105:8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made 3 to a thousand generations –
105:9 the promise 4 he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac!
105:10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise, 5
7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham, 6
which you promised on oath to our ancestors 7
in ancient times. 8
1:55 as he promised 9 to our ancestors, 10 to Abraham and to his descendants 11 forever.”
1:72 He has done this 12 to show mercy 13 to our ancestors, 14
and to remember his holy covenant 15 –
1:73 the oath 16 that he swore to our ancestor 17 Abraham.
This oath grants 18
1 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
2 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”).
3 tn Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 10-12 make clear.
4 tn Heb “which.”
5 tn Or “eternal covenant.”
6 tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.
7 tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.
8 tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”
9 tn Grk “as he spoke.” Since this is a reference to the covenant to Abraham, ἐλάλησεν (elalhsen) can be translated in context “as he promised.” God keeps his word.
10 tn Grk “fathers.”
11 tn Grk “his seed” (an idiom for offspring or descendants).
12 tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.
13 sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.
14 tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.
15 sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).
16 tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.
17 tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”
18 tn Again for reasons of English style, the infinitival clause “to grant us” has been translated “This oath grants” and made the beginning of a new sentence in the translation.