Deuteronomy12:1–28

Where the English smooths the original

• תִּשְׁמְר֣וּן The verb is שָׁמַר (shāmar) — its root sense is “to hedge about, guard, keep watch over,” not merely “be careful.” The statutes are to be guarded like a treasure, the same verb later used of keeping the whole Law.
• הָאֲדָמָֽה Two different words for “land” sit side by side: אֲדָמָה (’ăḏāmāh, “the ground / soil”) and אֶרֶץ (’ereṣ, “the land”). The BSB flattens both into “the land”; the Hebrew distinguishes the soil you live on from the territory you possess.
• לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ יָרַשׁ (yārash) is “to take possession by dispossessing” — to inherit by driving out. The same root governs “dispossessing the nations” in v. 2; the BSB’s “possess” loses the dispossession built into the word.

Where the English smooths the original

• אַבֵּ֣ד תְּ֠אַבְּדוּן Hebrew doubles the verb — infinitive absolute plus finite: אַבֵּד תְּאַבְּדוּן, literally “destroying you shall destroy.” The BSB’s “destroy completely” renders the force, but the emphatic Hebrew construction (utter, total annihilation) is a grammatical hammer-blow English can only paraphrase.
• רַעֲנָן רַעֲנָן (ra‘ănān) is rendered “green,” but as Cambridge argues at length the root carries “luxuriant, branching, overshadowing,” even “wavy / full of sound” — the LXX renders it “leafy.” Applied to oil in Psalm 92:10 it cannot mean “green.” The shade and rustle of the tree, not its colour, is the point.
• הַמְּקֹמ֞וֹת מָקוֹם (māqôm) is the keyword of the whole chapter — “place / standing-place.” Here it is the pagan place; from v. 5 onward it becomes the place Yahweh will choose. The same noun marks both the abolished and the appointed sanctuary.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־שְׁמָ֔ם Literally “you shall make their name perish” — the verb אָבַד (’ābaḏ) is the same root as “destroy” in v. 2, now turned against the very names of the gods. To erase the name is to erase the existence; the BSB’s “wipe out their names” is exact in sense.
• מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔ם מַצֵּבָה (maṣṣēḇāh) is a standing stone-pillar, often a cult-stone — the same word as the pillar Jacob raised at Bethel (Genesis 28:18). What was once a memorial of God’s presence is, in pagan hands, an object to be shattered.
• וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ אֲשֵׁרָה (’ăshērāh) — the BSB “Asherah poles.” The Targum renders it “abominations.” These were wooden cult-objects of the goddess; the singular act of burning them marks them as combustible, hence wood, not stone.

Where the English smooths the original

• כֵּ֔ן The single word כֵּן (kēn, “so / in this manner”) carries the whole prohibition: do not worship Yahweh in that way — on hilltops, under trees, by your own devising. The BSB’s “in this way” supplies what the terse Hebrew leaves implied by the preceding verses.
• תַעֲשׂ֣וּן עָשָׂה (‘āśāh, “do / make”) — the same verb as “follow / do” in v. 1 and the destroying-actions of vv. 2–3, now negated. The BSB chooses “worship” for sense; the Hebrew simply says “you shall not do so.”
• לֹֽא־ The verse pivots the chapter on a single לֹא (“not”): everything pagan worship does (vv. 2–3) is exactly what Israel must not do toward the true God. Right object, wrong manner, is still false worship.

Where the English smooths the original

• תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ דָּרַשׁ (dārash) is “to seek, inquire, resort to” — the verb of seeking God for an oracle or answer (cf. 2 Chronicles 1:5). The BSB’s “seek the place” captures the resort; the Hebrew also carries the worshipper’s inquiry of God at that place.
• לָשׂ֥וּם אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ Literally “to put his Name there.” The Name (שֵׁם, shēm) is not a label but Yahweh’s self-revealed presence; to “put his Name” is to make himself present. The BSB’s “to establish as a dwelling for His Name” folds in the following word לְשִׁכְנוֹ.
• יִבְחַ֨ר בָּחַר (bāḥar, “choose”) is the theological pulse of the chapter, repeated six times. The place is not Israel’s to pick (“every place you see,” v. 13) but Yahweh’s to elect — sovereign choice, not human convenience.

