For other references to this behavior, see 24.17; 26.12.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

For this curse see 22.30; Lev 18.8.

The added words, her who is his father’s, emphasize that this is a grave sin because the man is violating his father’s rights. The Revised Standard Version footnote gives the literal Hebrew text. This information is of little help, if any, to the reader, and may be ignored.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This rule does not appear elsewhere in Deuteronomy; see Lev 18.23; 20.15. In cultures where people may occasionally lie with animals to keep warm, a literal translation of lies with will convey the wrong meaning. The curse in this verse is directed against “sexual relations with an animal.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Sister: as the following words suggest, this can include both full- and half-sisters. No matter that the woman is only the man’s half-sister (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), either by his father or by his mother, such behavior is prohibited. See Lev 18.9; 20.17.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This prohibition is not found elsewhere in Deuteronomy; see Lev 18.8; 20.14.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Slays his neighbor in secret: the secret nature of the crime is made clear here, since no such curse is needed when the murderer is known. See the procedure laid out in 21.1-9. Contemporary English Version has “anyone who commits murder, even when there are no witnesses to the crime.” For “murder” see 5.17.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This is not stated directly elsewhere in Deuteronomy; but see in 16.19 the prohibition against taking bribes; see also Exo 23.6-8. Good News Translation has “anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent person” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This is a summary statement, bringing the twelve curses to a close.

Confirm … by doing them: a better expression of the sense is New Revised Standard Version: “uphold … by obeying them.” By obeying these regulations the Israelite would prove that he upheld or obeyed the laws. The substance of this verse is quoted by Paul in Gal 3.10.

The words of this law: see verse 3.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .