Exodus 19:4

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 

Numbers 11:11-12

11:11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted ³  your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that ⁴  you lay the burden of this entire people on me? 11:12 Did I conceive this entire people? ⁵  Did I give birth to ⁶  them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a foster father ⁷  bears a nursing child,’ to the land which you swore to their fathers?

Deuteronomy 1:31

1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him ⁸  carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.”

Deuteronomy 8:2

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ⁹  has brought you these forty years through the desert ¹⁰  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 32:10-12

32:10 The Lord ¹¹  found him ¹²  in a desolate land,

in an empty wasteland where animals howl. ¹³ 

He continually guarded him ¹⁴  and taught him; ¹⁵ 

he continually protected him ¹⁶  like the pupil ¹⁷  of his eye.

32:11 Like an eagle that stirs up ¹⁸  its nest,

that hovers over its young,

so the Lord ¹⁹  spread out his wings and took him, ²⁰ 

he lifted him up on his pinions.

32:12 The Lord alone was guiding him, ²¹ 

no foreign god was with him.

Isaiah 46:3

46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ²² 

all you who are left from the family of Israel, ²³ 

you who have been carried from birth, ²⁴ 

you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 63:9

63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ²⁶ 

The messenger sent from his very presence ²⁷  delivered them.

In his love and mercy he protected ²⁸  them;

he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ²⁹ 

Acts 13:18

13:18 For ³⁰  a period of about forty years he put up with ³¹  them in the wilderness. ³² 

[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.

[11:11]  ³ tn The verb is the Hiphil of רָעַע (ra’a’, “to be evil”). Moses laments (with the rhetorical question) that God seems to have caused him evil.

[11:11]  ⁴ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition is expressing the result of not finding favor with God (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57). What Moses is claiming is that because he has been given this burden God did not show him favor.

[11:12]  ⁵ sn The questions Moses asks are rhetorical. He is actually affirming that they are not his people, that he did not produce them, but now is to support them. His point is that God produced this nation, but has put the burden of caring for their needs on him.

[11:12]  ⁶ tn The verb means “to beget, give birth to.” The figurative image from procreation completes the parallel question, first the conceiving and second the giving birth to the nation.

[11:12]  ⁷ tn The word אֹמֵן (’omen) is often translated “nurse,” but the form is a masculine form and would better be rendered as a “foster parent.” This does not work as well, though, with the יֹנֵק (yoneq), the “sucking child.” The two metaphors are simply designed to portray the duty of a parent to a child as a picture of Moses’ duty for the nation. The idea that it portrays God as a mother pushes it too far (see M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 86-87).

[1:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun (“him”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[32:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:10]  ¹² tn The reference is to “his people/Jacob” (cf. v. 9), that is, Israel (using a collective singular). The singular pronouns are replaced by plural ones throughout vv. 10-14 by some English versions as an aid to the modern reader (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[32:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “in an empty, howling wasteland.” The word “howling” is derived from a verbal root that typically refers to the wailing of mourners. Here it likely refers to the howling of desert animals, or perhaps to the howling wind, in which case one may translate, “in an empty, windy wasteland.”

[32:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “was surrounding him.” The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing care during the period in view. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.

[32:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he gave him understanding.” The form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.

[32:10]  ¹⁶ tn The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing protection during the period in view. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.

[32:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the little man.” The term אִישׁוֹן (’ishon) means literally “little man,” perhaps because when one looks into another’s eyes he sees himself reflected there in miniature. See A. Harman, NIDOTTE 1:391.

[32:11]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is an imperfect, indicating habitual or typical behavior. The parallel verb (cf. “hovers” in the next line) is used in the same manner.

[32:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:11]  ²⁰ tn The form of the suffix on this and the following verb forms (cf. “lifted him up”) indicates that the verbs are preterites, not imperfects. As such they simply state the action factually. The use of the preterite here suggests that the preceding verb (cf. “spread out”) is preterite as well.

[32:12]  ²¹ tn The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing guidance during the period in view.

[46:3]  ²² tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”

[46:3]  ²³ tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”

[46:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”

[46:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”

[63:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).

[63:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”

[63:9]  ²⁸ tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”

[63:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”

[13:18]  ³⁰ tn Grk “And for.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[13:18]  ³¹ tn For this verb, see BDAG 1017 s.v. τροποφορέω (cf. also Deut 1:31; Exod 16:35; Num 14:34).

[13:18]  ³² tn Or “desert.”