17:7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of 1 Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped 2 other gods;
1 tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “feared.”
3 tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
4 tn Or “served.”