Bible Reading February 18 
Deuteronomy 7:1--9:29
Context7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, 1 Girgashites, 2 Amorites, 3 Canaanites, 4 Perizzites, 5 Hivites, 6 and Jebusites, 7 seven 8 nations more numerous and powerful than you – 7:2 and he 9 delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate 10 them. Make no treaty 11 with them and show them no mercy! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. 7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 12 cut down their sacred Asherah poles, 13 and burn up their idols. 7:6 For you are a people holy 14 to the Lord your God. He 15 has chosen you to be his people, prized 16 above all others on the face of the earth.
7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his 17 love 18 for you and his faithfulness to the promise 19 he solemnly vowed 20 to your ancestors 21 that the Lord brought you out with great power, 22 redeeming 23 you from the place of slavery, from the power 24 of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, 25 the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully 26 with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate 27 him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore 28 those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 7:11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.
7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you 29 as he promised 30 your ancestors. 7:13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, 31 with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness 32 among you or your livestock. 7:15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.
7:16 You must destroy 33 all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship 34 their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall 35 what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments 36 you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power 37 by which he 38 brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets 39 among them until the very last ones who hide from you 40 perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He, 41 the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 7:23 The Lord your God will give them over to you; he will throw them into a great panic 42 until they are destroyed. 7:24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. 43 Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them. 7:25 You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent 44 to the Lord your God. 7:26 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath 45 along with it. 46 You must absolutely detest 47 and abhor it, 48 for it is an object of divine wrath.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 49 I am giving 50 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 51 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 52 8:2 Remember the whole way by which he 53 has brought you these forty years through the desert 54 so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. 55 He did this to teach you 56 that humankind 57 cannot live by bread 58 alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. 59 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 8:5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, 60 the Lord your God disciplines you. 8:6 So you must keep his 61 commandments, live according to his standards, 62 and revere him. 8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, 63 springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 8:9 a land where you may eat food 64 in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron 65 and from whose hills you can mine copper. 8:10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.
8:11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 8:12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 8:13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 8:14 be sure 66 you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents 67 and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow 68 from a flint rock and 8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you 69 and eventually bring good to you. 8:17 Be careful 70 not to say, “My own ability and skill 71 have gotten me this wealth.” 8:18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, 72 even as he has to this day. 8:19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all 73 and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 8:20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you 74 because you would not obey him. 75
9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. 76 9:2 They include the Anakites, 77 a numerous 78 and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?” 9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he 79 has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, 80 that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he 81 made on oath to your ancestors, 82 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 9:6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn 83 people!
9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget 84 – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 85 9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there 86 forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger 87 of God, and on them was everything 88 he 89 said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 9:12 And he said to me, “Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.” 90 9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn 91 lot! 9:14 Stand aside 92 and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, 93 and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”
9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it 94 was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 9:16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; 95 you had quickly turned aside from the way he 96 had commanded you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, 97 and shattered them before your very eyes. 9:18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. 9:19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger 98 that threatened to destroy you. But he 99 listened to me this time as well. 9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him 100 too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing 101 that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, 102 ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, 103 Massah, 104 and Kibroth-Hattaavah. 105 9:23 And when he 106 sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God 107 and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebelling against him 108 from the very first day I knew you!
9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, 109 for he 110 had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him: 111 O, Lord God, 112 do not destroy your people, your valued property 113 that you have powerfully redeemed, 114 whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. 115 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land 116 from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” 117 9:29 They are your people, your valued property, 118 whom you brought out with great strength and power. 119
[7:1] 1 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
[7:1] 2 sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).
[7:1] 3 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
[7:1] 4 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
[7:1] 5 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
[7:1] 6 sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
[7:1] 7 sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).
[7:1] 8 sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.
[7:2] 9 tn Heb “the
[7:2] 10 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”
[7:2] 11 tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”
[7:5] 12 sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the
[7:5] 13 sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[7:6] 14 tn That is, “set apart.”
[7:6] 15 tn Heb “the
[7:6] 16 tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.
[7:8] 17 tn Heb “the
[7:8] 18 tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[7:8] 19 tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
[7:8] 20 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[7:8] 21 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).
[7:8] 22 tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”
[7:8] 23 sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the
[7:8] 24 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.
[7:9] 25 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
[7:9] 26 tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).
[7:10] 27 tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).
[7:10] 28 tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”
[7:12] 29 tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.
