Genesis 9:8-17

9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, ¹  9:9 “Look! I now confirm ²  my covenant with you and your descendants after you ³  9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. ⁴  9:11 I confirm ⁵  my covenant with you: Never again will all living things ⁶  be wiped out ⁷  by the waters of a flood; ⁸  never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee ⁹  of the covenant I am making ¹⁰  with you ¹¹  and every living creature with you, a covenant ¹²  for all subsequent ¹³  generations: 9:13 I will place ¹⁴  my rainbow ¹⁵  in the clouds, and it will become ¹⁶  a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever ¹⁷  I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you ¹⁸  and with all living creatures of all kinds. ¹⁹  Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy ²⁰  all living things. ²¹  9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember ²²  the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”

9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things ²³  that are on the earth.”

Genesis 17:1-27

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, ²⁴  the Lord appeared to him and said, ²⁵  “I am the sovereign God. ²⁶  Walk ²⁷  before me ²⁸  and be blameless. ²⁹  17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant ³⁰  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ³¹ 

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ³²  and God said to him, ³³  17:4 “As for me, ³⁴  this ³⁵  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be ³⁶  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ³⁷  because I will make you ³⁸  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ³⁹  extremely ⁴⁰  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁴¹  17:7 I will confirm ⁴²  my covenant as a perpetual ⁴³  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁴⁴  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ⁴⁵  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ⁴⁶  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ⁴⁷  the covenantal requirement ⁴⁸  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: ⁴⁹  Every male among you must be circumcised. ⁵⁰  17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder ⁵¹  of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ⁵²  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, ⁵³  whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant ⁵⁴  will be visible in your flesh as a permanent ⁵⁵  reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male ⁵⁶  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off ⁵⁷  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” ⁵⁸ 

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; ⁵⁹  Sarah ⁶⁰  will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ⁶¹  Kings of countries ⁶²  will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁶³  as he said to himself, ⁶⁴  “Can ⁶⁵  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁶⁶  Can Sarah ⁶⁷  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁶⁸  17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that ⁶⁹  Ishmael might live before you!” ⁷⁰ 

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ⁷¹  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ⁷²  covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁷³  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁷⁴  He will become the father of twelve princes; ⁷⁵  I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. ⁷⁶ 

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁷⁷  and circumcised them ⁷⁸  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁷⁹  when he was circumcised; ⁸⁰  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old ⁸¹  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Genesis 24:7

24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ⁸²  promised me with a solemn oath, ⁸³  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ⁸⁴  before you so that you may find ⁸⁵  a wife for my son from there.

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ⁸⁶  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ⁸⁷ 

Genesis 23:5

23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, ⁸⁸ 

Isaiah 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁸⁹ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ⁹⁰  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ⁹¹ 

Jeremiah 31:31-34

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, ⁹²  “when I will make a new covenant ⁹³  with the people of Israel and Judah. ⁹⁴  31:32 It will not be like the old ⁹⁵  covenant that I made with their ancestors ⁹⁶  when I delivered them ⁹⁷  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ⁹⁸  says the Lord. ⁹⁹  31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ¹⁰⁰  after I plant them back in the land,” ¹⁰¹  says the Lord. ¹⁰²  “I will ¹⁰³  put my law within them ¹⁰⁴  and write it on their hearts and minds. ¹⁰⁵  I will be their God and they will be my people. ¹⁰⁶ 

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ¹⁰⁷  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ¹⁰⁸  says the Lord. “For ¹⁰⁹  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ¹¹⁰  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹¹¹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹¹²  they will never again turn ¹¹³  away from me.

Jeremiah 33:20-26

33:20 “I, Lord, make the following promise: ¹¹⁴  ‘I have made a covenant with the day ¹¹⁵  and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people ¹¹⁶  could break that covenant 33:21 could my covenant with my servant David and my covenant with the Levites ever be broken. So David will by all means always have a descendant to occupy his throne as king and the Levites will by all means always have priests who will minister before me. ¹¹⁷  33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ¹¹⁸ 

33:23 The Lord spoke still further to Jeremiah. ¹¹⁹  33:24 “You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ¹²⁰  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ¹²¹  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ¹²²  33:25 But I, the Lord, make the following promise: ¹²³  I have made a covenant governing the coming of day and night. I have established the fixed laws governing heaven and earth. 33:26 Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, ¹²⁴  I will restore them ¹²⁵  and show mercy to them.”