Where the English smooths the original

• תְּרוּמַ֣ת יֶדְכֶ֑ם “The heave-offering of your hand” — תְּרוּמָה (tərûmāh) is a gift “lifted off / raised up” and presented. Poole and Benson note the offerer first took it into his hands and heaved it before the Lord. The BSB’s “heave offerings” preserves the gesture the name encodes.
• עֹלֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ עֹלָה (‘ōlāh, “burnt offering”) is literally the offering that “goes up” — wholly consumed, ascending in smoke. It heads the list as the principal altar-gift; the English “burnt offering” names the fire but not the ascent.
• וְזִבְחֵיכֶ֔ם זֶבַח (zeḇaḥ, “sacrifice”) is specifically the slaughter-offering shared in a meal, distinct from the wholly-burnt ‘ōlāh. The pairing “burnt offerings and sacrifices” spans both kinds; the meal-portion of the zeḇaḥ is what the family later eats (v. 7).

Where the English smooths the original

• מִשְׁלַ֣ח יֶדְכֶ֔ם Literally “the sending-forth of your hand” (מִשְׁלַח יָד) — the idiom for all a man undertakes and acquires by his labour (Keil: “that to which the hand is stretched out”). The BSB’s “all you do” is right but loses the vivid hand-reaching-out picture.
• וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם שָׂמַח (śāmaḥ, “rejoice”) is commanded, not merely permitted — the same verb that marks the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40). Worship at the one place is to be festival, not drudgery; the imperative joy is the heart of the meal.
• לִפְנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה “Before the face of Yahweh” (לִפְנֵי, from pānîm, “face”). To eat “before the LORD” is to eat in the felt presence — the meal is communion, not just consumption. The BSB’s “in the presence of” is faithful to the idiom.

Where the English smooths the original

• הַיָּשָׁ֥ר בְּעֵינָֽיו “The right in his own eyes” (הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו) is the exact phrase that damns the era of the Judges — “every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The BSB’s “what seems right in his own eyes” quietly carries that whole later indictment of self-rule.
• פֹּ֖ה פֹּה (pōh, “here”) anchors the contrast in place and time — “here, today,” in the unsettled wilderness camp — against the ordered worship of the coming land. The irregularity was a concession to wandering, not a model to keep.
• אֲנַ֧חְנוּ “We are doing” — the emphatic אֲנַחְנוּ includes Moses himself: even the present generation’s practice is provisional. Cambridge notes the startling first-person plural — Moses concedes that current worship is not yet the standard.

Where the English smooths the original

• הַמְּנוּחָה֙ מְנוּחָה (mənûḥāh, “rest / resting-place”) is more than safety — it is the settled repose of a people brought home. Hebrews 4 builds its whole argument of a remaining sabbath-rest on this Old-Testament “rest”; the BSB’s “resting place” is the seedbed of that theology.
• הַֽנַּחֲלָ֔ה נַחֲלָה (naḥălāh, “inheritance”) is the allotted possession passed down as patrimony — the root behind “cause to inherit” in v. 10. The land is not seized wages but a bequeathed estate; the BSB’s “inheritance” rightly keeps the family-heritage note.
• עַד־עָ֑תָּה “Not yet, until now” (עַד־עַתָּה) marks the hinge of redemptive timing: the irregular ‘here today’ of v. 8 is permitted only because the rest has not yet come. The whole law of the one place waits on arrival.

Where the English smooths the original

• בֶּֽטַח בֶּטַח (beṭaḥ, “securely”) is dwelling in confidence — from the root “to trust.” It is not merely military safety but the freedom from fear that comes of being kept (cf. Judges 18:7). The BSB’s “securely” is right; the word’s trust-coloring is the deeper note.
• מַנְחִ֣יל נָחַל in the causative (Hiphil) — “is causing you to inherit.” God is the active Giver of the patrimony; Israel does not take it but receives it. The BSB’s “giving you as an inheritance” renders the causative force.
• וְהֵנִ֨יחַ נוּחַ (nûaḥ, “give rest”) — cognate with mənûḥāh (“rest”) in v. 9. The promised rest of v. 9 is here being enacted: God himself causes the rest. The BSB’s “He gives you rest” keeps the divine agency explicit.

