Genesis 34:30

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ¹  on me by making me a foul odor ²  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ³  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”

Deuteronomy 7:7

The Basis of Israel’s Election

7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.

Deuteronomy 26:5

26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering ⁴  Aramean ⁵  was my ancestor, ⁶  and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, ⁷  but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.

Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ⁸ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ⁹ 

but I blessed him ¹⁰  and gave him numerous descendants. ¹¹ 

Ezekiel 33:24-33

33:24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ ¹²  33:25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, ¹³  pray to ¹⁴  your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess ¹⁵  the land? 33:26 You rely ¹⁶  on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’

33:27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die ¹⁷  by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. 33:28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. 33:29 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’ ¹⁸ 

33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people ¹⁹  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ²⁰  ‘Come hear the word that comes ²¹  from the Lord.’ 33:31 They come to you in crowds, ²²  and they sit in front of you as ²³  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ²⁴  them. For they talk lustfully, ²⁵  and their heart is set on ²⁶  their own advantage. ²⁷  33:32 Realize ²⁸  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ²⁹  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ³⁰  33:33 When all this comes true – and it certainly will ³¹  – then they will know that a prophet was among them.”

[34:30]  ¹ tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

[34:30]  ² tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

[34:30]  ³ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[26:5]  ⁴ tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.

[26:5]  ⁵ sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).

[26:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “father.”

[26:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[51:2]  ⁸ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ¹⁰ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[33:24]  ¹² sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.

[33:25]  ¹³ sn This practice was a violation of Levitical law (see Lev 19:26).

[33:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lift up your eyes.”

[33:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Will you possess?”

[33:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “stand.”

[33:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fall.”

[33:29]  ¹⁸ sn The judgments of vv. 27-29 echo the judgments of Lev 26:22, 25.

[33:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”

[33:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “comes out.”

[33:31]  ²² tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

[33:31]  ²³ tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

[33:31]  ²⁴ tn Heb “do.”

[33:31]  ²⁵ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

[33:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “goes after.”

[33:31]  ²⁷ tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

[33:32]  ²⁸ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[33:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “one who makes playing music well.”

[33:32]  ³⁰ sn Similar responses are found in Isa 29:13; Matt 21:28-32; James 1:22-25.

[33:33]  ³¹ tn Heb “behold it is coming.”