Exodus 19:4-5

19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings ¹  and brought you to myself. ²  19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me ³  and keep ⁴  my covenant, then you will be my ⁵  special possession ⁶  out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine,

Psalms 77:20

77:20 You led your people like a flock of sheep,

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalms 78:52-54

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

78:53 He guided them safely along,

while the sea covered their enemies.

78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,

to this mountainous land ⁷  which his right hand ⁸  acquired.

Psalms 105:43

105:43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;

his chosen ones shouted with joy. ⁹ 

Psalms 136:11-14

136:11 and led Israel out from their midst,

for his loyal love endures,

136:12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his loyal love endures,

136:13 to the one who divided ¹⁰  the Red Sea ¹¹  in two, ¹² 

for his loyal love endures,

136:14 and led Israel through its midst,

for his loyal love endures,

Isaiah 40:11

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ¹³ 

he leads the ewes along.

Isaiah 63:9

63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ¹⁴ 

The messenger sent from his very presence ¹⁵  delivered them.

In his love and mercy he protected ¹⁶  them;

he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 63:11-13

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ¹⁸ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ¹⁹  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ²⁰ 

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ²¹ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ²² 

63:13 who led them through the deep water?

Like a horse running on flat land ²³  they did not stumble.

[19:4]  ¹ tn The figure compares the way a bird would teach its young to fly and leave the nest with the way Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt. The bird referred to could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture. The image is that of power and love.

[19:4]  ² sn The language here is the language of a bridegroom bringing the bride to the chamber. This may be a deliberate allusion to another metaphor for the covenant relationship.

[19:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”

[19:5]  ⁶ 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.

[78:54]  ⁷ tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”

[78:54]  ⁸ tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).

[105:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”

[136:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “cut.”

[136:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in v. 15). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[136:13]  ¹² tn Heb “into pieces.”

[40:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[63:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).

[63:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”

[63:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”

[63:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”

[63:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ²⁰ sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ²² tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[63:13]  ²³ tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”