Ulangan 7:8

7:8 Rather it is because of his ¹  love ²  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ³  he solemnly vowed ⁴  to your ancestors ⁵  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ⁶  redeeming ⁷  you from the place of slavery, from the power ⁸  of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Ulangan 10:15

10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he ⁹  show his loving favor, ¹⁰  and he chose you, their descendants, ¹¹  from all peoples – as is apparent today.

Mazmur 18:20

18:20 The Lord repaid ¹²  me for my godly deeds; ¹³ 

he rewarded ¹⁴  my blameless behavior. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 22:9

22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out ¹⁶  from the womb

and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

Mazmur 37:23

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 41:12

41:12 As for me, you uphold ¹⁸  me because of my integrity; ¹⁹ 

you allow ²⁰  me permanent access to your presence. ²¹ 

Mazmur 56:10

56:10 In God – I boast in his promise ²²  –

in the Lord – I boast in his promise ²³  –

Mazmur 147:11

147:11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers, ²⁴ 

and in those who wait for his loyal love.

Amsal 11:20

11:20 The Lord abhors ²⁵  those who are perverse in heart, ²⁶ 

but those who are blameless in their ways ²⁷  are his delight. ²⁸ 

Yesaya 62:4

62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”

and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”

Indeed, ²⁹  you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” ³⁰ 

and your land “Married.” ³¹ 

For the Lord will take delight in you,

and your land will be married to him. ³² 

Maleakhi 2:17

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ³³  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

[7:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

[7:8]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

[7:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

[7:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

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

[10:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the Lord’s initiative in calling the patriarchal ancestors to be the founders of a people special to him (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37).

[10:15]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.

[18:20]  ¹² tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

[18:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-24 make clear, the psalmist refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. In these verses the psalmist explains that the Lord was pleased with him and willing to deliver him because he had been loyal to God and obedient to his commandments. Ancient Near Eastern literature contains numerous parallels. A superior (a god or king) would typically reward a subject (a king or the servant of a king, respectively) for loyalty and obedience. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 211-13.

[18:20]  ¹⁴ tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 24) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.

[18:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” “Hands” suggest activity and behavior.

[22:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”

[37:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

[41:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.

[41:12]  ¹⁹ sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.

[41:12]  ²⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).

[41:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”

[56:10]  ²² tn Heb “in God I praise a word.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult. The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except that the third person pronominal suffix is omitted here, where the text has simply “a word” instead of “his word.” (1) One could translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” refers to a song of praise. (2) If one assumes that God’s word is in view, as in v. 4, then one option is to translate, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” In this case the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and “[his] word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. (3) The present translation reflects another option: In this case “I praise [his] word” is a parenthetical statement, with “[his] word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in v. 11, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.

[56:10]  ²³ tn The phrase “in the Lord” parallels “in God” in the first line. Once again the psalmist parenthetically remarks “I boast in [his] word” before completing the sentence in v. 11.

[147:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[11:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive. Cf. NIV “detests”; NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT “hates.”

[11:20]  ²⁶ sn The word עִקְּשֵׁי (“crooked; twisted; perverted”) describes the wicked as having “twisted minds.” Their mentality is turned toward evil things.

[11:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “those who are blameless of way.” The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is a genitive of specification: “blameless in their way.”

[11:20]  ²⁸ sn The noun means “goodwill, favor, acceptance, will”; it is related to the verb רָצַה (ratsah) which means “to be pleased with; to accept favorably.” These words are used frequently in scripture to describe what pleases the Lord, meaning, what he accepts. In particular, sacrifices offered properly find acceptance with God (Ps 51:19). Here the lifestyle that is blameless pleases him.

[62:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”

[62:4]  ³⁰ tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ³¹ tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ³² tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.

[2:17]  ³³ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”