Deuteronomy 5:10

5:10 but I show covenant faithfulness ¹  to the thousands ²  who choose ³  me and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 1:11

1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you ⁴  just as he said he would!

Deuteronomy 7:9

7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, ⁵  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully ⁶  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Deuteronomy 32:30

32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, ⁷ 

and two pursue ten thousand;

unless their Rock had delivered them up, ⁸ 

and the Lord had handed them over?

Deuteronomy 1:15

1:15 So I chose ⁹  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials.

Deuteronomy 33:17

33:17 May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor,

and may his horns be those of a wild ox;

with them may he gore all peoples,

all the far reaches of the earth.

They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, ¹⁰ 

and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

¹ tn This theologically rich term (חֶסֶד, khesed) describes God’s loyalty to those who keep covenant with him. Sometimes it is used synonymously with בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”; Deut 7:9), and sometimes interchangeably with it (Deut 7:12). See H.-J. Zobel, TDOT 5:44-64.

² tc By a slight emendation (לַאֲלּוּפִים [la’allufim] for לַאֲלָפִים [la’alafim]) “clans” could be read in place of the MT reading “thousands.” However, no ms or versional evidence exists to support this emendation.

³ tn Heb “love.” See note on the word “reject” in v. 9.

⁴ tn Heb “may he bless you.”

⁷ tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

⁸ 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”).

¹⁰ tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

¹³ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

¹⁶ sn Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph who became founders of the two tribes into which Joseph’s descendants were split (Gen 48:19-20). Jacob’s blessing granted favored status to Ephraim; this is probably why Ephraim is viewed here as more numerous than Manasseh.