Kejadian 26:5

26:5 All this will come to pass ¹  because Abraham obeyed me ²  and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” ³ 

Ulangan 11:13

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ⁴  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ⁵  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ⁶ 

Mazmur 103:18

103:18 to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands. ⁷ 

[26:5]  ¹ tn The words “All this will come to pass” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[26:5]  ² tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[26:5]  ³ sn My charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. The language of this verse is clearly interpretive, for Abraham did not have all these laws. The terms are legal designations for sections of the Mosaic law and presuppose the existence of the law. Some Rabbinic views actually conclude that Abraham had fulfilled the whole law before it was given (see m. Qiddushin 4:14). Some scholars argue that this story could only have been written after the law was given (C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:424-25). But the simplest explanation is that the narrator (traditionally taken to be Moses the Lawgiver) elaborated on the simple report of Abraham’s obedience by using terms with which the Israelites were familiar. In this way he depicts Abraham as the model of obedience to God’s commands, whose example Israel should follow.

[11:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ⁵ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[103:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”