78:5 He established a rule 3 in Jacob;
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendants, 4
78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. 5
78:7 Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey 6 his commands.
78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that was not committed
and faithful to God. 7
78:9 The Ephraimites 8 were armed with bows, 9
but they retreated in the day of battle. 10
5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people 31 and appointed 32 to represent them before God, 33 to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
1 tn The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.
2 tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”
3 tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).
4 tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the
5 tn Heb “in order that they might know, a following generation, sons [who] will be born, they will arise and will tell to their sons.”
6 tn Heb “keep.”
7 tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).
8 tn Heb “the sons of Ephraim.” Ephraim probably stands here by synecdoche (part for whole) for the northern kingdom of Israel.
9 tn Heb “ones armed, shooters of bow.” It is possible that the term נוֹשְׁקֵי (noshÿqey, “ones armed [with]”) is an interpretive gloss for the rare רוֹמֵי (romey, “shooters of”; on the latter see BDB 941 s.v. I רָמָה). The phrase נוֹשְׁקֵי קֶשֶׁת (noshÿqey qeshet, “ones armed with a bow”) appears in 1 Chr 12:2; 2 Chr 17:17.
10 sn They retreated. This could refer to the northern tribes’ failure to conquer completely their allotted territory (see Judg 1), or it could refer generally to the typical consequence (military defeat) of their sin (see vv. 10-11).
11 tn Grk “the flesh counts for nothing.”
12 tn Or “are spirit-giving and life-producing.”
13 tn Grk “much in every way.”
14 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D2 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few
15 tn Grk “they were.”
16 tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.
17 tn Grk “of whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
18 tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”
19 tn Or “cultic service.”
20 sn A quotation from Deut 9:4.
21 sn A quotation from Deut 30:12.
22 sn A quotation from Deut 30:13.
23 sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.
24 tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.
25 tn Grk “believes to righteousness.”
26 tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”
27 tn Grk “because of the time.”
28 tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”
29 tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”
30 tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and important ones (א2 A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 Ï sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (Ì46 א* B2 C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA27 has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
31 tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”
32 tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
33 tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”