Deuteronomy 4:32

The Uniqueness of Israel’s God

4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ¹  on the earth, and ask ²  from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.

Exodus 13:14

13:14 ³ In the future, ⁴  when your son asks you ⁵  ‘What is this?’ ⁶  you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand ⁷  the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. ⁸ 

Jude 1:13

1:13 wild sea waves, ⁹  spewing out the foam of ¹⁰  their shame; ¹¹  wayward stars ¹²  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ¹³  have been reserved.

Job 8:8-10

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ¹⁴  generation,

and pay attention ¹⁵  to the findings ¹⁶ 

of their ancestors; ¹⁷ 

8:9 For we were born yesterday ¹⁸  and do not have knowledge,

since our days on earth are but a shadow. ¹⁹ 

8:10 Will they not ²⁰  instruct you and ²¹  speak to you,

and bring forth words ²² 

from their understanding? ²³ 

Psalms 44:1

Psalm 44 ²⁴ 

For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song. ²⁵ 

44:1 O God, we have clearly heard; ²⁶ 

our ancestors ²⁷  have told us

what you did ²⁸  in their days,

in ancient times. ²⁹ 

Psalms 77:5-6

77:5 I thought about the days of old,

about ancient times. ³⁰ 

77:6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;

I will think very carefully.”

I tried to make sense of what was happening. ³¹ 

Psalms 77:11-12

77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord.

Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! ³² 

77:12 I will think about all you have done;

I will reflect upon your deeds!”

Psalms 78:3-4

78:3 What we have heard and learned ³³  –

that which our ancestors ³⁴  have told us –

78:4 we will not hide from their ³⁵  descendants.

We will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ³⁶ 

about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

Isaiah 46:9

46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! ³⁷ 

Truly I am God, I have no peer; ³⁸ 

I am God, and there is none like me,

[4:32]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term אָדָם (’adam) may refer either to Adam or, more likely, to “man” in the sense of the human race (“mankind,” “humankind”). The idea here seems more universal in scope than reference to Adam alone would suggest.

[4:32]  ² tn The verb is not present in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification. The challenge has both temporal and geographical dimensions. The people are challenged to (1) inquire about the entire scope of past history and (2) conduct their investigation on a worldwide scale.

[13:14]  ³ sn As with v. 8, the Law now requires that the children be instructed on the meaning of this observance. It is a memorial of the deliverance from bondage and the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.

[13:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “tomorrow.”

[13:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it will be when your son will ask you.”

[13:14]  ⁶ tn The question is cryptic; it simply says, “What is this?” but certainly refers to the custom just mentioned. It asks, “What does this mean?” or “Why do we do this?”

[13:14]  ⁷ tn The expression is “with strength of hand,” making “hand” the genitive of specification. In translation “strength” becomes the modifier, because “hand” specifies where the strength was. But of course the whole expression is anthropomorphic for the power of God.

[13:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “house of slaves.”

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

[1:13]  ¹² sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

[1:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.

[8:8]  ¹⁴ sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[8:9]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew has “we are of yesterday,” the adverb functioning as a predicate. Bildad’s point is that they have not had time to acquire great knowledge because they are recent.

[8:9]  ¹⁹ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 116) observes that the shadow is the symbol of ephemeral things (14:2; 17:7; Ps 144:4). The shadow passes away quickly (116).

[8:10]  ²⁰ tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”

[8:10]  ²¹ tn The “and” is not present in the line. The second clause seems to be in apposition to the first, explaining it more thoroughly: “Is it not they [who] will instruct you, [who] will speak to you.”

[8:10]  ²² tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”

[8:10]  ²³ tn Heb “from their heart.”

[44:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 44. The speakers in this psalm (the worshiping community within the nation Israel) were disappointed with God. The psalm begins on a positive note, praising God for leading Israel to past military victories. Verses 1-8 appear to be a song of confidence and petition which the people recited prior to battle. But suddenly the mood changes as the nation laments a recent defeat. The stark contrast between the present and the past only heightens the nation’s confusion. Israel trusted in God for victory, but the Lord rejected them and allowed them to be humiliated in battle. If Israel had been unfaithful to God, their defeat would make sense, but the nation was loyal to the Lord. Comparing the Lord to a careless shepherd, the nation urges God to wake up and to extend his compassion to his suffering people.

[44:1]  ²⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 42.

[44:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “with our ears we have heard.”

[44:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 2; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “fathers” or “ancestors” depending on the context.

[44:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the work you worked.”

[44:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the days of old.” This refers specifically to the days of Joshua, during Israel’s conquest of the land, as vv. 2-3 indicate.

[77:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the years of antiquity.”

[77:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will remember my song in the night, with my heart I will reflect. And my spirit searched.” As in v. 4, the words of v. 6a are understood as what the psalmist said earlier. Consequently the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 10). The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive at the beginning of the final line is taken as sequential to the perfect “I thought” in v. 6.

[77:11]  ³² tn Heb “yes, I will remember from old your wonders.”

[78:3]  ³³ tn Or “known.”

[78:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 8, 12, 57).

[78:4]  ³⁵ tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).

[78:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the Lord.” “Praises” stand by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.

[46:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”

[46:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).