Psalms 33:12

33:12 How blessed ¹  is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession. ² 

Psalms 106:40

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ³ 

and despised the people who belong to him. ⁴ 

Psalms 135:4

135:4 Indeed, ⁵  the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel to be his special possession. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 4:20

4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, ⁷  to be his special people ⁸  as you are today.

Deuteronomy 32:9

32:9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people,

Jacob is his special possession. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 10:16

10:16 The Lord, who is the inheritance ¹⁰  of Jacob’s descendants, ¹¹  is not like them.

He is the one who created everything.

And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. ¹² 

He is known as the Lord who rules over all.” ¹³ 

¹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

² tn Heb “inheritance.”

³ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

⁴ tn Heb “his inheritance.”

⁵ tn Or “for.”

⁶ sn His special possession. The language echoes Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18. See also Mal 3:17.

⁷ tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.

⁸ tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.

⁹ tc Heb “the portion of his inheritance.” The LXX and Smr add “Israel” and BHS suggests the reconstruction: “The Lord’s allotment is Jacob, the portion of his inheritance is Israel” (cf. NAB). While providing good parallelism, it destroys a fine chiastic structure: “allotment” (a), “his people” (b), “Jacob (b’), and “inheritance” (a’).

¹⁰ tn The words “The Lord who is” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. For the significance of the words that follow them see the study note that follows.

¹¹ tn Heb “The Portion of Jacob.” “Descendants” is implied, and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Heb “And Israel is the tribe of his possession.”

¹³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies is his name.”