Nehemiah 4:14

4:14 When I had made an inspection, ¹  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ²  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ³ 

Deuteronomy 7:21

7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God.

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, ⁴  Girgashites, ⁵  Amorites, ⁶  Canaanites, ⁷  Perizzites, ⁸  Hivites, ⁹  and Jebusites, ¹⁰  seven ¹¹  nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 17:1

17:1 You must not sacrifice to him ¹²  a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive ¹³  to the Lord your God.

Psalms 47:2

47:2 For the sovereign Lord ¹⁴  is awe-inspiring; ¹⁵ 

he is the great king who rules the whole earth! ¹⁶ 

Daniel 9:4-19

9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way:

“O Lord, ¹⁷  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ¹⁸  with those who love him and keep his commandments, 9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹⁹  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ²⁰  and to all the inhabitants ²¹  of the land as well.

9:7 “You are righteous, ²²  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ²³  – the people ²⁴  of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ²⁵  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ²⁶  even though we have rebelled against him. 9:10 We have not obeyed ²⁷  the LORD our God by living according to ²⁸  his laws ²⁹  that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 “All Israel has broken ³⁰  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ³¹  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ³²  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ³³  9:12 He has carried out his threats ³⁴  against us and our rulers ³⁵  who were over ³⁶  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ³⁷  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ³⁸  from your reliable moral standards. ³⁹  9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ⁴⁰  in all he has done, ⁴¹  and we have not obeyed him. ⁴² 

9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power ⁴³  and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly. 9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ⁴⁴  please turn your raging anger ⁴⁵  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

9:17 “So now, our God, accept ⁴⁶  the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to ⁴⁷  your devastated sanctuary for your own sake. ⁴⁸  9:18 Listen attentively, ⁴⁹  my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins ⁵⁰  and the city called by your name. ⁵¹  For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, ⁵²  but because your compassion is abundant. 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.” ⁵³ 

[4:14]  ¹ tn Heb “And I saw.”

[4:14]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[4:14]  ³ tn Heb “houses.”

[7:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

[7:1]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[17:1]  ¹² tn Heb “to the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[17:1]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “an abomination”; cf. NAB) describes persons, things, or practices offensive to ritual or moral order. See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:314-18; see also the note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[47:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures the Lord as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked.

[47:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “awesome.” The Niphal participle נוֹרָא (nora’), when used of God in the psalms, focuses on the effect that his royal splendor and powerful deeds have on those witnessing his acts (Pss 66:3, 5; 68:35; 76:7, 12; 89:7; 96:4; 99:3; 111:9). Here it refers to his capacity to fill his defeated foes with terror and his people with fearful respect.

[47:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a great king over all the earth.”

[9:4]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 7, 9, 15, 16, and 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

[9:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “people.”

[9:7]  ²² tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ²³ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”

[9:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).

[9:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[9:10]  ²⁹ tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.

[9:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ³² tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.

[9:11]  ³³ tn Heb “him.”

[9:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “who judged.”

[9:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”

[9:13]  ³⁸ tn Or “by gaining insight.”

[9:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law. See vv 10-11.

[9:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[9:15]  ⁴³ tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”

[9:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “righteousness.”

[9:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).

[9:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “hear.” Here the verb refers to hearing favorably, accepting the prayer and responding positively.

[9:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “let your face shine.” This idiom pictures God smiling in favor. See Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19.

[9:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “for the sake of my Lord.” Theodotion has “for your sake.” Cf. v. 19.

[9:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[9:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.

[9:18]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.

[9:18]  ⁵² tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”

[9:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.