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12 a land the Lord your God looks after.[a] He is constantly attentive to it[b] from the beginning to the end of the year.[c] 13 Now, if you pay close attention[d] to my commandments that I am giving you today and love[e] the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being,[f] 14 then he promises,[g] “I will send rain for your land[h] in its season, the autumn and the spring rains,[i] so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:12 tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.
  2. Deuteronomy 11:12 tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “always on it.” sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the Lord is understandable in light of the centrality of the land in the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen 12:1, 7; 13:15; 15:7, 16, 18; 17:8; 26:3).
  3. Deuteronomy 11:12 sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.
  4. Deuteronomy 11:13 tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”
  5. Deuteronomy 11:13 tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהֵב (ʾahev) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).
  6. Deuteronomy 11:13 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
  7. Deuteronomy 11:14 tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.
  8. Deuteronomy 11:14 tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.
  9. Deuteronomy 11:14 sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.