7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham, 3
which you promised on oath to our ancestors 4
in ancient times. 5
1 tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”
2 tn The translation “You have revealed to me what men long to know” is very tentative; the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The text appears to read literally, “and you see me like the searching of man, that which is upward,” which is nonsensical. The translation above assumes the following: (1) The Qal verb translated “you see me” is repointed as a Hiphil, “you showed me,” (2) תּוֹר (tor) is understood in the sense of “searching, exploring,” and (3) הַמַּעֲלָה (hamma’alah) is taken in a temporal sense of “that which lies beyond.” Thus one could translate, “you have shown me what men search for, what lies beyond.”
3 tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.
4 tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.
5 tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”