6:16 You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 8
3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.
3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, 13 and they saw my works for forty years.
3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering 14 and they have not known my ways.’
3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” 15
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
1 tn Heb “a man to his brother.”
2 tn The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.
3 tn The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, ro’sh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 [1969]: 1-10).
4 tn The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause – in order that we may return.
5 tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the
6 tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.
7 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
8 sn The place name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) derives from a root (נָסָה, nasah) meaning “to test; to try.” The reference here is to the experience in the Sinai desert when Moses struck the rock to obtain water (Exod 17:1-2). The complaining Israelites had, thus, “tested” the
9 tn Grk “whom our.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.
10 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
11 sn To obey. Again the theme of the speech is noted. The nation disobeyed the way of God and opted for Egypt over the promised land.
12 sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).
13 tn Grk “tested me by trial.”
14 tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”
15 tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.
16 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
17 tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early