Deuteronomy 4:20

4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, ¹  to be his special people ²  as you are today.

Deuteronomy 4:37

4:37 Moreover, because he loved ³  your ancestors, he chose their ⁴  descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power

Deuteronomy 9:26

9:26 I prayed to him: ⁵  O, Lord God, ⁶  do not destroy your people, your valued property ⁷  that you have powerfully redeemed, ⁸  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 16:1

The Passover-Unleavened Bread Festival

16:1 Observe the month Abib ¹⁰  and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month ¹¹  he ¹²  brought you out of Egypt by night.

[4:20]  ¹ 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.

[4:20]  ² 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.

[4:37]  ³ tn The concept of love here is not primarily that of emotional affection but of commitment or devotion. This verse suggests that God chose Israel to be his special people because he loved the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and had promised to bless their descendants. See as well Deut 7:7-9.

[4:37]  ⁴ tc The LXX, Smr, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read a third person masculine plural suffix for the MT’s 3rd person masculine singular, “his descendants.” Cf. Deut 10:15. Quite likely the MT should be emended in this instance.

[9:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

[9:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

[9:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

[9:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

[16:1]  ⁷ sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.

[16:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.