Deuteronomy 4:20
ContextNETBible | You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, 1 to be his special people 2 as you are today. |
XREF | Ex 19:5,6; De 9:26,29; De 32:9; 1Ki 8:51; Ps 28:9; Ps 33:12; Ps 135:4; Isa 63:17,18; Jer 11:4; Eph 1:18; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 2:9 |
NET © Notes |
1 tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty. 2 tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants. |