1tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10).

2tn Heb “his house.”

3tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.

4tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”

5tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”

6sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.

7tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).

8tn Heb “go out with.”

9tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).

10sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.

11tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.

12tn Or “and enslaves him.”

13tn Heb “that thief.”

14tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.

15tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”

16sn What the Lord your God did to Miriam. The reference is to Miriam’s having contracted leprosy because of her intemperate challenge to Moses’ leadership (Num 12:1-15). The purpose for the allusion here appears to be the assertion of the theocratic leadership of the priests who, like Moses, should not be despised.

17tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.

18tn Heb “his pledge.”

19tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”

20tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”

21tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).

22tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

23tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

24tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.

25tn Heb “in the field.”

26tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).

27tn Heb “knock down after you.”

28tn Heb “glean after you.”