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DEUTERONOMY 9
PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
| NKJV | NRSV | TEV | NJB |
| Israel's Rebellion Reviewed | The Temptation to Self-Righteousness (9:1-10:11) |
The People's Disobedience | Yahweh, not Israel, Wins the Victory |
| 9:1-12 | 9:1-3 | 9:1-3 | 9:1-6 |
| 9:4-5 | 9:4-6 | ||
| 9:6-7 | Israel's Conduct at Horeb; Moses Intercedes | ||
| 9:7-11 | 9:7-14 | ||
| 9:8-14 | |||
| 9:12 | |||
| 9:13-24 | 9:13-14 | ||
| 9:15-21 | 9:15-21 | 9:15-21 | |
| Israel Sins Again. A Prayer of Moses | |||
| 9:22-24 | 9:22-24 | 9:22-24 | |
| 9:25-29 | 9:25-29 | 9:25-29 | 9:25-29 |
READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL
This is a study guide commentary, which
means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the
light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not
relinquish this to a commentator.
Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 9:1-6
1"Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven, 2a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said,' Who can stand before the sons of Anak?' 3Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you. 4Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people."
9:1 "Hear" This is the Hebrew term shema (BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal IMPERATIVE, cf. Deut. 4:1; 5:1; 6:3,4; 9:1; 20:3; 27:9), which means "to hear so as to do." See note at Deut. 4:1.
▣ "O Israel" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL (the name).
▣ "nations greater and mightier than you" This is a repeated theme (see note at Deut. 1:28). The theological point (i.e., YHWH's sovereign choice and His promise to the Patriarchs) is in Deut. 7:6-9. He is trustworthy and true. His faithful, loving character is magnified in Israel's stubbornness and stiffneckedness (cf. Deut. 9:6,7,13,24,27; 10:16; 31:27).
SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)
9:2 "the Anakim. . .sons of Anak" Etymologically this term means "long neck" and, therefore, refers to the giants.
SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS USED FOR TALL/POWERFUL WARRIORS OR PEOPLE GROUPS (Giants)
▣ "know" See full note at Deut. 4:35.
9:3 "Know" This VERB (BDB 393, KB 390, Qal PERFECT with waw) is used often and in several senses.
▣ "a consuming fire" This is BDB 77 plus BDB 37, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPAL. This imagery is describing the judgment of God on the people of the land because of their wickedness (cf. v.4-5; Gen 15:16). See note at Deut. 4:24. For a good brief discussion of the imagery used to describe God see The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, pp.332-336.
▣ "He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you" These two VERBS of conquest are parallel and denote YHWH's actions on Israel's behalf:
Also note that Israel must act in faith and attack:
Notice the theological and covenantal balance between the promised action of the sovereign YHWH and the mandated faithful response of the Israeli army and leaders. Both are crucial!
It is also to be noted that YHWH accomplished His task, but Israel did not complete the task of totally removing the indigenous inhabitants (cf. Judges 1-2). Israel should have acted quickly (cf. Deut. 7:22), but she did not!
9:4-6 "Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness'" This is similar to Deut. 8:11-20. God is showing the people again that He is acting, not because they are good, but because of
He wants them to remember that He is in full control.
The initial VERB "say" (BDB 55, KB 65) is a Qal IMPERFECT, used in a JUSSIVE sense. The fallen heart of humanity is still ever present and spiritually dangerous.
The second VERB "has driven" (BDB 213, KB 239, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) shows YHWH's active involvement in the Conquest (cf. Deut. 6:19; JosH. 23:5).
SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S GRACE ACTS TO ISRAEL
9:5 "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart" These two NOUNS are parallel in this context:
Israel is not being given the land Canaan because of her godliness, but because of
▣ "to confirm the oath the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" Notice the VERBS:
SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS
▣ "righteousness" See SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS
9:6, 13 "you are a stubborn people" This was originally an agricultural phrase referring to unruly oxen. Literally this means "hard of neck" or "stiff-necked" (BDB 904 CONSTRUCT BDB 791, cf. Deut. 9:6,7,13,24,27; 10:16; 31:27; Exod. 32:9; 33:3,5; 34:9).
