Tag Archives: 2 Samuel 12:14

Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 1

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Revisiting an essay—David’s Forgiveness, Part 1—I realized I had put an inordinate emphasis on the word forgiven without looking into the meaning of the original Hebrew word.  My suspicion of Bible translators feels at times like a paranoid schizophrenic’s fear of the CIA.  Lapses like this one renew my appreciation for the maxim, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”[1]

This essay could be very short.  I could simply say that Nathan actually responded to David’s confession with the words, Yes, and the Lord has passed over[2] (ʽâbar) your sin.  You are not going to die.[3]  Such a translation would agree with Paul’s assessment of God’s past actions: God in his forbearance had passed over (πάρεσιν, a form of πάρεσις) the sins previously committed.[4]  I could simply accept the text at face value, that ʽâbar is not forgiveness and God is free to exact whatever penalty He chooses.

It seems like an ironclad argument.  But five of the twelve Bibles I checked translate ʽâbar in 2 Samuel 12:13 forgiven or forgives.  Of the remaining seven four have it put away, two are taken away, and one, Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away.  How different is that from forgiven really?

ʽâbar 2 Samuel 12:13

Bible Versions
forgiven NET, CEV, NAB
put away ASV, DNT, KJV, NKJV
taken away GWT, NIV
forgives TEV, TMSG
pass away YLT

Do the translators believe that this is all I should expect from the forgiveness God exalted Jesus to give to Israel?  God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness (ἄφεσιν, a form of ἄφεσις) of sins.[5]  Apparently a primary verb to forgive is as absent from holy Hebrew as it is from pagan Greek.  The concept to forgive is either shoehorned into, or extrapolated from, other verbs in both languages.  [Addendum 2/14/2018: This is wrong regarding Hebrew: sâlach (סלח).]  That gives me cause to study ʽâbar in more detail to get a feel for its capacity to carry forgiveness.

I had the opportunity to go home for a month at Christmas.  Home is a relative concept.  I alternated between my mother’s house visiting her, my sister and her husband, and my ex-mother-in-law’s house about a hundred miles north visiting her, my kids, my ex-wife and her husband.  The day after I arrived I attended my son’s wedding.

We all sat in the front row.  I offered the seat next to our ex-wife to my son’s biological father.  He declined the offer and sat next to me.  (Her current husband sat on her other side.)  He is about two years from a painful break-up with his significant other.  He leaned over and whispered to me, “I don’t know how you do it.  I don’t think I could sit next to my ex, smiling, at her son’s wedding.”  He gave me the opportunity to say that I couldn’t take the credit, that it is not my doing so much as my getting out of the way of the Lord’s doing: his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and firm control.  He received it well and acknowledged that he was seeking a similar peace.

Later, in a phone conversation with another friend who questioned me more specifically about the fruit of the Spirit, I acknowledged that sadly the Lord’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness aren’t always my first impulse.  Sometimes letting the fruit of his Spirit shine through me is a matter of waiting in that firm control until the second, third or fourth impulse holds sway.  But as I think of it now there is something else that makes friendship with my ex-wife possible.

I forgave her for divorcing me.  I forgive her every night I go to bed alone and every morning I wake up.  And I will forgive her for as long as we both shall live.  “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel…[6]  I don’t forgive her because I am so righteous.

Jesus taught us to pray, forgive (ἄφες, a form of ἀφίημι) us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven (ἀφήκαμεν, another form of ἀφίημι) our debtors.[7]  I, a sinful man in need of the Father’s forgiveness, pray this daily, and I believe Jesus’ saying: For if you forgive (ἀφῆτε, another form of ἀφίημι) others their sins (παραπτώματα, a form of παράπτωμα), your heavenly Father will also forgive (ἀφήσει, another form of ἀφίημι) you.  But if you do not forgive (ἀφῆτε, another form of ἀφίημι) others, your Father will not forgive (ἀφήσει, another form of ἀφίημι) you your sins (παραπτώματα, a form of παράπτωμα).[8]

And here I probably give myself too much credit for rational consistency.  I forgive because I am schooled in this teaching by the Holy Spirit and filled continuously with his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and firm control.  It occurs to me, however, that one who feels more righteous than I, might feel less need of the Father’s forgiveness and less compulsion to forgive others.  The fault in this logic is that the most righteous man of all prayed, Father, forgive (ἄφες, a form of ἀφίημι) them, for they don’t know what they are doing[9] as He surrendered[10] to his Father’s will.

The Father’s answer to his beloved Son’s request is the hope of all us sinners if it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy[11] (ἐλεῶντος, a form of ἐλεέω).  For God has consigned all people to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια) so that he may show mercy (ἐλεήσῃ, another form of ἐλεέω) to them all.[12]  What shall we say then?  Is there injustice with God?  Absolutely not!  For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy (ἐλεήσω, another form of ἐλεέω) on whom I have mercy (ἐλεῶ, another form of ἐλεέω), and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[13]

The Greek word ὡς persuades me that forgiveness is, and will be perceived as, a relative as opposed to an absolute concept.  So then, be perfect, as (ὡς) your heavenly Father is perfect.[14]  Whenever you pray, do not be like (ὡς) the hypocrites…[15]  …may your will be done on earth as (ὡς) it is in heaven.[16]  …and forgive us our debts, as (ὡς) we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.[17]  The absolute on/off positions are clear.[18]  But some form of continuum from none to full pardon seems to be indicated by ὡς, contingent upon that quality of forgiveness we extend to others.

Still, I would suggest that we will be inclined to extend the same forgiveness to others that we believe we receive from God.  If that forgiveness seems to include punishment we are more likely to believe that some form of punishment should be meted out with our forgiveness as well.  Or if the one extending such forgiveness has no authority to punish, conditions may be attached, making forgiveness something that must be earned as opposed to something graciously given and received.  I take the interaction between David and Shimei as a case in point.

As David fled from Jerusalem during the events that fulfilled the Lord’s promise to bring disaster (raʽ ) on you from inside your own household,[19] Shimei threw stones and yelled, “Leave!  Leave!  You man of bloodshed, you wicked man!  The Lord has punished (shûb) you for all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule.  Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom.  Disaster (raʽ ) has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed [Table]!”[20]  Clearly, Shimei’s assessment does not agree with Nathan the prophet’s assessment.

Nathan the Prophet’s Assessment

This is what the Lord God of Israel says:

2 Samuel 12:7b (NET) Table

Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my sight?

2 Samuel 12:9a (NET) Table
You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword…

2 Samuel 12:9b (NET)

 …and you have taken his wife as your own!

2 Samuel 2:9c (NET)
You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:9d, 10a (NET)

 For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10b (NET) Table
I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion.  He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!  Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.

2 Samuel 12:11, 12 (NET) Table1 Table2
Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!”  Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has ʽâbar your sin.  You are not going to die.