[7:12] 30 tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”
[7:13] 31 tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[7:14] 32 sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.
[7:16] 33 tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”
[7:16] 34 tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[7:18] 35 tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”
[7:19] 36 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
[7:19] 37 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
[7:19] 38 tn Heb “the
[7:20] 39 tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).
[7:20] 40 tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”
[7:22] 41 tn Heb “the
[7:23] 42 tn Heb “he will confuse them (with) great confusion.” The verb used here means “shake, stir up” (see Ruth 1:19; 1 Sam 4:5; 1 Kgs 1:45; Ps 55:2); the accompanying cognate noun refers to confusion, unrest, havoc, or panic (1 Sam 5:9, 11; 14:20; 2 Chr 15:5; Prov 15:16; Isa 22:5; Ezek 7:7; 22:5; Amos 3:9; Zech 14:13).
[7:24] 43 tn Heb “you will destroy their name from under heaven” (cf. KJV); NRSV “blot out their name from under heaven.”
[7:25] 44 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abhorrent; detestable”) describes anything detestable to the
[7:26] 45 tn Heb “come under the ban” (so NASB); NRSV “be set apart for destruction.” The same phrase occurs again at the end of this verse.
[7:26] 47 tn This Hebrew verb (שָׁקַץ, shaqats) is essentially synonymous with the next verb (תָעַב, ta’av; cf. תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah; see note on the word “abhorrent” in v. 25), though its field of meaning is more limited to cultic abomination (cf. Lev 11:11, 13; Ps 22:25).
[7:26] 48 tn Heb “detesting you must detest and abhorring you must abhor.” Both verbs are preceded by a cognate infinitive absolute indicating emphasis.
[8:1] 49 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
[8:1] 50 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
[8:1] 51 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
[8:1] 52 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
[8:2] 53 tn Heb “the
[8:2] 54 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.
[8:3] 55 tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).
[8:3] 56 tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 57 tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).
[8:3] 58 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).
[8:3] 59 sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).
[8:5] 60 tn Heb “just as a man disciplines his son.” The Hebrew text reflects the patriarchal idiom of the culture.
[8:6] 61 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[8:6] 62 tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” The “ways” of the Lord refer here to his moral standards as reflected in his commandments. The verb “walk” is used frequently in the Bible (both OT and NT) for one’s moral and ethical behavior.
[8:9] 64 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[8:9] 65 sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.
[8:14] 66 tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection.
[8:15] 67 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
[8:15] 68 tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.
[8:16] 69 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
[8:17] 70 tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.
[8:17] 71 tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”
[8:18] 72 tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.
[8:19] 73 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
[8:20] 74 tn Heb “so you will perish.”
[8:20] 75 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the
[9:1] 76 tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.
[9:2] 77 sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.
[9:2] 78 tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
[9:3] 79 tn Heb “the
[9:5] 80 tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the
[9:5] 81 tn Heb “the
[9:6] 83 tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
[9:7] 84 tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.
[9:7] 85 tn Heb “the
[9:9] 86 tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:10] 87 sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself – not Moses in any way – was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).
[9:10] 88 tn Heb “according to all the words.”
[9:10] 89 tn Heb “the
[9:12] 90 tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads מַסֵּכָה (massekhah, “a cast thing”) but some
[9:13] 91 tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.
[9:14] 92 tn Heb “leave me alone.”
[9:14] 93 tn Heb “from under heaven.”
[9:15] 94 tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[9:16] 95 tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
[9:16] 96 tn Heb “the
[9:17] 97 tn The Hebrew text includes “from upon my two hands,” but as this seems somewhat obvious and redundant, it has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[9:19] 98 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” Although many English versions translate as two terms, this construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion (cf. NAB, TEV “fierce anger”).
[9:19] 99 tn Heb “the
[9:20] 100 tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[9:21] 101 tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).
[9:21] 102 tn Heb “burned it with fire.”
[9:22] 103 sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the
[9:22] 104 sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.
[9:22] 105 sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).
[9:23] 106 tn Heb “the
[9:23] 107 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
[9:24] 108 tn Heb “the
[9:25] 109 tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.
[9:25] 110 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 111 tn Heb “the
[9:26] 112 tn Heb “Lord
[9:26] 113 tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.
[9:26] 114 tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
[9:26] 115 tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
[9:28] 116 tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:28] 117 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
