Exodus 20:2

20:2 “I, ¹  the Lord, am your God, ²  who brought you ³  from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ⁴ 

Nehemiah 5:8

5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ⁵  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ⁶  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

Esther 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ⁷  – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”

Joel 3:3-7

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded ⁸  a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. ⁹ 

3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ¹⁰ 

Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ¹¹ 

I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ¹² 

3:5 For you took my silver and my gold

and brought my precious valuables to your own palaces. ¹³ 

3:6 You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks,

removing them far from their own country. ¹⁴ 

3:7 Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them.

I will repay you for what you have done! ¹⁵ 

Luke 21:24

21:24 They ¹⁶  will fall by the edge ¹⁷  of the sword and be led away as captives ¹⁸  among all nations. Jerusalem ¹⁹  will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ²⁰ 

[20:2]  ¹ sn The revelation of Yahweh here begins with the personal pronoun. “I” – a person, a living personality, not an object or a mere thought. This enabled him to address “you” – Israel, and all his people, making the binding stipulations for them to conform to his will (B. Jacob, Exodus, 544).

[20:2]  ² tn Most English translations have “I am Yahweh your God.” But the preceding chapters have again and again demonstrated how he made himself known to them. Now, the emphasis is on “I am your God” – and what that would mean in their lives.

[20:2]  ³ tn The suffix on the verb is second masculine singular. It is this person that will be used throughout the commandments for the whole nation. God addresses them all as his people, but he addresses them individually for their obedience. The masculine form is not, thereby, intended to exclude women.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of slaves” meaning “the land of slavery.”

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[7:4]  ⁷ sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.

[3:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  ⁹ sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).

[3:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “What [are] you [doing] to me, O Tyre and Sidon?”

[3:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “districts.”

[3:4]  ¹² tn Heb “quickly, speedily, I will return your recompense on your head.” This is an idiom for retributive justice and an equitable reversal of situation.

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “temples.”

[3:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “border.”

[3:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will return your recompense on your head.”

[21:24]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “by the mouth of the sword” (an idiom for the edge of a sword).

[21:24]  ¹⁸ sn Here is the predicted judgment against the nation until the time of Gentile rule has passed: Its people will be led away as captives.

[21:24]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And Jerusalem.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ²⁰ sn Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled implies a time when Israel again has a central role in God’s plan.