13-00

God’s Covenant with Israel

This title can also be translated as: “About how God made a covenant with Israel” or “How did God make a covenant with Israel?”

13-01

After God led the Israelites through the Red Sea

This begins a new event. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/writing-newevent/01.md]])

This was the same mountain where Moses had seen the burning bush

This is background information about the mountain to which the Israelites traveled. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/writing-background/01.md]])

burning bush

Before Moses returned to Egypt, God had spoken to him from a shrub that was on fire, but that was not burned up by the fire (See: 09:12).

set up their tents

The Israelites had to travel a great distance from Egypt to the Promised Land. So they took tents with them so that they could set them up as shelters and sleep in them along the way. Some languages could translate this as: “hung their tents.”

the base of the mountain

This could be translated as: “bottom of the mountain.” This refers to the area of land that is located next to the place where the ground starts to slant upward to form a mountain.

13-02

You must always obey me and keep the covenant I am making with you.

This is a direct command from God to all of the Israelites.

keep the covenant I am making with you

This could be translated as: “do what my covenant requires you to do.” Obeying and keeping the covenant are not two different things. One way to make this clear would be to say: “obey me by keeping the covenant I am making with you.” God will soon tell them what his covenant requires.

If you do this

The connecting word If introduces a conditional statement. The blessings are dependent on the Israelites obeying the commandments God had given. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/grammar-connect-condition-hypothetical/01.md]])

my prized possession

This could be translated as: “You will be my possession that I value most” or “You will be the people that I treasure more than any other group of people” or “You will be my own precious people.”

a kingdom of priests

God speaks of his people as if they were priests. Alternate translation: “a kingdom of people who are like priests” or “a kingdom of people who do what priests do” (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/figs-metaphor/01.md]])

a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation

This could be translated as: “I will be your king and you will be like priests.” The Israelites were supposed to teach the other nations about God and be a mediator between God and the nations just as there were priests in the nation of Israel to go between God and the Israelites.

13-03

For three days

In other words, three days after they arrived at Mount Sinai and God first spoke to them.

made themselves ready for God to come near to them

This refers to ceremonial cleansing in preparation to meet with God. This could be translated as: “got ready to meet with God” or “prepared themselves to meet with God.”

sounds of loud trumpets

This could be translated as: “loud sounds came from horns” or “horns were blown and they made loud sounds” or “they heard the loud sounds of horns blowing.” These trumpets were not blown by men, but by God or by his angels.

Moses went by himself

This could be translated as: “God permitted Moses to go up, but he did not permit anyone else to go.”

13-04

Then God made a covenant with the people. He said,

What God says next is the content of the covenant, that is, he tells the people the things that they must obey. This could be translated as: “Then God made this covenant with them:”

Yahweh, your God

In some languages it might be more natural to change the order and say “your God Yahweh.” Make sure it does not sound like the Israelites had more than one God. It should be clear that Yahweh is the only God. Another way to translate this would be: “Yahweh, who is your God” or “your God, whose name is Yahweh.”

who saved you from being slaves

This could be translated as: “I freed you from slavery.”

Do not worship any other god.

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

13-05

Connecting Statement

God continues speaking to Moses.

Do not make idols

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

do not worship them

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

because

The connecting word because indicates the reason the Israelites were not to make idols or worship them (unlike other deities who did not care if people worshiped many other gods too, Yahweh was jealous of their worship). (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/grammar-connect-logic-result/01.md]])

Do not use my name in a disrespectful way

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites. This could be translated as: “Do not talk about me in a way that does not show respect and honor” or “Talk about me in a way that gives me proper respect and honor.”

Be sure to keep the Sabbath day holy

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

do all your work in six days

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

the seventh day

To translate this, it is best to use the number (seventh) rather than give the name of a specific day of the week.

to remember me

This could be translated as: “to keep me in mind” or “to honor me.”

13-06

Connecting Statement

God continues speaking to Moses.

Honor your father and your mother

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

Do not murder

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites.

