28:20 David said to his son Solomon: “Be strong and brave! Do it! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! 2 For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is finished.
1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:
6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
2:1 And although you were 23 dead 24 in your transgressions and sins,
1 tn Heb “see.”
2 tn Or perhaps, “don’t be discouraged.”
3 tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).
5 tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.
6 tn Or “Only be.”
7 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
8 tn Heb “commanded you.”
9 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
10 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
11 tn Heb “mouth.”
12 tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).
13 tn Heb “be careful to do.”
14 tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”
15 tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
16 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
17 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
18 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
19 tn Heb “any man who rebels against your mouth and does not listen to your words, to all which you command us, will be put to death.”
20 tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 17 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).
21 tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).
22 sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.
23 tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.
24 sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.