Deuteronomy 7:6

7:6 For you are a people holy ¹  to the Lord your God. He ²  has chosen you to be his people, prized ³  above all others on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 26:18-19

26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments. 26:19 Then ⁴  he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. ⁵  You will ⁶  be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

Deuteronomy 29:13

29:13 Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, ⁷  just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors ⁸  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Genesis 17:7

17:7 I will confirm ⁹  my covenant as a perpetual ¹⁰  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ¹¹ 

Exodus 19:5-6

19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me ¹²  and keep ¹³  my covenant, then you will be my ¹⁴  special possession ¹⁵  out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 19:6 and you will be to me ¹⁶  a kingdom of priests ¹⁷  and a holy nation.’ ¹⁸  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Psalms 87:5

87:5 But it is said of Zion’s residents, ¹⁹ 

“Each one of these ²⁰  was born in her,

and the sovereign One ²¹  makes her secure.” ²² 

Isaiah 1:26

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ²³ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Isaiah 62:12

62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,

the Ones Protected ²⁴  by the Lord.”

You will be called, “Sought After,

City Not Abandoned.”

Isaiah 62:2

62:2 Nations will see your vindication,

and all kings your splendor.

You will be called by a new name

that the Lord himself will give you. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 3:3

3:3 captains of groups of fifty,

the respected citizens, ²⁶ 

advisers and those skilled in magical arts, ²⁷ 

and those who know incantations.

Titus 2:14

2:14 He ²⁸  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ²⁹  who are eager to do good. ³⁰ 

Titus 2:1

Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching

2:1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with ³¹  sound teaching.

Titus 2:9-11

2:9 Slaves ³²  are to be subject to their own masters in everything, ³³  to do what is wanted and not talk back, 2:10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, ³⁴  in order to bring credit to ³⁵  the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ³⁶ 

Titus 1:10

1:10 For there are many ³⁷  rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers, especially those with Jewish connections, ³⁸ 

[7:6]  ¹ tn That is, “set apart.”

[7:6]  ² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:6]  ³ tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

[26:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).

[26:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”

[26:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.

[29:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “in order to establish you today to him for a people and he will be to you for God.” Verses 10-13 are one long sentence in Hebrew. The translation divides this into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[29:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).

[17:7]  ⁹ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[19:5]  ¹² tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiom “listen to the voice of” implies obedience, not just mental awareness of sound.

[19:5]  ¹³ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: “and [if you will] keep.”

[19:5]  ¹⁴ tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”

[19:5]  ¹⁵ tn The noun is סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah), which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, “Hebrew sÿgulla: Akkadian sikiltu,” JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.

[19:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

[19:6]  ¹⁷ tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

[19:6]  ¹⁸ tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.

[87:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to translate, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of אָמַר (’amar), the preposition lamed (-לְ) can introduce the recipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10; Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num 23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).

[87:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners mentioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand this as a reference to each of the nations, including those mentioned in v. 4.

[87:5]  ²¹ tn Traditionally “Most High.”

[87:5]  ²² tn Heb “and he makes her secure, the Most High.”

[1:26]  ²³ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[62:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “the redeemed of the Lord” (KJV, NAB).

[62:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “which the mouth of the Lord will designate.”

[3:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the ones lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.

[3:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the wise with respect to magic.” On the meaning of חֲרָשִׁים (kharashim, “magic”), see HALOT 358 s.v. III חרשׁ. Some understand here a homonym, meaning “craftsmen.” In this case, one could translate, “skilled craftsmen” (cf. NIV, NASB).

[2:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[2:14]  ²⁹ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

[2:14]  ³⁰ tn Grk “for good works.”

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).

[2:9]  ³² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

[2:9]  ³³ tn Or “to be subject to their own masters, to do what is wanted in everything.”

[2:10]  ³⁴ tn Or “showing that genuine faith is productive.” At issue between these two translations is the force of ἀγαθήν (agaqhn): Is it attributive (as the text has it) or predicate (as in this note)? A number of considerations point in the direction of a predicate ἀγαθήν (e.g., separation from the noun πίστιν (pistin) by the verb, the possibility that the construction is an object-complement, etc.), though is not usually seen as an option in either translations or commentaries. Cf. ExSyn 188-89, 312-13, for a discussion. Contextually, it makes an intriguing statement, for it suggests a synthetic or synonymous parallel: “‘Slaves should be wholly subject to their masters…demonstrating that all [genuine] faith is productive, with the result [ecbatic ἵνα] that they will completely adorn the doctrine of God.’ The point of the text, then, if this understanding is correct, is an exhortation to slaves to demonstrate that their faith is sincere and results in holy behavior. If taken this way, the text seems to support the idea that saving faith does not fail, but even results in good works” (ExSyn 312-13). The translation of ἀγαθήν as an attributive adjective, however, also makes good sense.

[2:10]  ³⁵ tn Or “adorn,” “show the beauty of.”

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn Grk “all men”; but ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.

[1:10]  ³⁷ tc ‡ The earliest and best mss lack καί (kai) after πολλοί (polloi; so א A C P 088 81 104 365 614 629 630 al sy co), though the conjunction is found in several significant witnesses, chiefly of the Western and Byzantine texts (D F G I Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï lat). Although it is possible that some scribes omitted the word, thinking it was superfluous, it is also possible that others added the conjunction for clarification. Judging by the pedigree of the witnesses and the inconclusiveness of the internal evidence, the shorter reading is considered to be most likely original. NA²⁷ puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[1:10]  ³⁸ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” Some translations take this to refer to Jewish converts to Christianity (cf. NAB “Jewish Christians”; TEV “converts from Judaism”; CEV “Jewish followers”) while others are less clear (cf. NLT “those who insist on circumcision for salvation”).