Where the English smooths the original

• לְשַׁכֵּ֤ן שְׁמוֹ֙ Literally “to cause his Name to dwell there” — the causative of שָׁכַן (shākan), the ‘shekinah’ root. Where v. 5 said “to put his Name,” here the stress is on permanence: the Name tabernacles, takes up lasting residence. The BSB’s “a dwelling for His Name” conveys this.
• מִבְחַ֣ר נִדְרֵיכֶ֔ם “The choice of your vows” (מִבְחַר, miḇḥar) — from the same root bāḥar (“choose”) as God’s choosing of the place. As God chooses the place, the worshipper brings the choicest of what he vowed. Vowed offerings had to be unblemished (Leviticus 22:21); the BSB’s “choice offerings” keeps the word-play.
• וּתְרֻמַ֣ת יֶדְכֶ֔ם Again “the heave-offering of your hand,” here the BSB renders it “special gifts” (contrast v. 6’s “heave offerings”) — the same Hebrew תְּרוּמָה; the inconsistency is the translation’s, not the text’s.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְהַלֵּוִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּשַֽׁעֲרֵיכֶ֔ם “The Levite who is within your gates” (בְּשַׁעֲרֶיךָ, “in your gates”) — “gates” is the idiom for one’s town or settlement. The landless Levite, scattered among the tribes, is to be drawn into the household’s joy. The BSB’s “within your gates” keeps the civic image.
• חֵ֥לֶק וְנַחֲלָ֖ה “Portion or inheritance” (חֵלֶק וְנַחֲלָה) — the Levite owns no allotted land (naḥălāh, the same word as Israel’s ‘inheritance’ in v. 9). Having no field, he must share the feast; his portion is the Lord himself (Numbers 18). The BSB renders the pair faithfully.
• וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם The commanded rejoicing (śāmaḥ) returns from v. 7, now widened to name every member of the house — sons, daughters, servants, the Levite. Covenant gladness is deliberately inclusive; no one in the household is left outside the joy.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּכָל־מָק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּרְאֶֽה “In every place that you see” (תִּרְאֶה, tir’eh) — the danger is worship chosen by the eye: the spot that looks fitting, a striking hill or grove. It is the exact counter to the place God chooses (v. 5). The BSB’s “just any place you see” catches the self-pleasing glance.
• הִשָּׁ֣מֶר שָׁמַר in the reflexive (Niphal) — “guard yourself, take heed.” The same root as “you shall keep” in v. 1: keep the law by keeping watch over yourself. The BSB’s “be careful” is right but milder than the sentinel-image of the verb.
• תַּעֲלֶ֖ה עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ A pointed cognate pair: “you offer up (תַּעֲלֶה) your burnt offerings (עֹלֹתֶיךָ)” — both from ‘ālāh, “to go up.” The burnt offering is named for the same ‘ascent’ as the act of offering. English cannot show that the verb and noun are the same word.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁבָטֶ֔יךָ “In one of your tribes” (בְּאַחַד, “in one”) — a subtle shift from v. 5’s “out of all your tribes.” The election narrows: from among all the tribes, to one. The BSB’s “in one of your tribal territories” marks the chosen tribe’s land as the single site.
• כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י מְצַוֶּֽךָּ “All that I am commanding you” — the emphatic אָנֹכִי (“I”) is Moses speaking as Yahweh’s mouth, yet the ‘I command’ ultimately is God’s. The single place gathers the whole obedience: not selective worship but all that is commanded, in one appointed spot.
• תַּעֲלֶ֣ה Again the ‘go-up’ verb עָלָה for offering, repeating v. 13 — the negative warning (“do not offer up everywhere”) is answered by the positive command (“offer up there”). Same verb, opposite force.