SPECIAL TOPIC: STUBBORNNES (OT)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 9:7-21
7 "Remember, do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. 9When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11And it came about at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12Then the Lord said to me, 'Arise, go down from here quickly, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made a molten image for themselves.' 13The Lord spoke further to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people. 14Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' 15So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. 17And I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands, and smashed them before your eyes. 18And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. 19For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the Lord listened to me that time also. 20And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21And I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain."
9:7 "Remember, do not forget" These two initial VERBS (BDB 269, KB 269, Qal IMPERATIVES, cf. Deut. 5:15; 7:18[twice]; 8:2; 9:7,27; 15:15; 16:3,12; 24:9,18,22; 25:17; 32:7 and BDB 1013, KB 1489, Qal IMPERFECT, functioning as a JUSSIVE, cf. Deut. 4:9,23; 6:12; 8:11,14,19[twice]; 9:7) are to help Israel remember (see note at Deut. 7:18) and not repeat her lack of faith in YHWH, His promises and His power as they did on several occasions during the exodus and wilderness wandering period.
Moses mentions their act of idolatry and rebellion at the foot of Mt. Horeb in Deut. 9:8, where Aaron fashioned a golden calf at the insistence of the people (cf. Exodus 32)!
9:7-8 "how you provoked the Lord" See Exodus 16; 32; and Numbers 13-14; 16:21,25 as some examples.
9:7-22 These verses refer to the actions of Israel while Moses was on Mt. Horeb/Sinai receiving the Law (cf. Exodus 32).
▣ "Horeb" See SPECIAL TOPIC: LOCATION OF MT. SINAI and SPECIAL TOPIC: HOREB
9:9 "the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord had made with you" Obviously the phrase "tablets of stone, and the tablets of the covenant" are parallel. These were YHWH's words, not Moses'. This is revelation, not human opinion or discovery.
9:9,11,18 "forty days" This number is often symbolic of a long, indefinite period of time, longer than a lunar cycle (i.e., 28 days) but less than a seasonal change. The time from leaving Mt. Horeb/Sinai to entering Canaan was thirty eight years.
SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #7
9:9, 18 "I neither ate bread nor drank water" This refers to two separate 40 day fasts meaning either
9:10 "the two tablets of stone" Because of Hittite Suzerain Treaties as a possible historical background, this may refer to two complete copies of the Law. See introduction to the book, VII.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HITTITE (SUZERAIN) TREATIES
▣ "written by the finger of God" This is imagery for the divine origin of the Ten Words and their explanations (cf. Exod. 31:18; 32:15-16; Deut. 4:13).
SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS HUMAN (Anthropomorphic Language)
▣ "the Lord had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire" This is a recurrent theme (cf. Deut. 4:12,15,33,36; 5:5,22,24,26; 9:10; 10:4; Exodus 19). The phrase emphasizes God's acts and the content of personal covenant revelation at Mt. Horeb/Sinai.
9:12-14 Moses remembers his dialogue with YHWH in Exodus 32
▣ "for your people whom you brought out of Egypt" This VERB (BDB 422, KB 425, Hiphil PERFECT) is used many times of YHWH, but only here of Moses.
▣ "turned aside" This VERB (BDB 693, KB747, Qal PERFECT) is theologically parallel to שׁוב (BDB 996, KB 1427).
SPECIAL TOPIC: CONSEQUENCES OF IDOLATRY
▣ "molten image" This (BDB 651) does not refer to idolatry, but a physical representation of YHWH. This was a violation of the second commandment. They wanted a god they could see and touch like the peoples of Egypt and Canaan.
9:14 Is this an example of the wrath of God or is it a test of Moses' leadership (cf. Deut. 9:25ff, Exod. 32:30-35)?
▣ "blot out their name from under heaven" This is Hebrew imagery (cf. Deut. 25:5; Ps. 41:5) for the complete extermination of Israel!
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TWO BOOKS OF GOD
9:15 "mountain was burning with fire" Burning fire or bright light was a symbol of God's presence (cf. Deut. 1:32-33; Isa. 66:15).
