Jeremiah 32:39

32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ¹  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

Genesis 17:5-9

17:5 No longer will your name be ²  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ³  because I will make you ⁴  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ⁵  extremely ⁶  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁷  17:7 I will confirm ⁸  my covenant as a perpetual ⁹  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. ¹⁰  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ¹¹  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ¹²  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ¹³  the covenantal requirement ¹⁴  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

Psalms 90:16-17

90:16 May your servants see your work! ¹⁵ 

May their sons see your majesty! ¹⁶ 

90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! ¹⁷ 

Make our endeavors successful!

Yes, make them successful! ¹⁸ 

Psalms 102:18

102:18 The account of his intervention ¹⁹  will be recorded for future generations;

people yet to be born will praise the Lord.

Psalms 102:28

102:28 The children of your servants will settle down here,

and their descendants ²⁰  will live securely in your presence.” ²¹ 

Isaiah 1:26-27

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ²² 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

1:27 ²³ Zion will be freed by justice, ²⁴ 

and her returnees by righteousness. ²⁵ 

[32:39]  ¹ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ⁵ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

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

[17:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[17:7]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[90:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form יֵרָאֶה (yera’eh) is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).

[90:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[90:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).

[90:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”

[102:18]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text has simply “this,” referring to the anticipated divine intervention on behalf of Zion (vv. 13, 16-17). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[102:28]  ²⁰ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[102:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “before you will be established.”

[1:26]  ²² tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[1:27]  ²³ sn The third person reference to the Lord in v. 28 indicates that the prophet is again (see vv. 21-24a) speaking. Since v. 27 is connected to v. 28 by a conjunction, it is likely that the prophet’s words begin with v. 27.

[1:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Zion will be ransomed with justice.” Both cola in this verse end with similar terms: justice and righteousness (and both are preceded by a בְּ [bet] preposition). At issue is whether these virtues describe the means or result of the deliverance and whether they delineate God’s justice/righteousness or that of the covenant people. If the righteousness of Israelite returnees is in view, the point seems to be that the reestablishment of Zion as a center of justice (God’s people living in conformity with God’s demand for equity and justice) will deliver the city from its past humiliation and restore it to a place of prominence (see 2:2-4; cf. E. Kissane, Isaiah, 1:19). Most scholars conclude that “righteousness and “justice” refers to God alone (J. Ridderbos, Isaiah [BSC], 50; J. Watts, Isaiah [WBC], 1:25; E. J. Young, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:89; cf. NLT, TEV) or serves as a double reference to both divine and human justice and righteousness (J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, 51; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:10; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:72). If it refers to both sides of the coin, these terms highlight the objective divine work of redemption and the subjective human response of penitence (Motyer, 51).

[1:27]  ²⁵ tc The Hebrew text has, “her repentant ones/returnees with righteousness.” The form שָׁבֶיהָ (shaveha, “her repentant ones”), as pointed in MT, is a masculine plural Qal participle from שׁוּב (shuv, “return”). Used substantivally, it refers to the “returning (i.e., repentant) ones.” It is possible that the parallel line (with its allusion to being freed by a ransom payment) suggests that the form be repointed to שִׁבְיָהּ (shivyah, “her captivity”), a reading that has support from the LXX. Some slightly emend the form to read וְשָׁבָה (vÿshavah, “and will return”). According to this view, the verb from the first line applies to the second line as well with the following translation as a result: “she will be released when fairness is restored.” Regardless, it makes best sense in the context to regard this as a reference to repentant Israelites returning to the land of promise. This understanding provides a better contrast with the rebels and sinners in 1:28.