Where the English smooths the original

• אַוַּ֨ת נַפְשְׁךָ֜ “The desire of your soul” (אַוַּת נֶפֶשׁ) — ’awwāh is “craving, longing,” a rare word (only seven verses in all Scripture). It links this permission to v. 20’s “you crave meat.” The BSB’s “whenever you want” flattens the bodily longing the Hebrew names.
• תִּזְבַּ֣ח זָבַח (zāḇaḥ) is the sacrificial slaughter-verb — yet here it is granted for ordinary food. This is the very point: what was once permitted only at the altar (Leviticus 17:3–4) may now be done at home. The cultic verb is desacralized for the table.
• כַּצְּבִ֖י וְכָאַיָּֽל “Like the gazelle and like the deer” (צְבִי / אַיָּל) — game animals that could never be sacrificed. By naming them, the law says home-slaughtered ox or sheep is now as common as venison; the clean/unclean distinction of the altar simply does not apply.

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• כַּמָּֽיִם “Like water” (כַּמַּיִם) — blood poured out unceremoniously, soaked into the earth, treated as common spillage. The simile insists the blood is not to be hoarded, drunk, or made a private offering; it is surrendered, not used. The BSB keeps the stark image.
• הַדָּ֖ם דָּם (dām, “blood”) carries the whole weight: the one absolute reservation amid the new freedom. Flesh is freed to the table; blood is reserved to God. The single noun marks the line that may never be crossed (cf. Genesis 9:4).
• תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ שָׁפַךְ (shāp̄aḵ, “pour out, spill”) — the same verb used of shedding blood in violence and of pouring the sacrificial blood at the altar (v. 27). Here it is deliberate release onto the ground: the life is given back, not consumed.

Where the English smooths the original

• תוּכַ֞ל לֹֽא־ “You are not able” (לֹא־תוּכַל, from yāḵōl, “to be able”) — not “you must not” but a flat legal inability: it is not in your power to eat these at home. The Pulpit Commentary notes the verb of capacity used for prohibition. The BSB’s “you must not eat” renders the binding sense.
• בִּשְׁעָרֶ֗יךָ “Within your gates” (שְׁעָרֶיךָ) — your own town, set in pointed contrast to “the place” (v. 18). The holy portions may be eaten, but only there, not here. Benson: “in your private habitations… opposed to the place of God’s worship.”
• מַעְשַׂ֤ר דְּגָֽנְךָ֙ “The tithe of your grain” (מַעֲשֵׂר, the tenth) — the consecrated tenth of grain, wine, oil. These holy things, like the firstlings and vows, belong to the sanctuary table; eating them at home would profane what was set apart.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֗ לִפְנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה “You shall rejoice before Yahweh” — the third sounding of the commanded joy (vv. 7, 12). What looked like a restriction (you may not eat at home) is in fact an invitation to the festal table in God’s presence. The eating is communion, the mood is gladness.
• תֹּאכְלֶ֗נּוּ אָכַל (’āḵal, “eat”) — the same verb that was forbidden in v. 17 (“not able to eat… within your gates”) is here commanded (“you shall eat it… before the LORD”). Same act, transformed by place: profane at home, holy at the sanctuary.
• וְהַלֵּוִ֖י אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ “The Levite within your gates” recurs from v. 12 — the very portions the offerer brings from his gates to the place are to be shared with the landless Levite of his gates. The household’s joy gathers in the one who has no field.

Where the English smooths the original

• תַּעֲזֹ֖ב עָזַב (‘āzaḇ, “forsake, abandon”) — a strong word: not merely “overlook” but leave in the lurch. The same verb of God’s pledge never to “forsake” his own (Deuteronomy 31:6) is here turned into a duty: do not you forsake the Levite. The BSB’s “neglect” is gentler than the Hebrew’s abandonment.
• כָּל־יָמֶ֖יךָ “All your days” (כָּל־יָמֶיךָ) — the care for the Levite is not occasional but lifelong, echoing “all the days you live” of v. 1. The whole of the worshipper’s life is to keep the landless minister in view.
• הִשָּׁ֣מֶר Again the reflexive guard yourself (shāmar, Niphal), as in v. 13 — the same sentinel-verb that fences against false worship now fences against forgetting the Levite. Right worship and care for the poor are guarded by one watchword.

