Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:6
Context2:6 They did not ask:
‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,
who brought us through the wilderness,
through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,
through a land of drought and deep darkness, 1
through a land in which no one travels,
and where no one lives?’ 2
Deuteronomy 2:7
Context2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, 3 have blessed your every effort. 4 I have 5 been attentive to 6 your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have 7 been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”
Deuteronomy 8:2
Context8:2 Remember the whole way by which he 8 has brought you these forty years through the desert 9 so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:15-16
Context8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents 10 and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow 11 from a flint rock and 8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you 12 and eventually bring good to you.
Nehemiah 9:12-21
Context9:12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.
9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 9:14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through 13 Moses your servant. 9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn 14 to give them.
9:16 “But they – our ancestors 15 – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled 16 and did not obey your commandments. 9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. 17 But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. 18 You did not abandon them, 9:18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious 19 blasphemies.
9:19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, 20 nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. 9:20 You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst. 9:21 For forty years you sustained them. Even in the desert they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
Isaiah 63:7-14
Context63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,
of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.
I will tell about all 21 the Lord did for us,
the many good things he did for the family of Israel, 22
because of 23 his compassion and great faithfulness.
63:8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people,
children who are not disloyal.” 24
He became their deliverer.
63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 25
The messenger sent from his very presence 26 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 27 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 28
63:10 But they rebelled and offended 29 his holy Spirit, 30
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. 31
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of 32 his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, 33
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, 34
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation, 35
63:13 who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running on flat land 36 they did not stumble.
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, 37
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way 38 you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation. 39
[2:6] 1 tn This word is erroneously rendered “shadow of death” in most older English versions; that translation is based on a faulty etymology. Contextual studies and comparative Semitic linguistics have demonstrated that the word is merely another word for darkness. It is confined to poetic texts and often carries connotations of danger and distress. It is associated in poetic texts with the darkness of a prison (Ps 107:10, 14), a mine (Job 28:3), and a ravine (Ps 23:4). Here it is associated with the darkness of the wasteland and ravines of the Sinai desert.
[2:6] 2 sn The context suggests that the question is related to a lament where the people turn to God in their troubles, asking him for help and reminding him of his past benefactions. See for example Isa 63:11-19 and Ps 44. It is an implicit prayer for his intervention, cf. 2 Kgs 2:14.
[2:7] 3 tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).
[2:7] 4 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
[2:7] 5 tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.
[2:7] 6 tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”
[2:7] 7 tn Heb “the
[8:2] 8 tn Heb “the
[8:2] 9 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.
[8:15] 10 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
[8:15] 11 tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.
[8:16] 12 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
[9:14] 13 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
[9:15] 14 tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”
[9:16] 15 tn Heb “and our fathers.” The vav is explicative.
[9:16] 16 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).
[9:17] 17 tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew
[9:17] 18 tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.
[9:19] 20 tn Heb “did not turn from them by day to guide them in the path.”
[63:7] 21 tn Heb “according to all which.”
[63:7] 22 tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”
[63:7] 23 tn Heb “according to.”
[63:8] 24 tn Heb “children [who] do not act deceitfully.” Here the verb refers to covenantal loyalty.
[63:9] 25 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
[63:9] 26 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
[63:9] 27 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
[63:9] 28 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
[63:10] 29 tn Or “grieved, hurt the feelings of.”
[63:10] 30 sn The phrase “holy Spirit” occurs in the OT only here (in v. 11 as well) and in Ps 51:11 (51:13 HT), where it is associated with the divine presence.
[63:11] 31 tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.
[63:11] 32 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.
[63:11] 33 sn See the note at v. 10.
[63:12] 34 tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”
[63:12] 35 tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”
[63:13] 36 tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”
[63:14] 37 tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