2 Samuel 12:13 (NET) Table
Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET) Table

The Hebrew word translated punished (shûb) is not found among the words the Lord God of Israel spoke through Nathan,[21] though I have certainly interpreted them as if they described recompense.  As a child I assumed that “forgiveness” only pertained to hell.  I believed that God would still punish me for my sins some other way.  He couldn’t help Himself, I thought, it’s who He is.

Abishai couldn’t tolerate hearing his king and commander spoken to as Shimei had spoken to him: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?  Let me go over (ʽâbar) and cut off his head![22]  Abishai’s use of ʽâbar doesn’t sound much like forgiveness, but David said, “What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah?  If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this [Table]?’”[23]  David exercised what I have come to call an experimental faith (2 Samuel 16:11, 12 NKJV):

And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life.  How much more now may this Benjamite?  Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the Lord has ordered him [Table].  It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay (shûb) me with good for his cursing this day [Table].”

As David returned, lamenting his Pyrrhic victory[24] over his son Absalom, Shimei was one of the first[25] to greet him.  Don’t think badly of me, my lord, he said, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left Jerusalem!  Please don’t call it to mind!  For I, your servant, know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.[26]  These are reminiscent of David’s words after Nathan confronted him (Psalm 51:1-3 NET):

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love!  Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! [Table]  Wash away my wrongdoing!  Cleanse me of my sin! [Table]  For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin [Table].

Abishai, who may have been hiding with David in the cave when Saul entered to relieve himself,[27] pursued a pious good (possibly expecting David’s approval): For this should not Shimei be put to death?  After all, he cursed the Lord’s anointed (mâshı̂yach)![28]  But David seemed to pursue something more like a beautiful good: What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah?  You are like my enemy today!  Should anyone be put to death in Israel today?  Don’t you realize that today I am king over Israel?[29]

David said to Shimei, “You won’t die.”  The king vowed an oath concerning this.[30]  Here it sounds like he forgave Shimei.  But apparently that wasn’t the case.  He held onto his grudge against Shimei for the rest of his life.  With his dying breath[31] he instructed Solomon, another son by Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:8, 9 NET):

Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim.  He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised him by the Lord, ‘I will not strike you down with the sword.’  But now don’t treat him as if he were innocent.  You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death.

The Lord however didn’t treat David that way.  He didn’t recall David’s sin when He spoke to Jeroboams’s wife by Ahijah the prophet (1 Kings 14:7, 8 NET Table1 Table2):

“Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel.  I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only (raq) what I approve.”’”

This is another reason I wish to look deeper into ʽâbar.  Whatever it means, it altered reality for the God, who does not lie[32] when He extended it to David.

[1] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/98153-just-because-you-re-paranoid-doesn-t-mean-they-aren-t-after-you

[2] The first occurrence in the Bible is Genesis 8:1b (NKJV), And God made a wind to pass (ʽâbar) over the earth, and the waters subsided.

[3] 2 Samuel 12:13b (NET) Table

[4] Romans 3:25b (NET)

[5] Acts 5:31 (NET)

[6] Malachi 2:16a (NET) Table

[7] Matthew 6:12 (NET) Table

[8] Matthew 6:14, 15 (NET) Table

[9] Luke 23:34a (NET) Table

[10] Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now?  How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled (πληρωθῶσιν, a form of πληρόω)? (Matthew 26:53, 54 NET) Table

[11] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

[12] Romans 11:32 (NET)

[13] Romans 9:14, 15 (NET)

[14] Matthew 5:48 (NET)

[15] Matthew 6:5a (NET) Table

[16] Matthew 6:10b (NET)

[17] Matthew 6:12 (NET)

[18] Matthew 6:14, 15 (NET)

[19] 2 Samuel 12:11 (NET) Table

[20] 2 Samuel 16:7, 8 (NET)

[21] It does occur in the description of events leading up to and following those words (2 Samuel 11:4, 15; 12:23) but seems to be used in its more literal sense, to return.

[22] 2 Samuel 16:9 (NET)

[23] 2 Samuel 16:10 (NET)

[24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory See: 2 Samuel 18:33 (NET)

[25] 2 Samuel 19:16 (NET)

[26] 2 Samuel 19:19, 20 (NET)

[27] 1 Samuel 24:3 (NET)

[28] 2 Samuel 19:21 (NET)  See also: 1 Samuel 24:6 (NET)

[29] 2 Samuel 19:22 (NET)

[30] 2 Samuel 19:23 (NET)

[31] 1 Kings 2:10 (NET)

[32] Titus 1:2 (NET)

David’s Forgiveness, Part 2

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The irony wasn’t lost on me.  I had a good laugh at myself as I realized I was frustrated with the Bible and complaining because God was too merciful.  “If He would just follow the law, my life would be a whole lot simpler.”  True enough, dead is a whole lot simpler than alive.  I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy1 God said to Moses after giving the law at Mount Sinai.  I had certainly seen the verse.  I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion2 Paul reiterated in his letter to the Romans.  I had read that one, too.  But it seemed so arbitrary and unfair I had blipped it.  I wanted to think of God as good not evil, and righteousness meant obeying the law.  Didn’t it?

It was another crack in the shell my contract with God had become.  I experimented briefly with calling these events “consequences,” rather than punishments.  But “consequences” seemed to imply more universality than I believe to be the case here.  This particular concatenation of events is uniquely and personally David’s life.  So I called it “David’s personal karma from the hand of Jesus.”

David’s personal karma from the hand of Jesus
You have killed him [Uriah] with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9 (NET) Table

 So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET) Table
For [Because] you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

 This is what the Lord says: “I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household! Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight! [Table] Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight” [Table].

2 Samuel 12:11,12
…because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter…

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET) Table

 …the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET)

This karma had something to do with David’s sin, obviously, but it also had something to do with God’s forgiveness.  I can’t actually recall how soon I began to wonder if it had something to do with “all things working together for good” and making David’s “sins as white as snow” as well.

If David’s child didn’t die as a punishment, why did he die? I began to ponder.  Come on, I argued with myself, a child contracted a fatal disease and died three thousand years before the advent of modern medicine.  What’s the big deal?  I agree with that statement, believe it or not.

I was born in the middle of the last century.  I was as thoroughly socialized in this age of medical advancement as anyone.  I expect this medical advance to continue without foreseeable end.  I don’t take The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill3 literally.  I assume this is an ancient manner of speaking, that the Lord’s actual action was inaction, not protecting this particular child at this particular time from infection, or not healing this particular child after infection.  I don’t believe that every child’s death is as theologically meaningful as this particular child’s death.  Nor do I believe that this child’s death is a statistically random event mistakenly imbued with theological significance.  The prophetic pairing of this child’s death with David’s contempt for Jesus infuses it with significance.  And that significance is what I’m trying to understand here.

One more thing, the Lord Jesus/Yahweh, whether by action or inaction, has taken full responsibility for this child’s death: The Lord struck the child.  I realize it is more customary to argue that God’s hand was forced because David had treated the Lord with such contempt.  I’ve probably argued this way myself.  But it seems to me now that any attempt to exonerate God by limiting Him, saying He was backed into a corner, or his hand was forced by some circumstance, is simply not to know Him.  And I am always mindful now of what happened when Jesus took responsibility for Peter’s denial.

