER YENAHEG YHVH ET'CHEM SHAMAH
וְהֵפִיץ יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם בָּעַמִּים וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם מְתֵי מִסְפָּר בַּגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר יְנַהֵג יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם שָׁמָּה
BN: Then YHVH will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, to whom YHVH shall lead you away.
And now my comment on verse 25 makes even more sense. This is indeed the language of the Prophets, not that of Mosheh. And if not the Prophets of the time of the Babylonian exile, then Ezra or Nechem-Yah or Zeru-Bavel or Mal'achi, preparing the returnees who are also about to "cross over" a great river - in their case, as in the Book of Ezra, the Perat (Euphrates), not just the Yarden.
4:28 VA AVADETEM SHAM ELOHIM MA'ASEH YEDEY ADAM EYTS VA EVEN ASHER LO YIRUN VE LO YISHME'UN VE LO YOCHLUN VE LO YERICHUN
וַעֲבַדְתֶּם שָׁם אֱלֹהִים מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָדָם עֵץ וָאֶבֶן אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִרְאוּן וְלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּן וְלֹא יֹאכְלוּן וְלֹא יְרִיחֻן
KJ: And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
BN: And there you shall serve idols, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
ELOHIM: I have translated it as "idols" here, not as "gods", because that is the whole point of what Mosheh is telling them. Remember that the ELOHIM to the Beney Yisra-El were not a single God, as in the modern Christian world, nor an anthropomorphic creature, but simply their language to describe the fermions and bosons and muons that comprised the kinetic and dynamic forces of the universe, the E and M and C of Einsteinian physics. What Mosheh is really doing here is exactly what Richard Dawkins was doing more recently in his book "The God Delusion", which is to insist on verse 15 of this chapter.
4:29 U VIKASHTEM MI SHAM ET YHVH ELOHEYCHA U MATSATA KI TIDRESHEYNU BE CHOL LEVAVECHA U VE CHOL NAPHSCHECHA
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם מִשָּׁם אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּמָצָאתָ כִּי תִדְרְשֶׁנּוּ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ
BN: But from there you will seek YHVH your god; and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and all your soul.
Words from the Shema again, almost as if Mosheh was trying out phrases, drafting what will be completed in two chapters time.
4:30 BA TSAR LECHA U METSA'UCHA KOL HA DEVARIM HA ELEH BE ACHARIT HA YAMIM VE SHAVTA AD YHVH ELOHEYCHA VE SHAMATA BE KOLO
בַּצַּר לְךָ וּמְצָאוּךָ כֹּל הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקֹלוֹ
KJ: When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
BN: In your distress, when all these things have come upon you, at the end of days, you will return to YHVH your god, and hearken to his voice.
4:31 KI EL RACHUM YHVH ELOHEYCHA LO YARPECHA VE LO YASHCHITECHA VE LO YISHKACH ET BRIT AVOTEYCHA ASHER NISHBA LAHEM
כִּי אֵל רַחוּם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַשְׁחִיתֶךָ וְלֹא יִשְׁכַּח אֶת בְּרִית אֲבֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לָהֶם
BN: For YHVH your god is a merciful god; he will not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your ancestors, and the promises he made to them.
This is inherently self-contradictory, because the threat of destruction (NICHRETAH) is not only oft-repeated, but has just been stated unquivocally in verse 26.
4:32 KI SHE'AL NA LE YAMIM RISHONIM ASHER HAYU LEPHANEYCHA LE MIN HA YOM ASHER BARA ELOHIM ADAM AL HA ARETS U LE MI KETS'E HA SHAMAYIM VE AD KETS'E HA SHAMAYIM, HA NIHEYAH KA DAVAR HA GADOL HAZEH O HA NISHMA KAMOHU
כִּי שְׁאַל נָא לְיָמִים רִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ לְפָנֶיךָ לְמִן הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אָדָם עַל הָאָרֶץ וּלְמִקְצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם וְעַד קְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם הֲנִהְיָה כַּדָּבָר הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה אוֹ הֲנִשְׁמַע כָּמֹהוּ
KJ: For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
BN: For ask now of the days gone by, the ones that passed before you were born, since the day that Elohim created Humankind upon the Earth, and from the one end of the heavens to the other, whether there has been any such thing as is this great thing, or has been heard like it?
