Deuteronomy 4:7

4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him?

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ²  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28:9

28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments ³  and obey him. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 28:2

28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance ⁵  if you obey the Lord your God:

Deuteronomy 15:12-15

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ⁶  – whether male or female ⁷  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ⁸  go free. ⁹  15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously ¹⁰  from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.

Psalms 32:6

32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers ¹¹  should pray to you

while there is a window of opportunity. ¹² 

Certainly ¹³  when the surging water ¹⁴  rises,

it will not reach them. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 46:1

Psalm 46 ¹⁶ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ¹⁷  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ¹⁸ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 45:19

45:19 I have not spoken in secret,

in some hidden place. ²⁰ 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ²¹ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ²² 

Isaiah 55:6

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ²³ 

call to him while he is nearby!

Romans 10:20

10:20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.” ²⁴ 

[4:1]  ¹ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[28:9]  ³ tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[28:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”

[15:12]  ⁶ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[15:14]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”

[32:6]  ¹¹ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[32:6]  ¹² tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the Lord]” and seek his forgiveness (cf. NIV). Some emend the text by combining מְצֹא (mÿtso’, “finding”) with the following term רַק (raq, “only, surely”) and read either ר[וֹ]מָצ (matsor, “distress”; see Ps 31:22) or ק[וֹ]מָצ (matsoq, “hardship”; see Ps 119:143). In this case, one may translate “in a time of distress/hardship” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[32:6]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.

[32:6]  ¹⁴ sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.

[32:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.

[46:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 46. In this so-called “Song Of Zion” God’s people confidently affirm that they are secure because the great warrior-king dwells within Jerusalem and protects it from the nations that cause such chaos in the earth. A refrain (vv. 7, 11) concludes the song’s two major sections.

[46:1]  ¹⁷ sn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲלָמוֹת (alamoth, which means “young women”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. Cf. 1 Chr 15:20.

[46:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “our refuge and strength,” which is probably a hendiadys meaning “our strong refuge” (see Ps 71:7). Another option is to translate, “our refuge and source of strength.”

[46:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a helper in times of trouble he is found [to be] greatly.” The perfect verbal form has a generalizing function here. The adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “greatly”) has an emphasizing function.

[45:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ²¹ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  ²² tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”

[55:6]  ²³ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[10:20]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 65:1.