One thought occurred to me early on:  Perhaps the Lord Jesus didn’t want David to have the blessing and benefit of a son by such ill-gotten means as adultery and murder.  The Psalm I took as my point of departure is actually credited to Solomon (Psalm 127:3-5 NET):

Yes, sons are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.  How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!  They will not be put to shame when they confront enemies at the city gate.

Though the pen was Solomon’s the thought here seems to me to be David’s.  First, the warrior language seems more like David than Solomon.  Second, my own, “yeah, right” response to this Psalm the first time I read it, informs me that a man is not likely to feel this way about his sons unless he has first been treated this way by his father.

My father advised me to watch out for women.  They would try to trap and trick me into raising their children.  At school I was learning other things about the evils of children.  Children had real value in the past, helping out on the farm or in the family business.  But during my childhood, though it may have been somewhat true for rich business owners, for most working-class families children were an unnecessary expense, a meaningless burden and a general nuisance to have around.  Besides all this the population bomb defined the social and political climate of my upbringing.  We were all going to die because there were just too many of us already.  Children were not a blessing, but a curse, the punishment for sex.

This is as good a time as any to address The Social Construction of Reality.

As I became an atheist I thought I was being logical and consistently rational.  As I turned again to a semblance of faith in God I thought I was being logical and consistently rational (though I was a bit concerned as I devoured the Bible that I was “swallowing all this religious stuff hook, line and sinker”).  I assumed that I could not have been truly rational in both instances unless there was some fatal flaw in logic itself.  The binary nature of logic seemed like the culprit to me.

Its insufficiency is fairly obvious in law:  “Have you stopped beating your wife?  Answer yes or no.”  But an axiom of more conventional logic—either a statement or its negation is true—seemed just as flawed.  If one has any affection for truth, is it possible to believe one can know it by adding the word “not” to an obvious falsehood?  If I negate the word of Satan, the father of lies, do I then possess the word of God?  I believe it?  That settles it?

That kind of instinctual argument doesn’t mean much in logic.  But the best I could conjure was the statement:  Jackie must eat her vegetables.  There is a world of potential truths between Jackie must eat her vegetables and the negation of that statement:  Jackie must not eat her vegetables.  Jackie might spit up her vegetables.  Jackie might fling her vegetables against the wall.  Jackie might dump the bowl of vegetables on her head.

Of course the logician would counter with the formal:  It is not the case that Jackie must eat her vegetables.  Still, I hoped that even the most hardboiled logician might concede that he was resorting to this formalism simply to maintain the truth of the very axiom in question—either a statement or its negation is true.  I began to suspect that the two choices, true and false, were insufficient to account for reality.  Reality was tripartite in nature—three not two.  I began to collect quotations for my magnum philosophical opus “The Tripartite Rationality Index.”

Also, to counter the “hook, line and sinker” effect of reading the Bible, I began to search for ballast to keep me honest.  I started with Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell, but he didn’t seem to know much about the Bible.  Russell did introduce me, however, to Nietzsche.

I quit my job.  It was no great sacrifice.  I hated that job.  I got a part time job, read Nietzsche, the Bible and everything else I could get my hands on, and collected notes for “The Tripartite Rationality Index.”

Finally, the day came.  I sat on the floor in my apartment, arranging and rearranging my note cards in various relationships.  I said to myself, “You haven’t written a word yet.  It’s time to put up or shut up.  What is the third thing?  Describe it.”  I sat there all afternoon trying—ever more clearly—to define the third thing.  In the end I couldn’t distinguish my clearest description from faith.  I picked up my notes, put them away, and enrolled in college for the second time in my life.

One thing was gained from my reinvention of the wheel.  Before that afternoon the opposition of faith and reason was deeply ingrained in me.  No matter what I thought or said, I believed at the very core of my being that faith was opposed to reason as reason was opposed to faith.  After that afternoon, I believed at the very core of my being that faith and reason were joined in a virtually eternal pas de deux, or dance for two, swirling and twirling, tracing out ever more complex arabesques, their patterns as individual and unique as the content of the faiths that started, and the individual application of reasons that sustained, their dance.

It was in college this second time, in a Geography class, where I first heard of The Social Construction of Reality by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann.  I wanted to read it.  I went to the Library immediately after class.  I intended to refute it.  I couldn’t.  I don’t intend to endorse every aspect of Berger’s and Luckmann’s thesis.  I’m not sure I understood every aspect of it.  But that taken for granted knowledge—this is the way the world works, this is the way things are done—is a social construct handed down from generation to generation, locale to locale, family to family, even guild or occupation or virtual community to guild, occupation or virtual community.  It is deeply internalized by all recipients, believed without question, twisted, bent, nudged and deformed by all manner of individual quirks, tastes and idiosyncrasies, until it no longer delivers the goods it was intended to deliver.  And on that last point, Berger and Luckmann may have been overly optimistic.

And though my conservative, evangelical, fundamental Christian upbringing made me desirous to argue  that reality is not—and cannot be—socially constructed, it was my socialization in that community that made me most aware that the knowledge of reality is, in fact, socially constructed.  I had witnessed how alarmed and concerned my elders were any time they heard or read anything contrary to the laws of God revealed in the Bible.  They couldn’t very well deny the social construction of reality when they spent their lives trying to halt or reverse it (at very least, they complained about it) because it proceeded without reference to God, Christ or the Bible.

No, it’s not what I had meant by reality; it’s not what I had hoped for reality.  But I was beginning to see that this knowledge of reality mediated my experience of reality.  And the knowledge of reality is socially constructed by parents and teachers and legislators and thinkers and writers and pundits and poets and entertainers and all manner of people, even theologians, priests and preachers.

 

Addendum: May 10, 2020
A table comparing Paul’s quotation of Exodus 33:19 from the Septuagint follows:

Romans 9:15b (NET Parallel Greek)

 Exodus 33:19b (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 33:19b (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ, καὶ οἰκτειρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτείρω

Romans 9:15b (NET)

 Exodus 33:19b (NETS)

Exodus 33:19b (English Elpenor)
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and will have pity on whom I will have pity.

Tables comparing Exodus 33:19; Psalm 127:3; 127:4 and 127:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing Exodus 33:19; Psalm 127:3 (126:3); 127:4 (126:4) and 127:5 (126:5) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Exodus 33:19 (Tanakh)

 Exodus 33:19 (KJV)

Exodus 33:19 (NET)
And He said: ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of HaShem before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’ And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And the Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious; I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”

Exodus 33:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 33:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ἐγὼ παρελεύσομαι πρότερός σου τῇ δόξῃ μου καὶ καλέσω ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου κύριος ἐναντίον σου καὶ ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω καὶ εἶπεν· ἐγὼ παρελεύσομαι πρότερός σου τῇ δόξῃ μου καὶ καλέσω τῷ ὀνόματί μου, Κύριος ἐναντίον σου· καὶ ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ, καὶ οἰκτειρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτείρω

Exodus 33:19 (NETS)

Exodus 33:19 (English Elpenor)
And he said, “I will pass by before you in my glory, and I will call by my name “Lord” before you.  And I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.” And [God] said, I will pass by before thee with my glory, and I will call by my name, the Lord, before thee; and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and will have pity on whom I will have pity.