Do not commit adultery

This is a command from God to all of the Israelites. This could be translated as: “Do not have sexual relations with someone else’s spouse” or “Do not have marital relations with another man’s wife or another woman’s husband.” Be sure to translate this in a way that doesn’t offend or embarrass people. Languages often have an indirect, polite way of saying this, such as: “Do not sleep with.” (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/figs-euphemism/01.md]])

Do not lie

This means: Do not say false things about other people.

13-07

these Ten Commandments

This refers to the commands God gave to Moses for the Israelites to obey. They are listed in frames 13:05 and 13:06.

two stone tablets

A tablet was a flat piece of stone or other hard material used in ancient times for writing. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/translate-unknown/01.md]])

God also gave

This can be translated as: “God also told them.”

to follow

This can be translated as: “that they must obey” or “that they must keep.”

if they obeyed

The connecting word if indicates a hypothetical conditional relationship. God’s blessing depends on the Israelites obeying the laws. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/grammar-connect-condition-hypothetical/01.md]])

But he said he would punish

The connecting word But contrasts how God would bless the Israelites if they obeyed him with how he would punish them if they did not obey him. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/grammar-connect-logic-contrast/01.md]])

if they did not obey

The connecting word if indicates a hypothetical conditional relationship. God would punish the Israelites if they did not obey the laws. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/grammar-connect-condition-hypothetical/01.md]])

13-08

make a large tent

This is background information about the tent the Israelites were to make as a place to worship God. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/writing-background/01.md]])

the room behind the curtain

This room was hidden by the curtain. Some languages would call this room the room in front of the curtain.

where God was

If this phrase would lead people to think that God was limited to living in the tent, it could be translated as: “where God revealed Himself to humans.”

13-09

God’s law

This refers to all the commandments and instructions that God had told the Israelites to obey.

would cover that person’s sin

When people brought animals to sacrifice, God chose to see the blood of the animals as a covering over their sin. This is like hiding something that is ugly or dirty by covering it.

clean in God’s sight

This could be translated as: “as if he did not have the sin according to God” or “free of the punishment for breaking God’s law.”

13-10

had given them

This could be translated as: “had told them to obey.”

to belong to God alone

From among all the nations, God had chosen the Israelites for his special purpose. This could be translated as: “to be his special nation” or “to be his own people” or “to be the nation he chose to be his people.”

13-11

the people became tired of waiting

This could be translated as: “the people became impatient because he did not return quickly” or “the people didn’t want to wait any longer for him to return.”

the people

This does not mean all the Israelite people, just the people who had grown tired of waiting for Moses. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/figs-synecdoche/01.md]])

brought gold

These were objects and jewelry made of gold, which could be melted and formed into other things.

they sinned terribly against God

They sinned in a way that was especially offensive to God. This could be translated as: “they sinned badly,” or “they did something that was very bad” or “they did something bad that made God very angry.”

13-12

made a golden idol

Aaron took the things made of gold that the people had brought to him, melted them, combined them, and formed them into the shape of a calf.

The people began to wildly worship the idol and make sacrifices to it!

This is a strong statement that expresses how shocking it was that the people would worship this idol when they had seen what God had done for them. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/figs-exclamations/01.md]])

to wildly worship

The people were sinning by worshiping the idol and also by doing sinful things as they worshiped it.

because

God had just told the Israelites that they were only to worship him because he was a jealous God, and if they did not obey they would be punished. For these reasons, God was very angry with the Israelites because of their sin. (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/grammar-connect-logic-result/01.md]])

listened to his prayer

God always hears prayer. In this situation, listened means that God agreed to do what Moses asked.

13-13

smashed the tablets

He threw the stone tablets down on the ground and they broke up into little pieces.

13-14

burned the idol and ground it into powder

Moses utterly destroyed the idol by pounding it into fine particles.

a plague

This plague may have been a serious illness. Alternate translation: “Yahweh made the people very sick.” (See: [[https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta/src/branch/master/translate/translate-unknown/01.md]])

13-15

Moses made

Moses carved the stone tablets with tools such as a hammer and chisel.

listened to

See how you translated this phrase in 13:12.

A Bible story from

These references may be slightly different in some Bible translations.