Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:34
Context4:34 Or has God 1 ever before tried to deliver 2 a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, 3 signs, wonders, war, strength, power, 4 and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
Deuteronomy 7:19
Context7:19 the great judgments 5 you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power 6 by which he 7 brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear.
Psalms 78:12-13
Context78:12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 8
78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;
he made the water stand in a heap.
Psalms 105:27-45
Context105:27 They executed his miraculous signs among them, 9
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
they did not disobey his orders. 11
105:29 He turned their water into blood,
and killed their fish.
105:30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
105:31 He ordered flies to come; 12
gnats invaded their whole territory.
105:32 He sent hail along with the rain; 13
there was lightning in their land. 14
105:33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
105:34 He ordered locusts to come, 15
innumerable grasshoppers.
105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields. 16
105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power. 17
105:37 He brought his people 18 out enriched 19 with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them. 20
105:39 He spread out a cloud for a cover, 21
and provided a fire to light up the night.
105:40 They asked for food, 22 and he sent quails;
he satisfied them with food from the sky. 23
105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
105:42 Yes, 24 he remembered the sacred promise 25
he made to Abraham his servant.
105:43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy. 26
105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,
and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, 27
105:45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey 28 his laws.
Praise the Lord!
Psalms 135:9
Context135:9 He performed awesome deeds 29 and acts of judgment 30
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
Jeremiah 32:20-21
Context32:20 You did miracles and amazing deeds in the land of Egypt which have had lasting effect. By this means you gained both in Israel and among humankind a renown that lasts to this day. 31 32:21 You used your mighty power and your great strength to perform miracles and amazing deeds and to bring great terror on the Egyptians. By this means you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt. 32
[4:34] 1 tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).
[4:34] 2 tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”
[4:34] 3 tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).
[4:34] 4 tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”
[7:19] 5 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
[7:19] 6 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
[7:19] 7 tn Heb “the
[78:12] 8 sn The region of Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta, where the enslaved Israelites lived (see Num 13:22; Isa 19:11, 13; 30:4; Ezek 30:14).
[105:27] 9 tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).
[105:28] 10 tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”
[105:28] 11 tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.
[105:31] 12 tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”
[105:32] 13 tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
[105:32] 14 tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
[105:34] 15 tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”
[105:35] 16 tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”
[105:36] 17 tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).
[105:37] 18 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the
[105:37] 19 tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[105:38] 20 tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
[105:40] 22 tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (sha’alu, “they asked”), the vav (ו) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).
[105:40] 23 tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).
[105:42] 25 tn Heb “his holy word.”
[105:43] 26 tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”
[105:44] 27 tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”
[135:9] 29 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
[135:9] 30 tn Or “portents”; “omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are alluded to here.
[32:20] 31 tn Or “You did miracles and amazing deeds in the land of Egypt. And you continue to do them until this day both in Israel and among mankind. By this mean you have gained a renown…” The translation here follows the syntactical understanding reflected also in NJPS. The Hebrew text reads: “you did miracles and marvelous acts in the land of Egypt until this day and in Israel and in mankind and you made for yourself a name as this day.” The majority of English versions and commentaries understand the phrases “until this day and in Israel and in mankind” to be an elliptical sentence with the preceding verb and objects supplied as reflected in the alternate translation. However, the emphasis on the miraculous deeds in Egypt in this section both before and after this elliptical phrase and the dominant usage of the terms “signs and wonders” to refer to the plagues and other miraculous signs in Egypt calls this interpretation into question. The key here is understanding “both in Israel and in mankind” as an example of a casus pendens construction (a dangling subject, object, or other modifier) before a conjunction introducing the main clause (cf. GKC 327 §111.h and 458 §143.d and compare the usage in Jer 6:19; 33:24; 1 Kgs 15:13). This verse is the topic sentence which is developed further in v. 21 and initiates a narrative history of the distant past that continues until v. 22b where reference is made to the long history of disobedience which has led to the present crisis.
[32:21] 32 tn Heb “You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders and with a mighty hand and with outstretched arm and with great terror.” For the figurative expressions involved here see the marginal notes on 27:5. The sentence has been broken down to better conform to contemporary English style.
