³ tn Heb “the ark of the covenant.” It is called this because it contained the tables of the law, which in abbreviated form constituted their covenant obligations to the Lord (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:15; 34:29).

¹ tn The idea of cutting a covenant for something may suggest a covenant that is imposed, except that this construction elsewhere argues against it (see 2 Chr 29:10).

² tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”

² tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (b^erit) 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”).

² sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ʾot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

² sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.

¹ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

³ sn An allusion to Ps 132:11 and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the promise in the Davidic covenant.

¹ tn Heb “do not change.” This refers to God’s ongoing commitment to his covenant promises to Israel.

⁴ tn Heb “the men of your peace.” This expression refers to a political/military alliance or covenant of friendship.

² sn Circumcision as a mere external cutting of the flesh is contrasted here with it as a sign of commitment to the covenant and the God of the covenant. The people of these nations practiced circumcision, but not as a sign of the covenant. The people of Israel engaged in it as a religious practice, but without any obedience to the covenant that it was a sign of, or any real commitment to the Lord.

¹ sn The cherubim (singular “cherub”) refer to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.

⁵ tn Heb “the covenant.” This could refer to the Mosaic covenant that prohibits adultery, or more likely, as in the present translation, the marriage covenant (cf. also TEV, CEV). The lexicons list this use of “covenant” (בְּרִית, b^erit) among other referents to marriage (Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8; Mal 2:14; BDB 136 s.v. 1.5; HALOT 157 s.v. A.9).

² sn The rules you set down. God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

¹ tn Heb “forever I will keep for him my loyal love and will make my covenant secure for him.”

¹ tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”

¹ sn For other references to a “covenant of salt,” see Lev 2:13 and Num 18:19.

¹ tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”

¹ tn Heb “Because this is with you, and you have not kept my covenant and my rules which I commanded you.”

¹ tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.