Psalm 127:3 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:3 (KJV)

Psalm 127:3 (NET)
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Yes, sons are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalm 127:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἰδοὺ ἡ κληρονομία κυρίου υἱοί ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γαστρός ἰδοὺ ἡ κληρονομία Κυρίου υἱοί, ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γαστρός

Psalm 126:3 (NETS)

Psalm 126:3 (English Elpenor)
Look, the heritage from the Lord is sons, the wage of the fruit of the womb. Behold, the inheritance of the Lord, children, the reward of the fruit of the womb.

Psalm 127:4 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:4 (KJV)

Psalm 127:4 (NET)
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.

Psalm 127:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὡσεὶ βέλη ἐν χειρὶ δυνατοῦ οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων ὡσεὶ βέλη ἐν χειρὶ δυνατοῦ, οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων

Psalm 126:4 (NETS)

Psalm 126:4 (English Elpenor)
Like arrows in the hand of a powerful one, so are the sons of those expelled. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of those who were outcasts.

Psalm 127:5 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:5 (KJV)

Psalm 127:5 (NET)
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.  They will not be put to shame when they confront enemies at the city gate.

Psalm 127:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μακάριος ἄνθρωπος ὃς πληρώσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ καταισχυνθήσονται ὅταν λαλῶσι τοῗς ἐχθροῗς αὐτῶν ἐν πύλῃ μακάριος ὃς πληρώσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν· οὐ καταισχυνθήσονται, ὅταν λαλῶσι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτῶν ἐν πύλαις

Psalm 126:5 (NETS)

Psalm 126:5 (English Elpenor)
Happy the person who will satisfy his desire with them.  They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in a gate. Blessed is the man who shall satisfy his desire with them: they shall not be ashamed when they shall speak to their enemies in the gates.

1 Exodus 33:19 (NET)

2 Romans 9:15 (NET)

3 2 Samuel 12:15 (NET) Table

David’s Forgiveness, Part 1

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How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, Psalm 119 begins, who obey the law of the Lord.   How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart, who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps.  You demand that your precepts be carefully kept.1  Every word is true [See Addendum below], but the psalmist was aware that his actions were not blameless, that he did not obey the Law of the Lord, or follow in his footsteps.

If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes!  The Psalm continues.  Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands.2  The psalmist made promises, whether foxhole promises or genuine I can’t say for sure.  I will give you sincere thanks, when I learn your just regulations.  I will keep your statutes.3  The psalmist’s final plea persuades me, however, that the spirit was willing even if the flesh was weak.  Do not completely abandon me!4

This is the human condition before God in a nutshell.  It sets the stage as I begin to grapple with what happened to David as a result of his sin.  I want to analyze David’s sin like this:

God’s Law – Exodus 20:1, 13, 14 (NET)

David’s Sin – 2 Samuel 12:9 (NET)5 Table
God spoke all these words (dâbâr, הדברים) [Table]: [David showed] contempt for the word (dâbâr, דבר) of the Lord by doing evil in [his] sight…
You shall not murder [Table]. 1. [he] struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword
You shall not commit adultery [Table]. 2. [he took] his wife as [his] own

I have returned to this incident over and over, trying to understand the Gospel and David’s relationship to it in the Lord’s mind.  Initially, given my perverse predilections, I analyzed 2 Samuel 12:9b-12 and 14 as “Sin” and its corresponding “Punishment.”

Sin

Punishment
You have killed [Uriah] with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9 (NET)

 So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET) Table
For [Because] you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

 I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion.  He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!  Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.

2 Samuel 12:11,12 (NET) Table1 Table2
…because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter…

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET) Table

 …the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET)

The problem with my initial analysis was that it tainted the Lord’s forgiveness in my mind.  I felt all warm and fuzzy about that forgiveness when I read the words, but my analysis convinced me that what the Lord actually did was reduce David’s sentence.

Sin

Punishment

David’s Actual Punishment
You have killed [Uriah] with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9 (NET)

 Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death….if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Exodus 21:12, 14 (NET) Table1 Table2

 So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)
For [Because] you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

 If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Leviticus 20:10 (NET) Table

 I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight! Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.

2 Samuel 12:11, 12 (NET)
…because you have treated (nā’aṣ, נאץ) the Lord with such contempt (nā’aṣ, נאצת) in this matter…

2 Samuel 12:14a (NET)

?

 …the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14b (NET)

I couldn’t find a punishment in the law to relate directly to 2 Samuel 12:14a.  The Hebrew word for the way David treated the Lord (nâʼats, נאץ) is found first in Numbers.  When the Israelite spies returned from the promised land, all but Caleb said (Numbers 13:31-33 NET):

We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!…The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants.  All the people we saw there are of great stature.  We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.

This majority opinion discouraged the people.  They complained to Moses and Aaron (Numbers 14:2b-4 NET):

If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!  Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder?  Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?…Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.

I was having a similar meltdown, blaming Jesus (A.K.A. “that vengeful Jehovah”) for punishing David’s innocent son for David’s sin.  Moses and Aaron prostrated themselves before their distraught people.  Joshua and Caleb rushed in, tore their robes, and said (Numbers 14:7-9 NET):

The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.  If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey.  Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.  Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them!

The people threatened to stone them and probably would have if the glory of the Lord had not appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.6  The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise (nā’aṣ, ינאצני) me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?7

This same Hebrew word occurs in Deuteronomy 31:16-21 (NET):

Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going.  They will reject (ʽâzab, ועזבני) me and break my covenant that I have made with them.  At that time my anger will erupt against them and I will abandon (ʽâzab, ועזבתים) them and hide my face from them until they are devoured.  Many disasters and distresses will overcome them so that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters overcome us because our God is not among us?’  But I will certainly hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods.  Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites.  Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites!  For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they eat their fill and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject (nā’aṣ, ונאצוני) me and break my covenant.  Then when many disasters and distresses overcome them this song will testify against them, for their descendants will not forget it.  I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to the land I have promised.”

The unbelief and rebellion in my heart that came from calling the death of David’s son a punishment for David’s sin caused me to rethink my position.  I noticed then that 2 Samuel 12:14 came after 2 Samuel 12:13 (NET Table): Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!”  Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven [See Addendum below] your sin.  You are not going to die.”

That’s right, it finally dawned on me, the punishment for David’s sin was death.  Nathan prophesied the death of David’s son after God forgave David.  If these events, for lack of a better term, were punishments they would be David’s death.  They couldn’t be punishments.  Perhaps these events had as much to do with David’s forgiveness as with his sin, I thought.  God’s forgiveness was the intervening event that changed everything, otherwise David would be dead, no fuss, no muss, and I wouldn’t be confused, trying to figure out how to think and feel about events that couldn’t happen to a dead man.