Galatians 3:15-17

Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law

3:15 Brothers and sisters, ¹²⁶  I offer an example from everyday life: ¹²⁷  When a covenant ¹²⁸  has been ratified, ¹²⁹  even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. ¹³⁰  Scripture ¹³¹  does not say, “and to the descendants,” ¹³²  referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” ¹³³  referring to one, who is Christ. 3:17 What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, ¹³⁴  so as to invalidate the promise.

Hebrews 13:20

Benediction and Conclusion

13:20 Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ,

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”

[9:9]  ² tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”

[9:9]  ³ tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.

[9:11]  ⁵ tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).

[9:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[9:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “sign.”

[9:12]  ¹⁰ sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.

[9:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “between me and between you.”

[9:12]  ¹² tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:12]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).

[9:13]  ¹⁵ sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.

[9:14]  ¹⁷ tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.

[9:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”

[9:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to destroy.”

[9:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:16]  ²² tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”

[9:17]  ²³ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[17:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[17:1]  ²⁶ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with “breasts” suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד, shadad, “destroy”] in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Finally, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which the Hebrew שַׁד, shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally have depicted God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, ruled from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[17:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”

[17:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “in my presence.”

[17:1]  ²⁹ tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation (“serve me faithfully”), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).

[17:2]  ³⁰ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the Lord will ratify the covenant. Earlier the Lord ratified part of his promise to Abram (see Gen 15:18-21), guaranteeing him that his descendants would live in the land. But the expanded form of the promise, which includes numerous descendants and eternal possession of the land, remains to be ratified. This expanded form of the promise is in view here (see vv. 2b, 4-8). See the note at Gen 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[17:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:3]  ³² tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ³³ tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I.”

[17:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[17:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ³⁷ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ³⁸ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ³⁹ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[17:7]  ⁴² tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ⁴³ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ⁴⁵ tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

[17:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:9]  ⁴⁷ tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.

[17:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.

[17:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ⁵⁰ sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

[17:11]  ⁵¹ tn Or “sign.”

[17:12]  ⁵² tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[17:13]  ⁵³ tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.

[17:13]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:13]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “an eternal.”

[17:14]  ⁵⁶ tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.

[17:14]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”

[17:15]  ⁶⁰ sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.

[17:16]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ⁶² tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:17]  ⁶³ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ⁶⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ⁶⁷ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[17:18]  ⁶⁹ tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”

[17:18]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “live with your blessing.”

[17:19]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ⁷² tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:20]  ⁷³ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ⁷⁵ tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[17:22]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:23]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:24]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[17:25]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”

[24:7]  ⁸² tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ⁸³ tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ⁸⁴ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[24:2]  ⁸⁶ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ⁸⁷ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[23:5]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”

[55:3]  ⁸⁹ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ⁹⁰ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[31:31]  ⁹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:31]  ⁹³ tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).

[31:31]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[31:32]  ⁹⁵ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

[31:32]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ⁹⁸ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ¹⁰⁵ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ¹⁰⁶ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[31:34]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  ¹⁰⁸ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

[31:34]  ¹⁰⁹ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[32:40]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ¹¹¹ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹¹² tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹¹³ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[33:20]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.” However, the Lord is speaking so the first person introduction has again been adopted. The content of the verse shows that it is a promise to David (vv. 21-22) and the Levites based on a contrary to fact condition (v. 20). See further the translator’s note at the end of the next verse for explanation of the English structure adopted here.

[33:20]  ¹¹⁵ tn The word יוֹמָם (yomam) is normally an adverb meaning “daytime, by day, daily.” However, here and in v. 25 and in Jer 15:9 it means “day, daytime” (cf. BDB 401 s.v. יוֹמָם 1).

[33:20]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “you.” The pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43; 33:10.

[33:21]  ¹¹⁷ tn The very complex and elliptical syntax of the original Hebrew of vv. 20-21 has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style. The text reads somewhat literally (after the addition of a couple of phrases which have been left out by ellipsis): “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that there is not to be daytime and night in their proper time then also my covenant can be broken with my servant David so that there is not to him a son reigning upon his throne [and also my covenant can be broken] with the Levites [so there are not] priests who minister to me.” The two phrases in brackets are elliptical, the first serving double duty for the prepositional phrase “with the Levites” as well as “with David” and the second serving double duty with the noun “priests” which parallels “a son.” The noun “priests” is not serving here as appositional because that phrase is always “the priests, the Levites,” never “the Levites, the priests.”

