Ulangan 4:34

4:34 Or has God ¹  ever before tried to deliver ²  a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, ³  signs, wonders, war, strength, power, ⁴  and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Ulangan 7:6-8

7:6 For you are a people holy ⁵  to the Lord your God. He ⁶  has chosen you to be his people, prized ⁷  above all others on the face of the earth.

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. 7:8 Rather it is because of his ⁸  love ⁹  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ¹⁰  he solemnly vowed ¹¹  to your ancestors ¹²  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ¹³  redeeming ¹⁴  you from the place of slavery, from the power ¹⁵  of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Ulangan 9:26

9:26 I prayed to him: ¹⁶  O, Lord God, ¹⁷  do not destroy your people, your valued property ¹⁸  that you have powerfully redeemed, ¹⁹  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ²⁰ 

Ulangan 9:29

9:29 They are your people, your valued property, ²¹  whom you brought out with great strength and power. ²² 

Ulangan 14:2

14:2 For you are a people holy ²³  to the Lord your God. He ²⁴  has chosen you to be his people, prized ²⁵  above all others on the face of the earth.

Ulangan 32:9

32:9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people,

Jacob is his special possession. ²⁶ 

[4:34]  ¹ tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).

[4:34]  ² tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”

[4:34]  ³ tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).

[4:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”

[7:6]  ⁵ tn That is, “set apart.”

[7:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:6]  ⁷ tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

[7:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

[7:8]  ⁹ tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

[7:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

[7:8]  ¹² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

[7:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

[7:8]  ¹⁴ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

[7:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

[9:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

[9:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

[9:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

[9:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

[9:29]  ²¹ tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.

[9:29]  ²² tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”

[14:2]  ²³ tn Or “set apart.”

[14:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “The Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[14:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

[14:2]  sn The Hebrew term translated “select” (and the whole verse) is reminiscent of the classic covenant text (Exod 19:4-6) which describes Israel’s entry into covenant relationship with the Lord. Israel must resist paganism and its trappings precisely because she is a holy people elected by the Lord from among the nations to be his instrument of world redemption (cf. Deut 7:6; 26:18; Ps 135:4; Mal 3:17; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9).

[32:9]  ²⁶ tc Heb “the portion of his inheritance.” The LXX and Smr add “Israel” and BHS suggests the reconstruction: “The Lord’s allotment is Jacob, the portion of his inheritance is Israel” (cf. NAB). While providing good parallelism, it destroys a fine chiastic structure: “allotment” (a), “his people” (b), “Jacob (b’), and “inheritance” (a’).