Which is a fine piece of rhetoric, but actually a meaningless and empty question, because they can ask as much as they like, but they have absolutely no means whatsoever of answering.
4:33 HA SHAMA AM KOL ELOHIM MEDABER MITOCH HA EYSH KA ASHER SHAMA'TA ATA VA YECHI
הֲשָׁמַע עָם קוֹל אֱלֹהִים מְדַבֵּר מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתָּ אַתָּה וַיֶּחִי
BN: Did ever a people hear the voice of god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
To which the answer is... but I shall restrain myself and let this verse go by.
4:34 O HA NISA ELOHIM LAVO LAKACHAT LO GOY MI KEREV GOY BE MASOT BE OTOT U VE MOPHTIM U VE MILCHAMAH U VE YAD CHAZAKAH U VI ZERO'A NETUYAH U VE MORIM GEDOLIM, KE CHOL ASHER ASAH LACHEM YHVH ELOHEYCHEM BE MITSRAYIM LE EYNEYCHEM
אוֹ הֲנִסָּה אֱלֹהִים לָבוֹא לָקַחַת לוֹ גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹתֹת וּבְמוֹפְתִים וּבְמִלְחָמָה וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמוֹרָאִים גְּדֹלִים כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לָכֶם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בְּמִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֶיךָ
BN: Or has god tried to go and take for himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that YHVH your god did for you in Mitsrayim before your eyes?
Ibid and ditto.
4:35 ATAH HARETA LADA'AT KI YHVH HU HA ELOHIM, EYN OD MILVADO
אַתָּה הָרְאֵתָ לָדַעַת כִּי יְהוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֵין עוֹד מִלְּבַדּוֹ
KJ: Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
BN: To you it was shown, that you should know that YHVH is Ha Elohim; there is no other beside him.
This is used in the liturgy; need to check where ("Eyn od" is the closing phrase of the Aleynu but I think the whole verse is used, elsewhere; and the Eyn Od verse will appear shortly: verse 39).
It is, it needs to be stated, also a very problematic verse, because it affirms the Omnideity about a thousand years before the Omnideity enters Yisra-Eli theology. As noted above, and many times previously in these Torah commentaries, at this point of history the Beney Yisra-El were polytheists, worshipping the Elohim as the multiplicity of elements that comprise the universe, the "driving forces", which is the meaning of the word El. In Exodus, and especially in Numbers, we witnessed the arrival on the scene of a new deity, the volcano-god YHVH, and the building of the Mishkan to provide a means of taking him with him when they moved on from Chorev. From this time onwards - until the very end of the Tanach indeed, for it is still the case in Ezra, Nechem-Yah and the prophets of that epoch - the polytheos will have YHVH as, so to speak, the Prime Minister at the Cabinet of the gods and goddesses, whence the concept YHVH TSEVA'OT, "the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens". Having said which, the beginning of the transition is evident within the five "Books of the Return from Exile", and was completed at some point of the Hasmonean epoch, YHVH staging his coup, overthrowing the other gods, plunging Valhalla (so to speak) into its twilight phase, and setting himself up as President for Life: as what I call the Omnideity rather than the Monotheos. So these verses cannot possibly have been written before the 5th century BCE.
4:36 MIN HA SHAMAYIM HISHMIY'ACHA ET KOLO LEYASRECHA VE AL HA ARETS HERACHA ET ISHO HA GEDOLAH U DEVARAV SHAMATA MITOCH HA ESH
KJ: Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
BN: Out of the heavens he made you hear his voice, that he might instruct you; and on Earth he made you see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
Except that they didn't. As per verse 10.
4:37 VE TACHAT KI AHAV ET AVOTEYCHA VA YIVCHAR BE ZARO ACHARAV VA YOTSI'ACHA BEPHANAV BE CHOCHO HA GEDOL MI MITSRAYIM
KJ: And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
BN: And because he loved your fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Mitsrayim...
4:38 LEHORISH GOYIM GEDOLIM VA ATSUMIM MIMCHA MI PANEYCHA LAHAVI'ACHA LATER LECHA ET ARTSAM NACHALAH KA YOM HAZEH
KJ: To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
BN: To drive out nations from before you that are greater and mightier than you; to bring you in; to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day...
