Deuteronomy 1:10
Context1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population 1 to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. 2
Psalms 147:4
Context147:4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
Jeremiah 33:22
Context33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” 3
Romans 9:7-8
Context9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” 4 9:8 This means 5 it is not the children of the flesh 6 who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
[1:10] 1 tn Heb “multiplied you.”
[1:10] 2 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[33:22] 3 tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.
[9:7] 4 tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.
[9:8] 5 tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
[9:8] 6 tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.