9:16 "You had made for yourselves a molten calf" This same VERB (BDB 793 I, KB 899, Qal PERFECT) is used in Deut. 9:12 and 21. Here this image is called:
9:17 "smashed them before your eyes" The very day the covenant was written by God it was broken (both literally and figuratively).
9:18 See SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER
9:19 "the Lord listened to me" See Exodus 34. Notice the source of Moses' fear (BDB 388, KB 386, Qal PERFECT, cf. Deut. 28:60):
Numbers 1 and 2 may function as a hendiadys (cf. TEV, NET Bible).
9:20 "for Aaron" Moses praying for Aaron is not recorded in Exodus 32.
9:21 See Exodus 32:20. Notice how many VERBS are used to describe what Moses did to the golden calf, the sinful thing:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 9:22-24
22 "Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, 'Go up and possess the land which I have given you,' then you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; you neither believed Him nor listened to His voice. 24You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day I knew you."
9:22 "Taberah" This was one of the campsites of Israel (mentioned in Numbers 33). The place name comes from a word play on the VERB "to burn" (BDB 129). This was the geographical location where YHWH answered their constant complaining with a judgment of fire (cf. Num. 11:1-3,34-35). It was about a three day journey north of Mt. Horeb/Sinai, but the exact location is uncertain.
▣ "Massah" This was another location of conflict between YHWH and Israel during the exodus (cf. Exod. 17:7). It is usually linked to Meribah (cf. Deut. 33:8), but not always (cf. Deut. 6:16; 9:2).
▣ "Kibroth-Hattaavah" The name means "graves of lust" (BDB 869, cf. Num. 11:31-35). Numbers 11 mentions movement recorded between Taberah and Kibroth-Hattaavah, but here in Deuteronomy the two sites are separate.
9:23 "Go up and possess this land" These are both Qal IMPERATIVES and reflect YHWH's direct speech through Moses to Israel:
Notice again YHWH's command for Israel to act on her belief in His sovereignty and promises. But instead of faith Israel demonstrated unbelief:
▣ "you rebelled" See note at Deut. 1:26.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 9:25-29
25"So I fell down before the Lord the forty days and nights,
which I did because the Lord had said He would destroy you. 26I prayed to the Lord,
and said, 'O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought
out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27'Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people
or at their wickedness or their sin. 28Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say, "Because the Lord
was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness."
29Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.'"
9:25 Moses' intercessory prayer uses two verbs:
SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER
SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #7
9:26-29 Verses 26-29 show three reasons Moses gave to God in answer to His question, "Why should I spare Israel?":
The paragraph contains three prayer request VERBS:
Moses appeals to YHWH's character and eternal redemptive plan for all people as the basis for not destroying His disobedient covenant people. More is at stake than just one people group!
SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)
SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN
9:26 Notice how Moses' prayer reminds YHWH of His covenant relationship:
God acts because of who He is! He follows His redemptive plan! The great hope of all mankind is the unchanging, gracious, merciful, loving character of YHWH (e.g., Exod. 34:6; Mal. 3:6). See notes at Deut. 4:31 and 10:17.
▣ "with a mighty hand" This phrase and "outstretched arm" of Deut. 9:29 have both been found in Egyptian texts referring to the Egyptian king. This is a recurrent idiom (cf. Exod. 32:11; Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 6:21; 7:8,19; 9:26; 11:2; 26:8; 34:12; 2 Chr. 6:32; Ps. 136:12; Dan. 9:15). Moses chose phrases that Israel had heard before in relationship to Pharaoh. YHWH was their true king!
9:27 Notice the character of Israel:
▣ "Your servants" See SPECIAL TOPIC: SERVANT LEADERSHIP
9:28 "Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say" God, because of Your reputation and worldwide purpose of redemption, spare Israel. Another phrase used in the same sense is, "for God's namesake" (cf. Isa. 48:9-11; Ezek. 20:9,14,22,44; 36:21-23; Dan. 9:17-19).
9:29 "Your great power and Your outstretched arm" See full note at Deut. 4:34.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are
responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You,
the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
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