 

Addendum: November 22, 2014
For some reason it didn’t occur to me two years ago to question the translation of ʽâbar as forgiven.  The Septuagint’s παρεβίβασεν [February 15, 2018: παρεβίβασεν is a form of παραβιβάζω: “to put aside, remove, to usurp, to pass over”] was not defined on most sites I visited.  One site braved “cause to mount.”  I’m not inclined to touch that at the moment, beyond the observation that it doesn’t sound like the translators of the Septuagint believed that David was forgiven anything.  Only the modern translations and paraphrases in my possession, NET and CEV, translate ʽâbar as forgiven (forgives, TEV, TMSG); put away, KJV, NKJV, ASV, DNT; taken away, GWT, NIV; pass away, YLT.  If put away, taken away or pass away are something less than forgiven, I would consider returning to my original position that the events following the ʽâbar of David’s sin are punishments.

 

Addendum: April 14, 2020
The difference between the Masoretic text and Septuagint in Psalm 119:2 (118:2) seemed important enough to highlight.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Psalm 119:2 (Tanakh) Psalm 119:2 (NET) Psalm 118:2 (NETS)

Psalm 118:2 (English Elpenor)
Blessed are they that keep (נֹֽצְרֵ֥י) his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. How blessed are those who observe (nāṣar, נצרי) his rules, and seek him with all their heart, Happy are those who search out (ἐξερευνῶντες) his testimonies; wholeheartedly they will seek (ἐκζητήσουσιν) him. Blessed are they that search out (ἐξερευνῶντες) his testimonies: they will diligently seek (ἐκζητήσουσιν) him with the whole heart.

Where the Masoretic text had (nāṣar, נֹֽצְרֵ֥י), the rabbis chose ἐξερευνῶντες (a form of ἐξερευνάω).  They firmly established the link between searching the Scriptures and seeking the Lord.  The Greek word translated seek in the Septuagint was ἐκζητήσουσιν (a form of ἐκζητέω).  Running נֹֽצְרֵ֥י through Morfix was very interesting.

Morfix
Hebrew Tanakh Homographs Definition
נֹֽצְרֵ֥ keep נֵצֶר stem, shoot; (literary) scion; נצרים – reeds
נָצַר (literary) to guard, to save; (weaponry) to lock; to keep, to maintain
הֵצֵר to narrow; (sewing) to take in
יָצַר to create; to produce, to generate
נִצֵּר to Christianize
הֵצֵר to be sorry (for something), to regret

Peter used different forms of both ἐξερευνάω and ἐκζητέω in his first letter (1 Peter 1:10-12 NET):

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched (ἐξεζήτησαν, a form of ἐκζητέω) and investigated carefully8 (ἐξηραύνησαν, a form of ἐξερευνάω).  They probed (ἐραυνῶντες, a form of ἐρευνάω) into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.  They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you,9 in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of.

Again, the rabbis who translated the Hebrew text into Greek before Jesus had come to be rejected by Israel understood Psalm 119:3 (118:3) differently, or had different Hebrew text to understand and translate.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Psalm 119:3 (Tanakh) Psalm 119:3 (NET) Psalm 118:3 (NETS)

Psalm 118:3 (English Elpenor)
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps. For those who practice lawlessness did not walk in his ways. For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways.

Tables comparing Psalm 119:1; 119:2; 119:3; 119:4; 119:5; 119:6; 119:7; 119:8; Numbers 13:31; 13:32; 13:33; 14:2; 14:3; 14:4; 14:7; 14:8; 14:9; 14:10; 14:11; Deuteronomy 31:16; 31:17; 31:18; 31:19; 31:20 and 31:21 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and Psalm 119:1 (118:1); 119:2 (118:2); 119:3 (118:3); 119:4 (118:4); 119:5 (118:5); 119:6 (118:6); 119:7 (118:7); 119:8 (118:8); Numbers 13:31 (13:32); 13:32 (13:33); 13:33 (13:34); 14:2 (14:2, 3a); 14:3 (14:3b); 14:4; 14:7; 14:8; 14:9; 14:10; 14:11; Deuteronomy 31:16; 31:17; 31:18; 31:19; 31:20 and 31:21 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing 1 Peter 1:10 and 1:12 in the NET and KJV.

Psalm 119:1 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:1 (KJV)

Psalm 119:1 (NET)
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. ALEPH.  Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. (Alef) How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, who obey the law of the Lord.

Psalm 119:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
αλληλουια αʹ αλφ μακάριοι οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν νόμῳ κυρίου ᾿Αλληλούϊα. – ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΙ οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν νόμῳ Κυρίου

Psalm 118:1 (NETS)

Psalm 118:1 (English Elpenor)
Hallelouia.  alph.  Happy are the blameless in way, who walk in the Lord’s law. [Alleluia.]  Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Psalm 119:2 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:2 (KJV)

Psalm 119:2 (NET)
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart,

Psalm 119:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μακάριοι οἱ ἐξερευνῶντες τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ ἐκζητήσουσιν αὐτόν μακάριοι οἱ ἐξερευνῶντες τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ· ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ ἐκζητήσουσιν αὐτόν

Psalm 118:2 (NETS)

Psalm 118:2 (English Elpenor)
Happy are those who search out his testimonies; wholeheartedly they will seek him. Blessed are they that search out his testimonies: they will diligently seek him with the whole heart.

Psalm 119:3 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:3 (KJV)

Psalm 119:3 (NET)
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Yea, they do no unrighteousness; They walk in his ways. who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps.

Psalm 119:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐν ταῗς ὁδοῗς αὐτοῦ ἐπορεύθησαν οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπορεύθησαν

Psalm 118:3 (NETS)

Psalm 118:3 (English Elpenor)
For those who practice lawlessness did not walk in his ways. For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways.

Psalm 119:4 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:4 (KJV)

Psalm 119:4 (NET)
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. You demand that your precepts be carefully kept.

Psalm 119:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
σὺ ἐνετείλω τὰς ἐντολάς σου φυλάξασθαι σφόδρα σὺ ἐνετείλω τὰς ἐντολάς σου τοῦ φυλάξασθαι σφόδρα

Psalm 118:4 (NETS)

Psalm 118:4 (English Elpenor)
It is you who commanded your commandments to keep diligently. Thou hast commanded [us] diligently to keep thy precepts.

Psalm 119:5 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:5 (KJV)

Psalm 119:5 (NET)
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Oh that my ways were established To observe thy statutes! If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes.

Psalm 119:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὄφελον κατευθυνθείησαν αἱ ὁδοί μου τοῦ φυλάξασθαι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ὄφελον κατευθυνθείησαν αἱ ὁδοί μου τοῦ φυλάξασθαι τὰ δικαιώματά σου.

Psalm 118:5 (NETS)

Psalm 118:5 (English Elpenor)
O that my ways may be directed to keep your statutes! O that my ways were directed to keep thine ordinances.

