¹sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.
²tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style to avoid redundancy.
³tn Heb “uprightness of your heart.” The Hebrew word hq*d*x= (“righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with rv#y{ (“uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term rv#y{ has more to do with an inner, moral quality. Neither, however, was grounds for the Lord’s favor. As he states in both vv. 4-5, the main reason he allowed Israel to take this land was the sinfulness of the Canaanites who lived there (cf. Gen 15:16).
⁴tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
⁵tn Heb “fathers.”
⁶sn The Hebrew word translated stubborn means “stiff-necked.” The image is that of a draft animal that is unsubmissive to the rein or yoke and refuses to bend its neck to draw the load. This is an apt description of OT Israel (Exod 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut 9:13).
⁷tn By juxtaposing the positive (rk)z+, “remember”) with the negative (jK^v=T!-la^, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.
⁸tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise in the following verse with both “him” and “he”). See note on “he” in 9:3.
⁹tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
¹⁰sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself—not Moses in any way—was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).
¹¹tn Heb “according to all the words.”
¹²tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise at the beginning of vv. 12, 13). See note on “he” in 9:3.
¹³tc Heb “a casting.” The MT reads hk*S@m^ (“a cast thing”) but some mss and SP add lg#u@ (“calf”), “a molten calf” or the like (Exod 32:8). Perhaps Moses here omits reference to the calf out of contempt for it.
¹⁴tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.
¹⁵tn Heb “leave me alone.”
¹⁶tn Heb “from under heaven.”
¹⁷tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
¹⁸tn On the phrase “metal calf,” see note on the term “metal image” in v. 12.
¹⁹tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
²⁰tn The Hebrew text includes “from upon my two hands,” but as this seems somewhat obvious and redundant, it has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
²¹tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion.
²²tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
²³tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
²⁴tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).
²⁵tn Heb “burned it with fire.”
²⁶sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb rub (bur, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the Lord’s fiery wrath against Israel because of their constant complaints against him (Num 11:1-3).
²⁷sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.
²⁸sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).
²⁹tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
³⁰tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.
³¹tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
³²tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.
³³tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
³⁴tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.
³⁵tn Heb “Lord Lord” (hw]hy+ yn`d)a&). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (<yh!Oa^ yn`d)a&). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.
³⁶tn Heb “your inheritance.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.
³⁷tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”
³⁸tn Heb “by your strong hand.”
³⁹tc The MT reads only “the land.” SP supplies <u^ (“people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
⁴⁰tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.
⁴¹tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”