Deuteronomy 7:7-8
Context7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his 1 love 2 for you and his faithfulness to the promise 3 he solemnly vowed 4 to your ancestors 5 that the Lord brought you out with great power, 6 redeeming 7 you from the place of slavery, from the power 8 of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Exodus 19:5-6
Context19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me 9 and keep 10 my covenant, then you will be my 11 special possession 12 out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 19:6 and you will be to me 13 a kingdom of priests 14 and a holy nation.’ 15 These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”
Psalms 47:4
Context47:4 He picked out for us a special land 16
to be a source of pride for 17 Jacob, 18 whom he loves. 19 (Selah)
Psalms 147:19-20
Context147:19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
Jeremiah 31:3
Context31:3 In a far-off land the Lord will manifest himself to them.
He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.
That is why I have continued to be faithful to you. 20
Hosea 11:1
Context11:1 When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son, 21
and I summoned my son 22 out of Egypt.
Malachi 1:2
Context1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”
“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob
Romans 9:11-13
Context9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election 23 would stand, not by works but by 24 his calling) 25 – 9:12 26 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” 27 9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 28
Ephesians 2:4-5
Context2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! 29 –
Ephesians 2:1
Context2:1 And although you were 30 dead 31 in your transgressions and sins,
Ephesians 4:19
Context4:19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 32
[7:8] 1 tn Heb “the
[7:8] 2 tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.
[7:8] 3 tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
[7:8] 4 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
[7:8] 5 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).
[7:8] 6 tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”
[7:8] 7 sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the
[7:8] 8 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.
[19:5] 9 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] 10 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] 11 tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”
[19:5] 12 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] 13 tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).
[19:6] 14 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] 15 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.
[47:4] 16 tn Heb “he chose for us our inheritance.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite (see “subdued” in v. 3).
[47:4] 17 tn Heb “the pride of.” The phrase is appositional to “our inheritance,” indicating that the land is here described as a source of pride to God’s people.
[47:4] 19 sn Jacob whom he loves. The Lord’s covenantal devotion to his people is in view.
[31:3] 20 tn Or “The people of Israel who survived the onslaughts of Egypt and Amalek found favor in the wilderness as they journeyed to find rest. At that time long ago the
[11:1] 21 tn The words “like a son” are not in the Hebrew text, but are necessary to clarify what sort of love is intended (cf. also NLT).
[11:1] 22 tc The MT reads בְנִי (vÿni, “My son”); however, the LXX reflects בָנָיו (vanav, “his sons”). The MT should be retained as original here because of internal evidence; it is much more appropriate to the context.
[9:11] 23 tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”
[9:11] 24 tn Or “not based on works but based on…”
[9:11] 25 tn Grk “by the one who calls.”
[9:12] 26 sn Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (NA27/UBS4, NIV, NRSV, NLT, NAB). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.
[9:12] 27 sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.
[9:13] 28 sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.
[2:5] 29 tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).
[2:1] 30 tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.
[2:1] 31 sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.
[4:19] 32 sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.