Exodus 18:8-12

18:8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel’s sake, and all the hardship ¹  that had come on them ²  along the way, and how ³  the Lord had delivered them.

18:9 Jethro rejoiced ⁴  because of all the good that the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had delivered from the hand of Egypt. 18:10 Jethro said, “Blessed ⁵  be the Lord who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the Egyptians’ control! ⁶  18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” ⁷  18:12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought ⁸  a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, ⁹  and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food ¹⁰  with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

Joshua 2:9

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ¹¹  We are absolutely terrified of you, ¹²  and all who live in the land are cringing before ¹³  you. ¹⁴ 

Joshua 9:9

9:9 They told him, “Your subjects ¹⁵  have come from a very distant land because of the reputation ¹⁶  of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt ¹⁷ 

Joshua 9:2

9:2 they formed an alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel. ¹⁸ 

Joshua 5:3

5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. ¹⁹ 

Joshua 5:8

5:8 When all the men ²⁰  had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed.

Joshua 5:15

5:15 The commander of the Lord’s army answered Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you stand is holy.” Joshua did so.

Isaiah 60:1-10

Zion’s Future Splendor

60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!

The splendor ²¹  of the Lord shines on you!

60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth

and deep darkness covers ²²  the nations,

but the Lord shines on you;

his splendor ²³  appears over you.

60:3 Nations come to your light,

kings to your bright light.

60:4 Look all around you! ²⁴ 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

60:5 Then you will look and smile, ²⁵ 

you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. ²⁶ 

For the riches of distant lands ²⁷  will belong to you

and the wealth of nations will come to you.

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ²⁸ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ²⁹  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ³⁰ 

60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ³¹ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ³² 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

60:8 Who are these who float along ³³  like a cloud,

who fly like doves to their shelters? ³⁴ 

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ³⁵  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ³⁶  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ³⁷ 

the Holy One of Israel, ³⁸  for he has bestowed honor on you.

60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;

their kings will serve you.

Even though I struck you down in my anger,

I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. ³⁹ 

Zechariah 8:22

8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor.

Matthew 12:42

12:42 The queen of the South ⁴⁰  will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁴¹  something greater than Solomon is here!

[18:8]  ¹ tn A rare word, “weariness” of the hardships.

[18:8]  ² tn Heb “found them.”

[18:8]  ³ tn Here “how” has been supplied.

[18:9]  ⁴ tn The word חָדָה (khada) is rare, occurring only in Job 3:6 and Ps 21:6, although it is common in Aramaic. The LXX translated it “he shuddered.” U. Cassuto suggests that that rendering was based on the midrashic interpretation in b. Sanhedrin 94b, “he felt cuts in his body” – a wordplay on the verb (Exodus, 215-16).

[18:10]  ⁵ tn This is a common form of praise. The verb בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle of the verb. Here must be supplied a jussive, making this participle the predicate: “May Yahweh be blessed.” The verb essentially means “to enrich”; in praise it would mean that he would be enriched by the praises of the people.

[18:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “from under the hand of the Egyptians.”

[18:11]  ⁷ tn The end of this sentence seems not to have been finished, or it is very elliptical. In the present translation the phrase “he has destroyed them” is supplied. Others take the last prepositional phrase to be the completion and supply only a verb: “[he was] above them.” U. Cassuto (Exodus, 216) takes the word “gods” to be the subject of the verb “act proudly,” giving the sense of “precisely (כִּי, ki) in respect of these things of which the gods of Egypt boasted – He is greater than they (עֲלֵיהֶם, ‘alehem).” He suggests rendering the clause, “excelling them in the very things to which they laid claim.”

[18:12]  ⁸ tn The verb is “and he took” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). It must have the sense of getting the animals for the sacrifice. The Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate have “offered.” But Cody argues because of the precise wording in the text Jethro did not offer the sacrifices but received them (A. Cody, “Exodus 18,12: Jethro Accepts a Covenant with the Israelites,” Bib 49 [1968]: 159-61).

[18:12]  ⁹ sn Jethro brought offerings as if he were the one who had been delivered. The “burnt offering” is singular, to honor God first. The other sacrifices were intended for the invited guests to eat (a forerunner of the peace offering). See B. Jacob, Exodus, 498.

[18:12]  ¹⁰ tn The word לֶחֶם (lekhem) here means the sacrifice and all the foods that were offered with it. The eating before God was part of covenantal ritual, for it signified that they were in communion with the Deity, and with one another.

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9]  ¹⁴ tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the Lord…and that terror of you…and that all the inhabitants….”

[9:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “servants.”

[9:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “name.”

[9:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the report about him, all that he did in Egypt.”

[9:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they gathered together to fight against Joshua and Israel [with] one mouth.”

[5:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.

[5:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “nation.”

[60:1]  ²¹ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).

[60:2]  ²² tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[60:2]  ²³ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”

[60:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”

[60:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[60:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”

[60:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

[60:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[60:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.

[60:7]  ³² tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).

[60:8]  ³³ tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”

[60:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.

[60:9]  ³⁵ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ³⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[60:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”

[12:42]  ⁴⁰ sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

[12:42]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “behold.”