1 Raja-raja 18:39

18:39 When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “The Lord is the true God! ¹  The Lord is the true God!”

Keluaran 5:1-2

Opposition to the Plan of God

5:1 ² Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, ³  the God of Israel, ‘Release ⁴  my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast ⁵  to me in the desert.’” 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord ⁶  that ⁷  I should obey him ⁸  by releasing ⁹  Israel? I do not know the Lord, ¹⁰  and I will not release Israel!”

Yosua 24:15

24:15 If you have no desire ¹¹  to worship ¹²  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ¹³  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ¹⁴  worshiped ¹⁵  beyond the Euphrates, ¹⁶  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ¹⁷  will worship ¹⁸  the Lord!”

Yosua 24:23-24

24:23 Joshua said, ¹⁹  “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to ²⁰  the Lord God of Israel.”

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship ²¹  the Lord our God and obey him.” ²² 

Yosua 24:1

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord

24:1 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.

1 Samuel 7:3

7:3 Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. ²³  Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you ²⁴  from the hand of the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 7:1

7:1 Then the people ²⁵  of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord; they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord.

1 Samuel 17:26

17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? ²⁶  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 17:2

17:2 Saul and the Israelite army ²⁷  assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against ²⁸  the Philistines.

1 Samuel 1:13

1:13 Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk.

Mazmur 100:3

100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us and we belong to him; ²⁹ 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

[18:39]  ¹ tn Heb “the God” (the phrase occurs twice in this verse).

[5:1]  ² sn The enthusiasm of the worshipers in the preceding chapter turns sour in this one when Pharaoh refuses to cooperate. The point is clear that when the people of God attempt to devote their full service and allegiance to God, they encounter opposition from the world. Rather than finding instant blessing and peace, they find conflict. This is the theme that will continue through the plague narratives. But what makes chapter 5 especially interesting is how the people reacted to this opposition. The chapter has three sections: first, the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh (vv. 1-5); then the report of the stern opposition of the king (vv. 6-14); and finally, the sad account of the effect of this opposition on the people (vv. 15-21).

[5:1]  ³ tn Heb “Yahweh.”

[5:1]  ⁴ tn The form שַׁלַּח (shallakh), the Piel imperative, has been traditionally translated “let [my people] go.” The Qal would be “send”; so the Piel “send away, release, dismiss, discharge.” B. Jacob observes, “If a person was dismissed through the use of this verb, then he ceased to be within the power or sphere of influence of the individual who had dismissed him. He was completely free and subsequently acted entirely on his own responsibility” (Exodus, 115).

[5:1]  ⁵ tn The verb חָגַג (khagag) means to hold a feast or to go on a pilgrim feast. The Arabic cognate of the noun form is haj, best known for the pilgrim flight of Mohammed, the hajira. The form in the text (וְיָחֹגּוּ, vÿyakhoggu) is subordinated to the imperative and thus shows the purpose of the imperative.

[5:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh.” This is a rhetorical question, expressing doubt or indignation or simply a negative thought that Yahweh is nothing (see erotesis in E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 944-45). Pharaoh is not asking for information (cf. 1 Sam 25:5-10).

[5:2]  ⁷ tn The relative pronoun introduces the consecutive clause that depends on the interrogative clause (see GKC 318-19 §107.u).

[5:2]  ⁸ tn The imperfect tense here receives the classification of obligatory imperfect. The verb שָׁמַע (shama’) followed by “in the voice of” is idiomatic; rather than referring to simple audition – “that I should hear his voice” – it conveys the thought of listening that issues in action – “that I should obey him.”

[5:2]  sn The construction of these clauses is similar to (ironically) the words of Moses: “Who am I that I should go?” (3:11).

[5:2]  ⁹ tn The Piel infinitive construct here has the epexegetical usage with lamed (ל); it explains the verb “obey.”

[5:2]  ¹⁰ sn This absolute statement of Pharaoh is part of a motif that will develop throughout the conflict. For Pharaoh, the Lord (Yahweh) did not exist. So he said “I do not know the Lord [i.e., Yahweh].” The point of the plagues and the exodus will be “that he might know.” Pharaoh will come to know this Yahweh, but not in any pleasant way.

[24:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ¹² tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ¹³ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:23]  ¹⁹ tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.

[24:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.

[24:24]  ²¹ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:24]  ²² tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

[7:3]  ²³ tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural; also in the following verse). The words “images of” are supplied for clarity.

[7:3]  sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. The presence of Ashtarot in Israel is a sign of pervasive pagan and idolatrous influences; hence Samuel calls for their removal. See 1 Sam 31:10, where the Philistines deposit the armor of the deceased Saul in the temple of the Ashtarot, and 1 Kgs 11:5, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13, where Solomon is faulted for worshiping the Ashtarot.

[7:3]  ²⁴ tn Following imperatives, the jussive verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[7:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “men.”

[17:26]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”

[17:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.”

[17:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to meet.”

[100:3]  ²⁹ tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.