Numbers 14:8

14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 7:7-8

The Basis of Israel’s Election

7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his ²  love ³  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ⁴  he solemnly vowed ⁵  to your ancestors ⁶  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ⁷  redeeming ⁸  you from the place of slavery, from the power ⁹  of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:1

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, ¹⁰  Girgashites, ¹¹  Amorites, ¹²  Canaanites, ¹³  Perizzites, ¹⁴  Hivites, ¹⁵  and Jebusites, ¹⁶  seven ¹⁷  nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 12:22

12:22 Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them.

Malachi 1:2-3

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob 1:3 and rejected Esau. ¹⁸  I turned Esau’s ¹⁹  mountains into a deserted wasteland ²⁰  and gave his territory ²¹  to the wild jackals.”

Romans 9:10-15

9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, ²²  our ancestor Isaac – 9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ²³  would stand, not by works but by ²⁴  his calling) ²⁵  – 9:12 ²⁶  it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” ²⁷  9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ²⁸ 

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 9:15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ²⁹ 

¹ tn The subjective genitives “milk and honey” are symbols of the wealth of the land, second only to bread. Milk was a sign of such abundance (Gen 49:12; Isa 7:21,22). Because of the climate the milk would thicken quickly and become curds, eaten with bread or turned into butter. The honey mentioned here is the wild honey (see Deut 32:13; Judg 14:8-9). It signified sweetness, or the finer things of life (Ezek 3:3).

² tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

³ tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

⁴ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

⁵ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

⁷ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

⁸ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

⁹ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

¹⁰ sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

¹¹ sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).

¹² sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

¹³ sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

¹⁴ sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

¹⁵ sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

¹⁶ sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).

¹⁷ sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.

¹⁸ tn Heb “and I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.” The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).

¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Heb “I set his mountains as a desolation.”

²¹ tn Or “inheritance” (so NIV, NLT).

²² tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.

²³ tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

²⁴ tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

²⁵ tn Grk “by the one who calls.”

²⁶ sn Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (NA²⁷/UBS⁴, NIV, NRSV, NLT, NAB). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.

²⁷ sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.

²⁸ sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.

²⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 33:19.