Remember and Obey

11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep his mandate and his statutes, ordinances, and commands. Understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:

His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;(A) his signs and the works he did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;(B) what he did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and he destroyed them(C) completely;[a] what he did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place; and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.(D)

Your own eyes have seen(E) every great work the Lord has done.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:4 Lit to this day

Reiteration of the Call to Obedience

11 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments[a] at all times. Bear in mind today that I am not speaking[b] to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments[c] of the Lord your God, which revealed[d] his greatness, strength, and power.[e] They did not see[f] the awesome deeds he performed[g] in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land, or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea[h] overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he[i] annihilated them.[j] They did not see[k] what he did to you in the wilderness before you reached this place, or what he did to Dathan and Abiram,[l] sons of Eliab the Reubenite,[m] when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp[n] and swallowed them, their families,[o] their tents, and all the property they brought with them.[p] I am speaking to you[q] because you are the ones who saw with your own eyes all the great deeds of the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:1 tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow—חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsvot).
  2. Deuteronomy 11:2 tn Heb “that not.” The words “I am speaking” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  3. Deuteronomy 11:2 tn Heb “who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord.” The collocation of the verbs “know” and “see” indicates that personal experience (knowing by seeing) is in view. The term translated “discipline” (KJV, ASV “chastisement”) may also be rendered “instruction,” but vv. 2b-6 indicate that the referent of the term is the various acts of divine judgment the Israelites had witnessed.
  4. Deuteronomy 11:2 tn The words “which revealed” have been supplied in the translation to show the logical relationship between the terms that follow and the divine judgments. In the Hebrew text the former are in apposition to the latter.
  5. Deuteronomy 11:2 tn Heb “his strong hand and his stretched-out arm.”
  6. Deuteronomy 11:3 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 2-7 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the English translation divides the passage into three sentences. To facilitate this stylistic decision the words “They did not see” are supplied at the beginning of both v. 3 and v. 5, and “I am speaking” at the beginning of v. 7.
  7. Deuteronomy 11:3 tn Heb “his signs and his deeds which he did” (NRSV similar). The collocation of “signs” and “deeds” indicates that these acts were intended to make an impression on observers and reveal something about God’s power (cf. v. 2b). The word “awesome” has been employed to bring out the force of the word “signs” in this context.
  8. Deuteronomy 11:4 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.
  9. Deuteronomy 11:4 tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  10. Deuteronomy 11:4 tn Heb “and the Lord destroyed them to this day” (cf. NRSV); NLT “he has kept them devastated to this very day.” The translation uses the verb “annihilated” to indicate the permanency of the action.
  11. Deuteronomy 11:5 tn See note on these same words in v. 3.
  12. Deuteronomy 11:6 sn Dathan and Abiram. These two (along with others) had challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert with the result that the earth beneath them opened up and they and their families disappeared (Num 16:1-3, 31-35).
  13. Deuteronomy 11:6 tn Or “the descendant of Reuben”; Heb “son of Reuben.”
  14. Deuteronomy 11:6 tn Heb “in the midst of all Israel” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “among all Israel.” In the Hebrew text these words appear at the end of the verse, but they are logically connected with the verbs. To make this clear the translation places the phrase after the first verb.
  15. Deuteronomy 11:6 tn Heb “their houses,” referring to all who lived in their household. Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “households.”
  16. Deuteronomy 11:6 tn Heb “and all the substance which was at their feet.”
  17. Deuteronomy 11:7 tn On the addition of these words in the translation see note on “They did not see” in v. 3.