Proverbs 6:20-22

At the end of September, I started reading a chapter of Proverbs before I go to bed.  I noted before that there's a similarity between Proverbs 1:8-9 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9, but I found an even stronger resemblance between that same passage in Deuteronomy and Proverbs 6:20-22:  "20 My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.  21 Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.  22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you."

Here's Deuteronomy 6:4-9:  "4 'Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.'"

Both passages talk about "bind[ing]" these commandments to one's self, but the strongest similarity is between Deuteronomy 6:7 and Proverbs 6:22:  "when you walk... when you lie down... and when you rise/awake."

Daniel 9:18

I've been reading Daniel lately, and a couple weeks ago, I found the same sort of translation error that I found in Deuteronomy 9:6 last month.  The ESV translates Daniel 9:18 as:  "O my God, incline your ear and hear.  Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name.  For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy."  (The NIV is no better; its translation is "Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name.  We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.")

As with that verse in Deuteronomy, there's a misplaced "not."  It's clear from looking at the Hebrew that "because of our righteousness" is what should be negated, not our "present[ing] our pleas before you."  A better translation would be:  "We present our pleas before you not because of our righteousness but because of your great mercy."

Deuteronomy 9:6

A little over a month ago, the Daily Dose of Hebrew went over Deuteronomy 9:6:

My routine is to copy the verse, read it in my Bible, and then watch the video.  While doing this, I found a translation error in the ESV, which translates this verse as:  "Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people."  The "not" is misplaced.  It's clear from the Hebrew word order that "because of your righteousness" is what's negated, not God's "giving you this good land."  The NIV translation gets it right:  "Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people."