[33:22]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

[33:23]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying.” See v. 1. This is a continuation of “the second time.”

[33:24]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “Have you not seen what this people have said, saying.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

[33:24]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “The two families which the Lord chose, he has rejected them.” This is an example of an object prepositioned before the verb and resumed by a redundant pronoun to throw emphasis of focus on it (called casus pendens in the grammars; cf. GKC 458 §143.d). Some commentators identify the “two families” as those of David and Levi mentioned in the previous verses, and some identify them as the families of the Israelites and of David mentioned in the next verse. However, the next clause in this verse and the emphasis on the restoration and regathering of Israel and Judah in this section (cf. 33:7, 14) show that the reference is to Israel and Judah (see also 30:3, 4; 31:27, 31 and 3:18).

[33:24]  ¹²² tn Heb “and my people [i.e., Israel and Judah] they disdain [or look down on] from being again a nation before them.” The phrase “before them” refers to their estimation, their mental view (cf. BDB s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a[g]). Hence it means they look with disdain on the people being a nation again (cf. BDB s.v. עוֹד 1.a[b] for the usage of עוֹד [’od] here).

[33:25]  ¹²³ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.” See the translator’s note at the beginning of v. 20 for the style adopted here. Here the promise is in v. 26 following the contrary to fact condition in v. 25. The Hebrew text of vv. 25-26 reads: “Thus says the Lord, “If I have not established my covenant with day and night [and] the laws/statutes of heaven and earth, also I could reject the seed of Jacob and David my servant from taking from his seed as rulers over the seed of Abraham…” The syntax of the original is a little awkward because it involves the verbs “establish” and “reject” governing two objects, the first governing two similar objects “my covenant” and “the regulations” and the second governing two dissimilar objects “the seed of Jacob” and “my servant David from taking [so as not to take].” The translation has sought to remove these awkward syntactical constructions and also break down the long complex original sentence in such a way as to retain its original intent, i.e., the guarantee of the continuance of the seed of Jacob and of the rule of a line of David’s descendants over them based on the fixed order of God’s creation decrees.

[33:26]  ¹²⁴ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is probably intensive here as it has been on a number of occasions in the book of Jeremiah (see BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for the category).

[33:26]  ¹²⁵ tn Or “I will make them prosperous once again,” or “I will bring them back from captivity.”

[3:15]  ¹²⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[3:15]  ¹²⁷ tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.

[3:15]  ¹²⁸ tn The same Greek word, διαθήκη (diaqhkh), can mean either “covenant” or “will,” but in this context the former is preferred here because Paul is discussing in vv. 16-18 the Abrahamic covenant.

[3:15]  ¹²⁹ tn Or “has been put into effect.”

[3:16]  ¹³⁰ tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).

[3:16]  ¹³¹ tn Grk “It”; the referent (the scripture) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The understood subject of the verb λέγει (legei) could also be “He” (referring to God) as the one who spoke the promise to Abraham.

[3:16]  ¹³² tn Grk “to seeds.” See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse. Here the term is plural; the use of the singular in the OT text cited later in this verse is crucial to Paul’s argument.

[3:16]  ¹³³ tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.

[3:17]  ¹³⁴ tc Most mss (D F G I 0176 0278 Ï it sy) read “ratified by God in Christ” whereas the omission of “in Christ” is the reading in Ì⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ 6 33 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 pc co. The shorter reading is strongly supported by the ms evidence, and it is probable that a copyist inserted the words as an interpretive gloss. However, this form of the “in Christ” expression is somewhat atypical in the corpus Paulinum (εἰς Χριστόν [ei" Criston] rather than ἐν Χριστῷ [en Cristw]), a fact which tempers one’s certainty about the shorter reading. Nevertheless, the expression is used more in Galatians than in any other of Paul’s letters (Gal 2:16; 3:24, 27), and may have been suggested by such texts to early copyists.