Exodus 4:22

4:22 You must say ¹  to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says ²  the Lord, “Israel is my son, my firstborn, ³ 

Deuteronomy 14:1

The Holy and the Profane

14:1 You are children ⁴  of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald ⁵  for the sake of the dead.

Isaiah 63:16

63:16 For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not recognize us.

You, Lord, are our father;

you have been called our protector from ancient times. ⁶ 

Isaiah 64:8

64:8 Yet, ⁷  Lord, you are our father.

We are the clay, and you are our potter;

we are all the product of your labor. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 3:19

3:19 “I thought to myself, ⁹ 

‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ¹⁰ 

What a joy it would be for me to give ¹¹  you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ¹² 

I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ¹³ 

and would never cease being loyal to me. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 31:20

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ¹⁵ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ¹⁶ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁷ 

Ezekiel 16:20-21

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ¹⁸  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ¹⁹ 

Malachi 1:6

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

1:6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects ²⁰  his master. If I am your ²¹  father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’

[4:22]  ¹ tn The sequence of the instruction from God uses the perfect tense with vav (ו), following the preceding imperfects.

[4:22]  ² tn The instantaneous use of the perfect tense fits well with the prophetic announcement of what Yahweh said or says. It shows that the words given to the prophet are still binding.

[4:22]  ³ sn The metaphor uses the word “son” in its connotation of a political dependent, as it was used in ancient documents to describe what was intended to be a loyal relationship with well-known privileges and responsibilities, like that between a good father and son. The word can mean a literal son, a descendant, a chosen king (and so, the Messiah), a disciple (in Proverbs), and here, a nation subject to God. If the people of Israel were God’s “son,” then they should serve him and not Pharaoh. Malachi reminds people that the Law said “a son honors his father,” and so God asked, “If I am a father, where is my honor?” (Mal 1:6).

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); TEV, NLT “people.”

[14:1]  ⁵ sn Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald. These were pagan practices associated with mourning the dead; they were not be imitated by God’s people (though they frequently were; cf. 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos 7:14 [LXX]; Mic 5:1). For other warnings against such practices see Lev 21:5; Jer 16:5.

[63:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”

[64:8]  ⁷ tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.

[64:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the work of your hand.”

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife (see the next verse). The pronouns of address in the first two lines are second feminine singular as are the readings of the two verbs preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere readings) in the third and fourth lines. The verbs that are written in the text in the third and fourth lines (the Kethib readings) are second masculine plural as is the verb describing Israel’s treachery in the next verse.

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.

[3:19]  ¹² tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”

[3:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “my father.”

[3:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”

[31:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[16:20]  ¹⁸ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[16:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).

[1:6]  ²¹ tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).