Except that it isn't yet "this day" - or it might be, to an audience listening to a later Prophet, but this is happening in Mo-Av, before they cross the river, before Yehoshu'a leads the army into battle...
4:36 MIN HA SHAMAYIM HISHMIY'ACHA ET KOLO LEYASRECHA VE AL HA ARETS HERACHA ET ISHO HA GEDOLAH U DEVARAV SHAMATA MITOCH HA ESH
מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁמִיעֲךָ אֶת קֹלוֹ לְיַסְּרֶךָּ וְעַל הָאָרֶץ הֶרְאֲךָ אֶת אִשּׁוֹ הַגְּדוֹלָה וּדְבָרָיו שָׁמַעְתָּ מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ
BN: Out of the heavens he made you hear his voice, that he might instruct you; and on Earth he made you see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
Except that they didn't. As per verse 10.
4:37 VE TACHAT KI AHAV ET AVOTEYCHA VA YIVCHAR BE ZARO ACHARAV VA YOTSI'ACHA BEPHANAV BE CHOCHO HA GEDOL MI MITSRAYIM
וְתַחַת כִּי אָהַב אֶת אֲבֹתֶיךָ וַיִּבְחַר בְּזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו וַיּוֹצִאֲךָ בְּפָנָיו בְּכֹחוֹ הַגָּדֹל מִמִּצְרָיִם
KJ: And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
BN: And because he loved your fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Mitsrayim...
4:38 LEHORISH GOYIM GEDOLIM VA ATSUMIM MIMCHA MI PANEYCHA LAHAVI'ACHA LATER LECHA ET ARTSAM NACHALAH KA YOM HAZEH
לְהוֹרִישׁ גּוֹיִם גְּדֹלִים וַעֲצֻמִים מִמְּךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ לַהֲבִיאֲךָ לָתֶת לְךָ אֶת אַרְצָם נַחֲלָה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה
BN: To drive out nations from before you that are greater and mightier than you; to bring you in; to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day...
Except that it isn't yet "this day" - or it might be, to an audience listening to a later Prophet, but this is happening in Mo-Av, before they cross the river, before Yehoshu'a leads the army into battle...
4:39 VE YADATA HAYOM VA HASHEVOTA EL LEVAVECHA KI YHVH HU HA ELOHIM BA SHAMAYIM MI MA'AL VE AL HA ARETS MI TACHAT EYN OD
וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ כִּי יְהוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת אֵין עוֹד
KJ: Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
BN: Know this day, and lay it to your heart, that YHVH is Elohim, in the heavens above and on the Earth below; there is no other.
Confirmation of my commentary at verse 35.
Lines familiar to observant Jews from the Aleynu; but not familiar to Mosheh, despite the fact that he is stating them here. This is a definition of monotheism: there is only one deity: YHVH and Elohim are the same god. But when the Ten Commandments insist that "you shall have no other god before me", it allows as many gods after me as you want; indeed, the entire polytheon of the Elohim is much encouraged. But when YHVH says that he himself is the Elohim...
4:40 VE SHAMARTA ET CHUKAV VE ET MITSVOTAV ASHER ANOCHI METSAVECHA HAYOM ASHER YIYTAV LECHA U LEVANECHA ACHAREYCHA U LEMA'AN TA'ARICH YAMIM AL HA ADAMAH ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA KOL HA YAMIM
4:41 AZ YAVDIL MOSHEH SHALOSH ARIM BE EVER HA YARDEN MIZRACHAH SHAMESH
KJ: Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
BN: Then Mosheh separated three cities beyond the Yarden toward the east.
Note the sudden change from 1st person to 3rd person narrative - this can only happen under one of two circumstances; either two separate manuscripts have been joined; or the narrator, who thus far has been acting the part of Mosheh, has now reverted to his role as narrator.
4:40 VE SHAMARTA ET CHUKAV VE ET MITSVOTAV ASHER ANOCHI METSAVECHA HAYOM ASHER YIYTAV LECHA U LEVANECHA ACHAREYCHA U LEMA'AN TA'ARICH YAMIM AL HA ADAMAH ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA KOL HA YAMIM
וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת חֻקָּיו וְאֶת מִצְוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִיטַב לְךָ וּלְבָנֶיךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ וּלְמַעַן תַּאֲרִיךְ יָמִים עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ כָּל הַיָּמִים
KJ: Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.
