Deuteronomy 7:7-11

The Basis of Israel’s Election

7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 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. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, 9  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully 10  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate 11  him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore 12  those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 7:11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.

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

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.

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

4 tn Heb “swore on oath.”

5 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

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

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).

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

9 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

10 tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).

11 tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).

12 tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”