Psalm 119:6 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:6 (KJV)

Psalm 119:6 (NET)
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands.

Psalm 119:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τότε οὐ μὴ ἐπαισχυνθῶ ἐν τῷ με ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς σου τότε οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ ἐν τῷ με ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς σου

Psalm 118:6 (NETS)

Psalm 118:6 (English Elpenor)
Then I shall not be put to shame, as I regard all your commandments. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect to all thy commandments.

Psalm 119:7 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:7 (KJV)

Psalm 119:7 (NET)
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will give you sincere thanks, when I learn your just regulations.

Psalm 119:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι κύριε ἐν εὐθύτητι καρδίας ἐν τῷ μεμαθηκέναι με τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν εὐθύτητι καρδίας ἐν τῷ μεμαθηκέναι με τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου

Psalm 118:7 (NETS)

Psalm 118:7 (English Elpenor)
I will acknowledge you with uprightness of heart, when I have learned the judgments of your righteousness. I will give thee thanks with uprightness of heart, when I have learnt the judgments of thy righteousness.

Psalm 119:8 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:8 (KJV)

Psalm 119:8 (NET)
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. I will keep your statutes.  Do not completely abandon me.

Psalm 119:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τὰ δικαιώματά σου φυλάξω μή με ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἕως σφόδρα τὰ δικαιώματά σου φυλάξω· μή με ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἕως σφόδρα

Psalm 118:8 (NETS)

Psalm 118:8 (English Elpenor)
Your statutes I will observe; do not utterly forsake me. I will keep thine ordinances: O forsake me not greatly.

Numbers 13:31 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 13:31 (KJV)

Numbers 13:31 (NET)
But the men that went up with him said: ‘We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.’ But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

Numbers 13:31 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 13:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ συναναβάντες μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ εἶπαν οὐκ ἀναβαίνομεν ὅτι οὐ μὴ δυνώμεθα ἀναβῆναι πρὸς τὸ ἔθνος ὅτι ἰσχυρότερόν ἐστιν ἡμῶν μᾶλλον καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ συναναβάντες μετ’ αὐτοῦ εἶπαν· οὐκ ἀναβαίνομεν, ὅτι οὐ μὴ δυνώμεθα ἀναβῆναι πρὸς τὸ ἔθνος, ὅτι ἰσχυρότερον ἡμῶν ἐστι μᾶλλον.

Numbers 13:32 (NETS)

Numbers 13:32 (English Elpenor)
But the men who went up together with him said, “We are not going up, because by no means will we be able to go up against the nation, because they are much stronger than we.” But the men that went up together with him said, We will not go up, for we shall not by any means be able to go up against the nation, for it is much stronger than we.

Numbers 13:32 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 13:32 (KJV)

Numbers 13:32 (NET)
And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants.  All the people we saw there are of great stature.

Numbers 13:32 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 13:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξήνεγκαν ἔκστασιν τῆς γῆς ἣν κατεσκέψαντο αὐτήν πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ λέγοντες τὴν γῆν ἣν παρήλθομεν αὐτὴν κατασκέψασθαι γῆ κατέσθουσα τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς ἐστιν πᾶς ὁ λαός ὃν ἑωράκαμεν ἐν αὐτῇ ἄνδρες ὑπερμήκεις καὶ ἐξήνεγκαν ἔκστασιν τῆς γῆς, ἣν κατεσκέψαντο αὐτὴν πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραήλ, λέγοντες· τὴν γῆν, ἣν παρήλθομεν αὐτὴν κατασκέψασθαι, γῆ κατέσθουσα τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπ’ αὐτῆς ἐστι· καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός, ὃν ἑωράκαμεν ἐν αὐτῇ, ἄνδρες ὑπερμήκεις

Numbers 13:33 (NETS)

Numbers 13:33 (English Elpenor)
And they brought about consternation for the land that they had spied out, to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land we passed through to spy out—it is a land that devours those who live upon it.  All the people that we saw in it are very tall men, And they brought a horror of that land which they surveyed upon the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed by to survey it, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of extraordinary stature.

Numbers 13:33 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 13:33 (KJV)

Numbers 13:33 (NET)
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’ And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.”

Numbers 13:33 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 13:34 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκεῗ ἑωράκαμεν τοὺς γίγαντας καὶ ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκεῖ ἑωράκαμεν τοὺς γίγαντας καὶ ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν

Numbers 13:34 (NETS)

Numbers 13:34 (English Elpenor)
and we have seen the giants there, and we were before them like grasshoppers—indeed even so we were before them.” And there we saw the giants; and we were before them as locusts, yea even so were we before them.

Numbers 14:2 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:2 (KJV)

Numbers 14:2 (NET)
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would we had died in this wilderness! And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ διεγόγγυζον ἐπὶ Μωυσῆν καὶ Ααρων πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγή ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἢ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ εἰ ἀπεθάνομεν καὶ διεγόγγυζον ἐπὶ Μωυσῆν καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγή· ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ἢ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ εἰ ἀπεθάνομεν

Numbers 14:2 (NETS)

Numbers 14:2, 3a (English Elpenor)
And all the sons of Israel were complaining against Moyses and Aaron, and all the congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!  Or if we had died in this wilderness! And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; and all the congregation said to them, (3) Would we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness, would we had died!

Numbers 14:3 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:3 (KJV)

Numbers 14:3 (NET)
And wherefore doth HaShem bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword?  Our wives and our little ones will be a prey; were it not better for us to return into Egypt?’ And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder?  Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Numbers 14:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἵνα τί κύριος εἰσάγει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην πεσεῗν ἐν πολέμῳ αἱ γυναῗκες ἡμῶν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἔσονται εἰς διαρπαγήν νῦν οὖν βέλτιον ἡμῗν ἐστιν ἀποστραφῆναι εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἱνατί Κύριος εἰσάγει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην πεσεῖν ἐν πολέμῳ; αἱ γυναῖκες ἡμῶν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἔσονται εἰς διαρπαγήν· νῦν οὖν βέλτιον ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἀποστραφῆναι εἰς Αἴγυπτον

Numbers 14:3 (NETS)

Numbers 14:3b (English Elpenor)
And why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall in war? Our wives and children will become plunder!  Now then, it is better for us to turn back into Egypt.” and why does the Lord bring us into this land to fall in war? our wives and our children shall be for a prey: now then it is better to return into Egypt.

Numbers 14:4 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:4 (KJV)

Numbers 14:4 (NET)
And they said one to another: ‘Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.’ And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν ἕτερος τῷ ἑτέρῳ δῶμεν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ ἀποστρέψωμεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ εἶπαν ἕτερος τῷ ἑτέρῳ· δῶμεν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ ἀποστρέψωμεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον

Numbers 14:4 (NETS)

Numbers 14:4 (English Elpenor)
And they said one to the other, “Let us assign a chief and turn back into Egypt.” And they said one to another, Let us make a ruler, and return into Egypt.

