33:3 Surely he loves the people; 1
all your holy ones 2 are in your power. 3
And they sit 4 at your feet,
each receiving 5 your words.
The Lord came from Sinai
and revealed himself 6 to Israel 7 from Seir.
He appeared in splendor 8 from Mount Paran,
and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. 9
With his right hand he gave a fiery law 10 to them.
1 tc Heb “peoples.” The apparent plural form is probably a misunderstood singular (perhaps with a pronominal suffix) with enclitic mem (ם). See HALOT 838 s.v. עַם B.2.
2 tc Heb “his holy ones.” The third person masculine singular suffix of the Hebrew MT is problematic in light of the second person masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדֶךָ (bÿyadekha, “your hands”). The LXX versions by Lucian and Origen read, therefore, “the holy ones.” The LXX version by Theodotion and the Vulgate, however, presuppose third masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדָיו (bÿyadayv, “his hands”), and thus retain “his holy ones.” The efforts to bring pronominal harmony into the line is commendable but unnecessary given the Hebrew tendency to be untroubled by such grammatical inconsistencies. However, the translation harmonizes the first pronoun with the second so that the referent (the Lord) is clear.
3 tn Heb “hands.” For the problem of the pronoun see note on the term “holy ones” earlier in this verse.
4 tn The Hebrew term תֻּכּוּ (tuku, probably Pual perfect of תָּכָה, takhah) is otherwise unknown. The present translation is based on the reference to feet and, apparently, receiving instruction in God’s words (cf. KJV, ASV). Other options are as follows: NIV “At your feet they all bow down” (cf. NCV, CEV); NLT “They follow in your steps” (cf. NAB, NASB); NRSV “they marched at your heels.”
5 tn The singular verbal form in the Hebrew text (lit. “he lifts up”) is understood in a distributive manner, focusing on the action of each individual within the group.
6 tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).
7 tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.
8 tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
9 tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.
10 tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.
11 tn Heb “(as) an inheritance,” that is, landed property that one can pass on to one’s descendants.
12 tn Grk “And it happened that after.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
13 sn Three days means there was one day out, another day back, and a third day of looking in Jerusalem.
14 tn Grk “the temple.”
15 tn This is the only place in Luke’s Gospel where the term διδάσκαλος (didaskalo", “teacher”) is applied to Jews.
16 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the people’s response to the report.
17 tn Grk “Jesus, and they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
18 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
19 tn This reflexive makes it clear that Mary took the initiative in sitting by Jesus.
20 sn The description of Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to him makes her sound like a disciple (compare Luke 8:35).