Deuteronomy 9:25-29

Moses’ Plea on Behalf of the Lord’s Reputation

9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, ¹  for he ²  had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him: ³  O, Lord God, ⁴  do not destroy your people, your valued property ⁵  that you have powerfully redeemed, ⁶  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ⁷  9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land ⁸  from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” ⁹  9:29 They are your people, your valued property, ¹⁰  whom you brought out with great strength and power. ¹¹ 

[9:25]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.

[9:25]  ² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

[9:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

[9:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

[9:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

[9:28]  ⁸ tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:28]  ⁹ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[9:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.

[9:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”