Numbers 14:7 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:7 (KJV)

Numbers 14:7 (NET)
And they spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.

Numbers 14:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν Ισραηλ λέγοντες ἡ γῆ ἣν κατεσκεψάμεθα αὐτήν ἀγαθή ἐστιν σφόδρα σφόδρα καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγοντες· ἡ γῆ, ἣν κατεσκεψάμεθα αὐτήν, ἀγαθή ἐστι σφόδρα σφόδρα

Numbers 14:7 (NETS)

Numbers 14:7 (English Elpenor)
and they said to all the congregation of Israel’s sons, saying, “The land, that which we spied out, is very, very good. and spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we surveyed is indeed extremely good.

Numbers 14:8 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:8 (KJV)

Numbers 14:8 (NET)
If HaShem delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us–a land which floweth with milk and honey. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land that is flowing with milk and honey.

Numbers 14:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἰ αἱρετίζει ἡμᾶς κύριος εἰσάξει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ δώσει αὐτὴν ἡμῗν γῆ ἥτις ἐστὶν ῥέουσα γάλα καὶ μέλι εἰ αἱρετίζει ἡμᾶς Κύριος, εἰσάξει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ δώσει αὐτὴν ἡμῖν, γῆ ἥτις ἐστὶ ῥέουσα γάλα καὶ μέλι

Numbers 14:8 (NETS)

Numbers 14:8 (English Elpenor)
If the Lord is choosing us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us: a land that is flowing with milk and honey. If the Lord choose us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.

Numbers 14:9 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:9 (KJV)

Numbers 14:9 (NET)
Only rebel not against HaShem, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and HaShem is with us; fear them not.’ Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.  Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them!”

Numbers 14:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου μὴ ἀποστάται γίνεσθε ὑμεῗς δὲ μὴ φοβηθῆτε τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς ὅτι κατάβρωμα ἡμῗν ἐστιν ἀφέστηκεν γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐν ἡμῗν μὴ φοβηθῆτε αὐτούς ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου μὴ ἀποστάται γίνεσθε· ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ φοβηθῆτε τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς, ὅτι κατάβρωμα ἡμῖν ἐστιν· ἀφέστηκε γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἐν ἡμῖν· μὴ φοβηθῆτε αὐτούς

Numbers 14:9 (NETS)

Numbers 14:9 (English Elpenor)
Only do not become deserters from the Lord.  But as for you, do not fear the people of the land, since they are food for us; for the right time has departed from them, but the Lord is among us.  Do not fear them.” Only depart not from the Lord; and fear ye not the people of the land, for they are meat for us; for the season [of prosperity] is departed from them, but the Lord [is] among us: fear them not.

Numbers 14:10 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:10 (KJV)

Numbers 14:10 (NET)
But all the congregation bade stone them with stones, when the glory of HaShem appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.  And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. However, the whole community threatened to stone them.  But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

Numbers 14:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγὴ καταλιθοβολῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἐν λίθοις καὶ ἡ δόξα κυρίου ὤφθη ἐν νεφέλῃ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν πᾶσι τοῗς υἱοῗς Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπε πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγὴ καταλιθοβολῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἐν λίθοις. καὶ ἡ δόξα Κυρίου ὤφθη ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου πᾶσι τοῖς υἱοῖς ᾿Ισραήλ.

Numbers 14:10 (NETS)

Numbers 14:10 (English Elpenor)
And all the congregation said that they would stone them with stones.  And the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud upon the tent of witness among all the sons of Israel. And all the congregation bade stone them with stones; and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud on the tabernacle of witness to all the children of Israel.

Numbers 14:11 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:11 (KJV)

Numbers 14:11 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘How long will this people despise Me? and how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

Numbers 14:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἕως τίνος παροξύνει με ὁ λαὸς οὗτος καὶ ἕως τίνος οὐ πιστεύουσίν μοι ἐν πᾶσιν τοῗς σημείοις οἷς ἐποίησα ἐν αὐτοῗς καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ἕως τίνος παροξύνει με ὁ λαὸς οὗτος καὶ ἕως τίνος οὐ πιστεύουσί μοι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς σημείοις, οἷς ἐποίησα ἐν αὐτοῖς

Numbers 14:11 (NETS)

Numbers 14:11 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to Moyses, “How long is this people going to provoke me, and how long are they not going to believe me amidst all the signs that I have performed among them? And the Lord said to Moses, How long does this people provoke me? and how long do they refuse to believe me for all the signs which I have wrought among them?

Deuteronomy 31:16 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:16 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:16 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Behold, thou art about to sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them. And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going.  They will reject me and break my covenant that I have made with them.

Deuteronomy 31:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἰδοὺ σὺ κοιμᾷ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου καὶ ἀναστὰς ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ἐκπορνεύσει ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς γῆς εἰς ἣν οὗτος εἰσπορεύεται ἐκεῗ εἰς αὐτήν καὶ ἐγκαταλείψουσίν με καὶ διασκεδάσουσιν τὴν διαθήκην μου ἣν διεθέμην αὐτοῗς καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ἰδοὺ σὺ κοιμᾷ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου, καὶ ἀναστὰς οὗτος ὁ λαὸς ἐκπορνεύσει ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς γῆς, εἰς ἣν οὗτος εἰσπορεύεται, καὶ καταλείψουσί με καὶ διασκεδάσουσι τὴν διαθήκην μου, ἣν διεθέμην αὐτοῖς

Deuteronomy 31:16 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:16 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to Moyses, “Look, you are lying down with your fathers.  And this people, having risen up, will prostitute after foreign gods of the land into which it is going there into it, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have established with them. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, into which they are entering: and they will forsake me, and break my covenant, which I made with them.

Deuteronomy 31:17 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:17 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:17 (NET)
Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our G-d is not among us? Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? At that time my anger will erupt against them, and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured.  Many disasters and distresses will overcome them so that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters overcome us because our God is not among us?’

Deuteronomy 31:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὀργισθήσομαι θυμῷ εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ καταλείψω αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ ἔσται κατάβρωμα καὶ εὑρήσουσιν αὐτὸν κακὰ πολλὰ καὶ θλίψεις καὶ ἐρεῗ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ διότι οὐκ ἔστιν κύριος ὁ θεός μου ἐν ἐμοί εὕροσάν με τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα καὶ ὀργισθήσομαι θυμῷ εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ καταλείψω αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔσται κατάβρωμα, καὶ εὑρήσουσιν αὐτὸν κακὰ πολλὰ καὶ θλίψεις, καὶ ἐρεῖ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ· διότι οὐκ ἔστι Κύριος ὁ Θεός μου ἐν ἐμοί, εὕροσάν με τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα

Deuteronomy 31:17 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:17 (English Elpenor)
And I shall be angry with wrath against them in that day, and I will abandon them and turn away my face from them, and it will become food, and many evils and afflictions will find it.  And in that day it will say, ‘Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have found me.’ And I will be very angry with them in that day, and I will leave them and turn my face away from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and afflictions shall come upon them; and they shall say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have come upon me.