Where the English smooths the original

• אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשְׁךָ֖ / תְאַוֶּ֥ה Twice the rare root אָוָה (’āwāh, “to crave, long for”): the verb “craves” and the noun “craving of your soul.” This is the same uncommon word (only seven verses) as in v. 15 — and shared with Jeremiah 2:24, where it names the wild donkey’s lust. The BSB’s “crave… whenever you want” renders both, but the bodily longing is the link.
• יַרְחִיב֩ גְּבֽוּלְךָ֮ “Enlarges your border” (רָחַב, “to widen”) — the promised expansion of the land (Genesis 15:18; Exodus 34:24). The further the border from the one sanctuary, the more necessary this concession to slaughter at home. Geography drives the law’s mercy.
• נַפְשְׁךָ֖ נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) here = “appetite, desire” — the candid Hebrew names the body’s hunger without embarrassment. The same word will mean “life” in v. 23: the soul that craves the flesh must not eat the soul (life) that is in it.

Where the English smooths the original

• יִרְחַ֨ק מִמְּךָ֜ “Is too far from you” (רָחַק, rāḥaq, “to be distant”) — distance is the stated reason the strict altar-rule (Leviticus 17:3) is relaxed. Barnes renders it “because the place will be too far.” Mercy meets the practical limit of a wide land.
• וְזָבַחְתָּ֞ Again the sacrificial verb זָבַח (zāḇaḥ) used for plain slaughter — “as I have commanded you” points back to v. 15. The cultic word is licensed for the kitchen; the act once reserved to the altar is now allowed at home for distance’s sake.
• אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשֶֽׁךָ A third time the rare “craving of your soul” (’awwāh + nephesh) — vv. 15, 20, 21 chant the same permission. The repetition is not redundancy but emphasis: the appetite is fully and repeatedly granted, hemmed only by the blood-law to follow.

Where the English smooths the original

• יַחְדָּ֖ו “Together / alike” (יַחְדָּו, yaḥdāw) — Keil presses the nuance: not that clean and unclean must eat with one another, but that “the one just the same as the other” may eat. The ceremonial barrier simply does not stand at the common table. The BSB’s “both… may eat it” keeps the equality.
• הַטָּמֵא֙ וְהַטָּה֔וֹר “The unclean and the clean” (טָמֵא / טָהוֹר) — the cultic categories that govern the altar are suspended for ordinary meat, since this is food, not sacrifice. Benson: “there was no holiness in such meat for which the unclean might be excluded.”
• אַ֗ךְ אַךְ (’aḵ, “indeed, surely”) — an emphatic particle confirming the prior grant: yes truly, eat domestic animals as freely as game. It reinforces, not qualifies; the BSB’s “Indeed” is apt.

Where the English smooths the original

• הַדָּ֖ם ה֣וּא הַנָּ֑פֶשׁ “The blood — it is the life” (הַדָּם הוּא הַנֶּפֶשׁ) — a flat identification: blood is nephesh, the life-soul. This is the theological reason for the whole prohibition (cf. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:11). To consume the blood is to consume the life that belongs to God alone.
• חֲזַ֗ק לְבִלְתִּי֙ אֲכֹ֣ל “Be strong not to eat” (חֲזַק, ḥăzaq) — the imperative of strength, the same word charged on Joshua (Joshua 1:6). Keil: “steadfastly resist the temptation.” The pull toward blood was real (1 Samuel 14:32); the BSB’s “be sure” softens the call to resolute resistance.
• הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) here means “life” — the very word that meant “appetite / craving” in vv. 15, 20, 21. The chapter’s key word turns: the soul that craved the flesh must not eat the soul that is the life in it.

Where the English smooths the original

• תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ שָׁפַךְ (shāp̄aḵ, “pour out”) — the verse repeats v. 16 almost verbatim, the blood-law restated for emphasis after the “blood is the life” of v. 23. The repetition is itself the message: this command is not to be eased. The BSB keeps the exact echo of v. 16.
• כַּמָּֽיִם “Like water” again (כַּמַּיִם) — the second time the simile lands: blood is to be treated as the most common, valueless spillage, poured away, never gathered. What is most sacred to God is to be most freely surrendered by man.
• לֹ֖א תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ “You shall not eat it” — a curt, absolute negation, the third in the unit’s blood-sequence (vv. 16, 23, 24). The terse Hebrew leaves no room for exception; the BSB’s flat “You must not eat the blood” matches the bluntness.

