Deuteronomy 4:37

4:37 Moreover, because he loved ¹  your ancestors, he chose their ²  descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power

Deuteronomy 7:9

7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, ³  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully ⁴  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Deuteronomy 10:15

10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he ⁵  show his loving favor, ⁶  and he chose you, their descendants, ⁷  from all peoples – as is apparent today.

Deuteronomy 15:16

15:16 However, if the servant ⁸  says to you, “I do not want to leave ⁹  you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,

Deuteronomy 30:6

30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse ¹⁰  your heart and the hearts of your descendants ¹¹  so that you may love him ¹²  with all your mind and being and so that you may live.

[4:37]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[7:9]  ³ tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

[7:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).

[10:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the Lord’s initiative in calling the patriarchal ancestors to be the founders of a people special to him (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37).

[10:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.

[15:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.

[30:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “circumcise” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “will give you and your descendents obedient hearts.” See note on the word “cleanse” in Deut 10:16.

[30:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

[30:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on the second occurrence of the word “he” in v. 3.