Deuteronomy 31:18 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:18 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:18 (NET)
And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. But I will certainly hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods.

Deuteronomy 31:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγὼ δὲ ἀποστροφῇ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ διὰ πάσας τὰς κακίας ἃς ἐποίησαν ὅτι ἐπέστρεψαν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους ἐγὼ δὲ ἀποστροφῇ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ διὰ πάσας τὰς κακίας, ἃς ἐποίησαν, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψαν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους

Deuteronomy 31:18 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:18 (English Elpenor)
But I by turning will turn my face from them on that day, on account of all the evils they have done, because they turned to foreign gods. And I will surely turn away my face from them in that day, because of all their evil doings which they have done, because they turned aside after strange gods.

Deuteronomy 31:19 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:19 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:19 (NET)
Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites.  Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites!

Deuteronomy 31:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ νῦν γράψατε τὰ ῥήματα τῆς ᾠδῆς ταύτης καὶ διδάξετε αὐτὴν τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ καὶ ἐμβαλεῗτε αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν ἵνα γένηταί μοι ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη εἰς μαρτύριον ἐν υἱοῗς Ισραηλ καὶ νῦν γράψατε τὰ ρήματα τῆς ᾠδῆς ταύτης καὶ διδάξατε αὐτὴν τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἐμβαλεῖτε αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν, ἵνα γένηταί μοι ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη κατὰ πρόσωπον μαρτυροῦσα ἐν υἱοῖς ᾿Ισραήλ

Deuteronomy 31:19 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:19 (English Elpenor)
And now write the words of this song, and teach it to the sons of Israel, and put it in their mouth in order that this song may be to me a witness among the sons of Israel. And now write the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel, and ye shall put it into their mouth, that this song may witness for me among the children of Israel to their face.

Deuteronomy 31:20 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:20 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:20 (NET)
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten their fill, and waxen fat; and turned unto other gods, and served them, and despised Me, and broken My covenant; For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their ancestors—one flowing with milk and honey—and they eat their fill and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:20 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:20 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἰσάξω γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν ἣν ὤμοσα τοῗς πατράσιν αὐτῶν δοῦναι αὐτοῗς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι καὶ φάγονται καὶ ἐμπλησθέντες κορήσουσιν καὶ ἐπιστραφήσονται ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ λατρεύσουσιν αὐτοῗς καὶ παροξυνοῦσίν με καὶ διασκεδάσουσιν τὴν διαθήκην μου εἰσάξω γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν δοῦναι αὐτοῖς, γῆν ρέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι, καὶ φάγονται καὶ ἐμπλησθέντες κορήσουσι· καί ἐπιστραφήσονται ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ λατρεύσουσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ παροξυνοῦσί με καὶ διασκεδάσουσι τὴν διαθήκην μου

Deuteronomy 31:20 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:20 (English Elpenor)
For I will bring them into the good land which I swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they shall eat and, filled, shall be sated and will turn to foreign gods and serve them and provoke me and break my covenant. For I will bring them into the good land, which I sware to their fathers, to give to them a land flowing with milk and honey: and they shall eat and be filled and satisfy [themselves]; then will they turn aside after other gods, and serve them, and they will provoke me, and break my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:21 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:21 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:21 (NET)
then it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their imagination how they do even now, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.’ And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware. Then when many disasters and distresses overcome them this song will testify against them, for their descendants will not forget it.  I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to the land I have promised.”

Deuteronomy 31:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀντικαταστήσεται ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη κατὰ πρόσωπον μαρτυροῦσα οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐπιλησθῇ ἀπὸ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπὸ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῶν ὅσα ποιοῦσιν ὧδε σήμερον πρὸ τοῦ εἰσαγαγεῗν με αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν ἣν ὤμοσα τοῗς πατράσιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀντικαταστήσεται ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη κατὰ πρόσωπον μαρτυροῦσα, οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐπιλησθῇ ἀπὸ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπὸ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν· ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῶν, ὅσα ποιοῦσιν ὧδε σήμερον πρὸ τοῦ εἰσαγαγεῖν με αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν

Deuteronomy 31:21 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:21 (English Elpenor)
And this song will confront them, by witnessing contrariwise, for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring. For I know their evil, what they are doing here today, before I have brought them into the good land I swore to their fathers. And this song shall stand up to witness against them; for they shall not forget it out of their mouth, or out of the mouth of their seed; for I know their wickedness, what they are doing here this day, before I have brought them into the good land, which sware to their fathers.

1 Peter 1:10 (NET)

1 Peter 1:10 (KJV)
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
περὶ ἧς σωτηρίας ἐξεζήτησαν καὶ ἐξηραύνησαν προφῆται οἱ περὶ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς χάριτος προφητεύσαντες περι ης σωτηριας εξεζητησαν και εξηρευνησαν προφηται οι περι της εις υμας χαριτος προφητευσαντες περι ης σωτηριας εξεζητησαν και εξηρευνησαν προφηται οι περι της εις υμας χαριτος προφητευσαντες

1 Peter 1:12 (NET)

1 Peter 1:12 (KJV)
They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οἷς ἀπεκαλύφθη ὅτι οὐχ ἑαυτοῖς ὑμῖν δὲ διηκόνουν αὐτά, ἃ νῦν ἀνηγγέλη ὑμῖν διὰ τῶν εὐαγγελισαμένων ὑμᾶς [ἐν] πνεύματι ἁγίῳ ἀποσταλέντι ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι οις απεκαλυφθη οτι ουχ εαυτοις ημιν δε διηκονουν αυτα α νυν ανηγγελη υμιν δια των ευαγγελισαμενων υμας εν πνευματι αγιω αποσταλεντι απ ουρανου εις α επιθυμουσιν αγγελοι παρακυψαι οις απεκαλυφθη οτι ουχ εαυτοις υμιν δε διηκονουν αυτα α νυν ανηγγελη υμιν δια των ευαγγελισαμενων υμας εν πνευματι αγιω αποσταλεντι απ ουρανου εις α επιθυμουσιν αγγελοι παρακυψαι

1 Psalm 119:1-4 (NET)

2 Psalm 119:5, 6 (NET)

3 Psalm 119:7, 8a (NET)

4 Psalm 119:8b (NET)  A note in the NET, apparently by a dissenting translator, could spin this differently if it is the more correct translation.  “Heb ‘do not abandon me to excess.’ For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (’ad mÿ’od, ‘to excess’), see Ps 38:6, 8.”

5 April 13, 2020: 2 Samuel 12:9 in the NET now reads: Why have you shown contempt for the Lord’s decrees (dâbâr, דבר) by doing evil in my sight?  You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife to be your own wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

6 Numbers 14:10 (NET)

7 Numbers 14:11 (NET)

9 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had ὑμῖν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had ημιν (KJV: unto us).