BN: And you shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I am instructing you today, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the land, which YHVH your god is giving you, for ever.
BN: And you shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I am instructing you today, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the land, which YHVH your god is giving you, for ever.
The same promise accompanied the original 5th commandment, but not the other 9; now it appears to apply to all 613. It represents the equation of sickness and death and misfortune with sin; follow the rules and all will be well through a long life; fail to follow them...
KOL HA YAMIM: What is the difference between this and LE OLAM VA ED? (see verse 26)
KOL HA YAMIM: What is the difference between this and LE OLAM VA ED? (see verse 26)
Which appears to be the end of the speech, and we are left wondering, as the next verse returns to narrative, a question that I probably should have asked four books and four chapters ago, but haven't: who actually is the narrator? Our ability, or otherwise, to answer that question, will have an enormous impact on our understanding of the text. Because someone else is involved here, reporting the Mosheh tale, repeating his words: but who, and when?
4:41 AZ YAVDIL MOSHEH SHALOSH ARIM BE EVER HA YARDEN MIZRACHAH SHAMESH
אָז יַבְדִּיל מֹשֶׁה שָׁלֹשׁ עָרִים בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן מִזְרְחָה שָׁמֶשׁ
KJ: Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
BN: Then Mosheh separated three cities beyond the Yarden toward the east.
Note the sudden change from 1st person to 3rd person narrative - this can only happen under one of two circumstances; either two separate manuscripts have been joined; or the narrator, who thus far has been acting the part of Mosheh, has now reverted to his role as narrator.
Also note that this picks up the tale exactly where it was left off at the end of Numbers 35 - I noted at the time that Numbers 36 seemed to be a very late appendix, and now we have this strange speech by Mosheh in the first 3 and a half chapters of Deuteronomy; but Numbers 35 gave the instructions for the establishment of the refuge cities, and here is Mosheh now, carrying out that uncompleted instruction.
4:42 LANUS SHAMAH ROTSE'ACH ASHER YIRTSACH ET RE'EYHU BIVLI DA'AT VE HU LO SONEH LO MITMOL SHILSHOM VE NAS EL ACHAT MIN HE ARIM HA EL VA CHAI
לָנֻס שָׁמָּה רוֹצֵחַ אֲשֶׁר יִרְצַח אֶת רֵעֵהוּ בִּבְלִי דַעַת וְהוּא לֹא שֹׂנֵא לוֹ מִתְּמֹל שִׁלְשֹׁם וְנָס אֶל אַחַת מִן הֶעָרִים הָאֵל וָחָי
KJ: That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
BN: That he who commits manslaughter may flee there, he who kills his neighbour unintentionally, and did not hate him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he may live.
HA EL: is odd, though this is not its only occasion; it should be HA ELEH.
4:43 ET BETSER BA MIDBAR BE ERETS HA MISHOR LA RE'U-VEN VE ET RAMOT BA GIL'AD LA GADI VE ET GOLAN BA BASHAN LA MENASHI
KJ: Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.
BN: Betser in the wilderness, in the table-land, for Re'u-Ven; and Ramot in Gil'ad for the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan for the Menashi.
Numbers 35:14 says that there should be six refuge cities, three east of the Yarden and three inside Kena'an, but does not name them. Here only three are given. Joshua 20:7-9 gives all six: Kedesh (in Naphtali), Shechem (in west Menasheh), and Chevron (in Yehudah), as the three inside Kena'an itself; and Golan (in east Menasheh), Ramot Gil'ad (at the north-eastern tip of Gad), and Betser (in Re'u-Ven) on the east bank of the Yarden. They were strategically chosen so that anyone living in Yisra-El, including strangers (see Joshua 20:9), could flee to them for refuge within a day or less.
Gadi and Menashi is a form not used previously for the tribes, though it has been for other peoples.
4:44 VE ZOT HA TORAH ASHER SAM MOSHEH LIPHNEY BENEY YISRA-EL
KJ: And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
BN: And this is the law which Mosheh set before the Beney Yisra-El;
Sung when the Torah scrolls are being returned to the Ark after reading; though it has the feel of an opening, not a closing, as though this is really where the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) begins.
But not likely to have been sung, or even said, by Mosheh himself - this is a narrative device, past tense: confirmation again that this is a later text.