Where the English smooths the original

• הַיָּשָׁ֖ר בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהוָֽה “The right in the eyes of Yahweh” (הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה) — the exact phrase of v. 8 (“right in his own eyes”) is now redeemed: the standard is no longer the self’s eye but God’s. The chapter’s arc lands here — from autonomy to obedience. The BSB keeps the deliberate echo.
• יִיטַ֤ב לְךָ֙ “That it may go well with you” (יָטַב, yāṭaḇ, “be good, go well”) — the Deuteronomic promise: obedience and well-being are bound together for “your children after you.” Ellicott even hears a physical good in abstaining from blood. The BSB’s “go well” is exact.
• וּלְבָנֶ֣יךָ אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ “And your children after you” — the blessing is generational, reaching past the obedient one to his line. Obedience to the blood-law is not private but covenantal, securing the future; the BSB renders the forward reach faithfully.

Where the English smooths the original

• קָֽדָשֶׁ֛יךָ “Your holy things” (קָדָשִׁים, qŏḏāshîm) — the consecrated gifts “set apart” for Yahweh (Numbers 18:8). These, unlike common meat, may not be eaten at home: what is holy must go to the holy place. The BSB’s “holy things” keeps the set-apartness the root carries.
• תִּשָּׂ֣א נָשָׂא (nāśā’, “lift, carry, take up”) — you are to take up and bear the holy things to the place. The verb of carrying matches the journey: the gifts are physically borne to the one sanctuary, not consumed where they lie. The BSB’s “take… and go” is right.
• יִבְחַ֥ר בָּחַר (bāḥar, “choose”) — the sixth and final sounding of the divine choosing in the chapter. After all the concessions for common food, the refrain returns: the holy gifts still belong to the place He will choose. The exception proves the rule.

Where the English smooths the original

• הַבָּשָׂ֣ר וְהַדָּ֔ם “The flesh and the blood” — of the burnt offering, both go on the altar; nothing is eaten. This is the contrast that orders the whole chapter: at home, flesh is eaten and blood poured to the ground (v. 24); at the altar, the burnt offering’s flesh and blood alike are given wholly to God.
• יִשָּׁפֵךְ֙ “Shall be poured out” (שָׁפַךְ, shāp̄aḵ) — the same verb as “pour it on the ground” (vv. 16, 24), now directed against the altar. Same act, opposite destination: blood released to the earth at home, blood dashed on the altar at the sanctuary. The BSB’s “poured out beside the altar” renders the ritual placement.
• וְהַבָּשָׂ֖ר תֹּאכֵֽל “But the flesh you may eat” — only of the zeḇaḥ (peace-offering), not the burnt offering. The Pulpit note: zeḇaḥ in the Pentateuch always denotes an offering that furnishes a meal. The BSB rightly limits the eating to the sacrifices that yield a shared table.

Where the English smooths the original

• הַטּ֣וֹב וְהַיָּשָׁ֔ר “The good and the right” (הַטּוֹב וְהַיָּשָׁר) — v. 25 said only “the right”; the unit’s close adds “good.” The pairing becomes a Deuteronomic motto (cf. 6:18). The standard, twice over, is “in the eyes of Yahweh” — the final answer to “right in his own eyes” (v. 8).
• שְׁמֹ֣ר וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֗ “Guard and hear” (שָׁמֹר + שָׁמַע) — the two great Deuteronomic verbs, nearly a pun (shāmōr / shāma‘). The chapter opened with “you shall keep” (v. 1, shāmar) and closes with it: obedience is to guard the word by hearing it. The BSB’s “be careful to obey” fuses both.
• עַד־עוֹלָ֔ם “Forever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ‘aḏ-‘ôlām) — the blessing’s reach is extended beyond v. 25: not merely “with your children after you” but “forever.” The covenant horizon opens to perpetuity. The BSB’s “always go well” carries the ‘ôlām.