Exodus 9:14

9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues ¹  on your very self ²  and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

Exodus 9:29

9:29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city ³  I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ⁴ 

Exodus 15:11

15:11 Who is like you, ⁵  O Lord, among the gods? ⁶ 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ⁷  working wonders?

Deuteronomy 32:31

32:31 For our enemies’ ⁸  rock is not like our Rock,

as even our enemies concede.

Deuteronomy 33:26

General Praise and Blessing

33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, ⁹ 

who rides through the sky ¹⁰  to help you,

on the clouds in majesty.

Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ¹¹  to Israel ¹²  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ¹³  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ¹⁴ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ¹⁵  to them.

Deuteronomy 7:22

7:22 He, ¹⁶  the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you.

Deuteronomy 7:1

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, ¹⁷  Girgashites, ¹⁸  Amorites, ¹⁹  Canaanites, ²⁰  Perizzites, ²¹  Hivites, ²²  and Jebusites, ²³  seven ²⁴  nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 17:20

17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom ²⁵  in Israel.

Psalms 9:16

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ²⁶  (Higgaion. ²⁷  Selah)

Psalms 83:18

83:18 Then they will know ²⁸  that you alone are the Lord, ²⁹ 

the sovereign king ³⁰  over all the earth.

Psalms 86:8

86:8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord!

Your exploits are incomparable! ³¹ 

Psalms 89:6-8

89:6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings, ³² 

89:7 a God who is honored ³³  in the great angelic assembly, ³⁴ 

and more awesome than ³⁵  all who surround him?

89:8 O Lord, sovereign God! ³⁶ 

Who is strong like you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

Isaiah 40:25

40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”

says the Holy One. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 46:9

46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! ³⁸ 

Truly I am God, I have no peer; ³⁹ 

I am God, and there is none like me,

Jeremiah 10:6-7

10:6 I said, ⁴⁰ 

“There is no one like you, Lord. ⁴¹ 

You are great.

And you are renowned for your power. ⁴² 

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, ⁴³ 

because you deserve to be revered. ⁴⁴ 

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. ⁴⁵ 

[9:14]  ¹ tn The expression “all my plagues” points to the rest of the plagues and anticipates the proper outcome. Another view is to take the expression to mean the full brunt of the attack on the Egyptian people.

[9:14]  ² tn Heb “to your heart.” The expression is unusual, but it may be an allusion to the hard heartedness of Pharaoh – his stubbornness and blindness (B. Jacob, Exodus, 274).

[9:29]  ³ tn כְּצֵאתִי (kÿtse’ti) is the Qal infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’); it functions here as the temporal clause before the statement about prayer.

[9:29]  ⁴ sn This clause provides the purpose/result of Moses’ intention: he will pray to Yahweh and the storms will cease “that you might know….” It was not enough to pray and have the plague stop. Pharaoh must “know” that Yahweh is the sovereign Lord over the earth. Here was that purpose of knowing through experience. This clause provides the key for the exposition of this plague: God demonstrated his power over the forces of nature to show his sovereignty – the earth is Yahweh’s. He can destroy it. He can preserve it. If people sin by ignoring his word and not fearing him, he can bring judgment on them. If any fear Yahweh and obey his instructions, they will be spared. A positive way to express the expositional point of the chapter is to say that those who fear Yahweh and obey his word will escape the powerful destruction he has prepared for those who sinfully disregard his word.

[15:11]  ⁵ tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

[15:11]  ⁶ sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

[15:11]  ⁷ tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).

[32:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[33:26]  ⁹ sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

[33:26]  ¹⁰ tn Or “(who) rides (on) the heavens” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). This title depicts Israel’s God as sovereign over the elements of the storm (cf. Ps 68:33). The use of the phrase here may be polemical; Moses may be asserting that Israel’s God, not Baal (called the “rider of the clouds” in the Ugaritic myths), is the true divine king (cf. v. 5) who controls the elements of the storm, grants agricultural prosperity, and delivers his people from their enemies. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 151 (1994): 275.

[33:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

[33:2]  ¹² tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.

[33:2]  ¹³ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[33:2]  ¹⁴ tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.

[33:2]  ¹⁵ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

[7:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 7:19.

[7:1]  ¹⁷ sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

[7:1]  ¹⁸ sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).

[7:1]  ¹⁹ sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

[7:1]  ²⁰ sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

[7:1]  ²¹ sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

[7:1]  ²² sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

[7:1]  ²³ sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).

[7:1]  ²⁴ sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.

[17:20]  ²⁵ tc Heb “upon his kingship.” Smr supplies כִּסֵא (kise’, “throne”) so as to read “upon the throne of his kingship.” This overliteralizes what is a clearly understood figure of speech.

[9:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

[9:16]  ²⁷ tn This is probably a technical musical term.

[83:18]  ²⁸ tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.

[83:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the Lord, you alone.”

[83:18]  ³⁰ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[86:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”

[89:6]  ³² tn Heb “sons of gods”; or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the Hebrew text, it is likely that the final mem (ם) is actually enclitic rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8. The phrase בְנֵי אֵלִים (vÿney ’elim, “sons of gods” or “sons of God”) occurs only here and in Ps 29:1. Since the “sons of gods/God” are here associated with “the assembly of the holy ones” and “council of the holy ones,” the heavenly assembly (comprised of so-called “angels” and other supernatural beings) appears to be in view. See Job 5:1; 15:15 and Zech 14:5, where these supernatural beings are referred to as “holy ones.” In Canaanite mythological texts the divine council of the high god El is called “the sons of El.” The OT apparently uses the Canaanite phrase, applying it to the supernatural beings that surround the Lord’s heavenly throne.

[89:7]  ³³ tn Heb “feared.”

[89:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”

[89:7]  ³⁵ tn Or perhaps “feared by.”

[89:8]  ³⁶ tn Traditionally “God of hosts.” The title here pictures the Lord as enthroned in the midst of the angelic hosts of heaven.

[40:25]  ³⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[46:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”

[46:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[10:6]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “I said” are not in the Hebrew text, but there appears to be a shift in speaker. Someone is now addressing the Lord. The likely speaker is Jeremiah, so the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:6]  ⁴¹ tn The form that introduces this line has raised debate. The form מֵאֵין (me’en) normally means “without” and introduces a qualification of a term expressing desolation or “so that not” and introduces a negative result (cf. BDB 35 s.v. II אַיִן 6.b). Neither of these nuances fit either this verse or the occurrence in v. 7. BDB 35 s.v. II אַיִן 6.b.γ notes that some have explained this as a strengthened form of אַיִן (’ayin) which occurs in a similar phrase five other times (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 8:23). Though many including BDB question the validity of this solution it is probably better than the suggestion that BDB gives of repointing to מֵאַיִן (me’ayin, “whence”), which scarcely fits the context of v. 7, or the solution of HALOT 41 s.v. I אַיִן, which suggests that the מ (mem) is a double writing (dittograph) of the final consonant from the preceding word. That would assume that the scribe made the same error twice or was influenced the second time by the first erroneous writing.

[10:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “Great is your name in power.”

[10:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[10:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”

[10:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “their royalty/dominion.” This is a case of substitution of the abstract for the concrete “royalty, royal power” for “kings” who exercise it.