4:45 ELEH HA EDOT VE HA CHUKIM VE HA MISHPATIM ASHER DIBER MOSHEH EL BENEY YISRA-EL BE TSETAM MI MITSRAYIM
KJ: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,
BN: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Mosheh spoke to the Beney Yisra-El, when they came out of Mitsrayim.
For a full listing of these laws, and background to them, click here.
4:46 BE EVER HA YARDEN BA GAY MUL BEIT PE'OR BE ERETS SICHON MELECH HA EMORI ASHER YOSHEV BE CHESHBON ASHER HIKAH MOSHEH U VENEY YISRA-EL BE TSETAM MI MITSRAYIM
KJ: On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:
BN: Beyond the Yarden, in the valley facing Beit Pe'or, in the land of Sichon king of the Emori, who dwelt at Cheshbon, whom Mosheh and the Beney Yisra-El smote, when they came out of Mitsrayim.
BE EVER HA YARDEN: If the narrator were Mosheh, or even with Mosheh, BE EVER HA YARDEN would be the West Bank and Kena'an; for it to Mo-Av, as described, the narrator and reader/audience have to be in the West Bank, looking eastwards; so, once again, confirmation of the later dating of the text. This is history being recounted, not the minutes taken at the time (and why do I keep restating this? because orthodoxy insists that the entire Torah, all 5 books in the form in which we have them, were given, by YHVH, to Mosheh, at Mount Sinai, or possibly Mount Chorev...)
4:43 ET BETSER BA MIDBAR BE ERETS HA MISHOR LA RE'U-VEN VE ET RAMOT BA GIL'AD LA GADI VE ET GOLAN BA BASHAN LA MENASHI
אֶת בֶּצֶר בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּאֶרֶץ הַמִּישֹׁר לָראוּבֵנִי וְאֶת רָאמֹת בַּגִּלְעָד לַגָּדִי וְאֶת גּוֹלָן בַּבָּשָׁן לַמְנַשִּׁי
BN: Betser in the wilderness, in the table-land, for Re'u-Ven; and Ramot in Gil'ad for the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan for the Menashi.
Numbers 35:14 says that there should be six refuge cities, three east of the Yarden and three inside Kena'an, but does not name them. Here only three are given. Joshua 20:7-9 gives all six: Kedesh (in Naphtali), Shechem (in west Menasheh), and Chevron (in Yehudah), as the three inside Kena'an itself; and Golan (in east Menasheh), Ramot Gil'ad (at the north-eastern tip of Gad), and Betser (in Re'u-Ven) on the east bank of the Yarden. They were strategically chosen so that anyone living in Yisra-El, including strangers (see Joshua 20:9), could flee to them for refuge within a day or less.
Gadi and Menashi is a form not used previously for the tribes, though it has been for other peoples.
4:44 VE ZOT HA TORAH ASHER SAM MOSHEH LIPHNEY BENEY YISRA-EL
וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁרשָׂם מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
BN: And this is the law which Mosheh set before the Beney Yisra-El;
Sung when the Torah scrolls are being returned to the Ark after reading; though it has the feel of an opening, not a closing, as though this is really where the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) begins.
But not likely to have been sung, or even said, by Mosheh himself - this is a narrative device, past tense: confirmation again that this is a later text.
4:45 ELEH HA EDOT VE HA CHUKIM VE HA MISHPATIM ASHER DIBER MOSHEH EL BENEY YISRA-EL BE TSETAM MI MITSRAYIM
אֵלֶּה הָעֵדֹת וְהַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּצֵאתָם מִמִּצְרָיִם
KJ: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,
BN: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Mosheh spoke to the Beney Yisra-El, when they came out of Mitsrayim.
For a full listing of these laws, and background to them, click here.
4:46 BE EVER HA YARDEN BA GAY MUL BEIT PE'OR BE ERETS SICHON MELECH HA EMORI ASHER YOSHEV BE CHESHBON ASHER HIKAH MOSHEH U VENEY YISRA-EL BE TSETAM MI MITSRAYIM
בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בַּגַּיְא מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר יוֹשֵׁב בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן אֲשֶׁר הִכָּה מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּצֵאתָם מִמִּצְרָיִם
BN: Beyond the Yarden, in the valley facing Beit Pe'or, in the land of Sichon king of the Emori, who dwelt at Cheshbon, whom Mosheh and the Beney Yisra-El smote, when they came out of Mitsrayim.
BE EVER HA YARDEN: If the narrator were Mosheh, or even with Mosheh, BE EVER HA YARDEN would be the West Bank and Kena'an; for it to Mo-Av, as described, the narrator and reader/audience have to be in the West Bank, looking eastwards; so, once again, confirmation of the later dating of the text. This is history being recounted, not the minutes taken at the time (and why do I keep restating this? because orthodoxy insists that the entire Torah, all 5 books in the form in which we have them, were given, by YHVH, to Mosheh, at Mount Sinai, or possibly Mount Chorev...)
4:47: VA YIYRESHU ET ARTSO VE ET ERETS OG MELECH HA BASHAN, SHENEY MALCHEY HA EMORI ASHER BE EVER HA YARDEN MIZRACH SHEMESH
וַיִּירְשׁוּ אֶת אַרְצוֹ וְאֶת אֶרֶץ עוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן שְׁנֵי מַלְכֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן מִזְרַח שָׁמֶשׁ
BN: And they took possession of his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Emori, who lived beyond the Yarden, toward the east.
"Beyond the Yarden, toward the east".
4:48 MEY ARO'ER ASHER AL SEPHAT NACHAL ARNON VE AD HAR SI'ON HU CHERMON
מֵעֲרֹעֵר אֲשֶׁר עַל שְׂפַת נַחַל אַרְנֹן וְעַד הַר שִׂיאֹן הוּא חֶרְמוֹן
KJ: From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
BN: From Aro-Er, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, as far as Mount Si'on - wich is also known as Chermon.
ARO'ER: I think this should be Aro-Er. but I have rendered it as Aro'er previously: the ending suggests UR/IR =city and is therefore a hyphenated suffix.
SI'ON: Is this alternate name for Chermon in fact a scribal error, and it should be SIRION? In the previous chapter (3:9) we were told that "the Tsidonim call it Sirion, and the Emorites call it Senir", so perhaps Si'on was yet another variation (I lived for many years in a town known locally as Brizzle, originally named Brigstowe, and on official maps as Bristol: such dialect variations are not uncommon).
SI'ON: Not to be confused with Tsi'on (צִיּֽוֹן), which we would write as Zion. This one has a first-letter Samech (ס), the other a Tsade (צ).
4:49 VE CHOL HA ARAVAH EVER HA YARDEN MIZRACHAH VE AD YAM HA ARAVAH TACHAT ASHDOT HA PISGAH
וְכָל הָעֲרָבָה עֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן מִזְרָחָה וְעַד יָם הָעֲרָבָה תַּחַת אַשְׁדֹּת הַפִּסְגָּה
KJ: And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
BN: And all the Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, as far as the sea of the Aravah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
SI'ON: Is this alternate name for Chermon in fact a scribal error, and it should be SIRION? In the previous chapter (3:9) we were told that "the Tsidonim call it Sirion, and the Emorites call it Senir", so perhaps Si'on was yet another variation (I lived for many years in a town known locally as Brizzle, originally named Brigstowe, and on official maps as Bristol: such dialect variations are not uncommon).
SI'ON: Not to be confused with Tsi'on (צִיּֽוֹן), which we would write as Zion. This one has a first-letter Samech (ס), the other a Tsade (צ).
4:49 VE CHOL HA ARAVAH EVER HA YARDEN MIZRACHAH VE AD YAM HA ARAVAH TACHAT ASHDOT HA PISGAH
וְכָל הָעֲרָבָה עֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן מִזְרָחָה וְעַד יָם הָעֲרָבָה תַּחַת אַשְׁדֹּת הַפִּסְגָּה
BN: And all the Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, as far as the sea of the Aravah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
ARAVAH... MIZRACHAH: modern cartographers would regard the Aravah as being exclusively the wilderness inside modern Israel, and not east of the Yarden, where it is named differently; this affirms that in those days the word applied to both. See my notes at Deuteronomy 1:1.
YAM HA ARAVAH: this, however, cannot mean the Dead Sea, though clearly it is intended to. "From east of the Yarden until you reach"... simply does not work as a direction-finder; and it places PISGAH directly above the sea. Was there perhaps another stretch of water in Mosaic times, since dried up and vanished?
PISGAH: see my notes at Deuteronomy 3:17.
pey break
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