Keluaran 18:6

18:6 He said ¹  to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her.”

Keluaran 18:17

18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What ²  you are doing is not good!

Keluaran 18:24

18:24 Moses listened to ³  his father-in-law and did everything he had said.

Keluaran 18:27

18:27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, ⁴  and so Jethro ⁵  went ⁶  to his own land. ⁷ 

Keluaran 25:4

25:4 blue, ⁸  purple, ⁹  scarlet, ¹⁰  fine linen, ¹¹  goat’s hair, ¹² 

Keluaran 28:31

28:31 “You are to make the robe ¹³  of the ephod completely blue.

Keluaran 35:6

35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair,

Keluaran 39:22

The Other Garments

39:22 He made the robe of the ephod completely blue, the work of a weaver.

[18:6]  ¹ sn This verse may seem out of place, since the report has already been given that they came to the desert. It begins to provide details of the event that the previous verse summarizes. The announcement in verse 6 may have come in advance by means of a messenger or at the time of arrival, either of which would fit with the attention to formal greetings in verse 7. This would suit a meeting between two important men; the status of Moses has changed. The LXX solves the problem by taking the pronoun “I” as the particle “behold” and reads it this way: “one said to Moses, ‘Behold, your father-in-law has come….’”

[18:17]  ² tn Heb “the thing.”

[18:24]  ³ tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” means “obey, comply with, heed.”

[18:27]  ⁴ tn The verb וַיְשַׁלַּח (vayshallakh) has the same root and same stem used in the passages calling for Pharaoh to “release” Israel. Here, in a peaceful and righteous relationship, Moses sent Jethro to his home.

[18:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jethro) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ⁶ tn The prepositional phrase included here Gesenius classifies as a pleonastic dativus ethicus to give special emphasis to the significance of the occurrence in question for a particular subject (GKC 381 §119.s).

[18:27]  ⁷ sn This chapter makes an excellent message on spiritual leadership of the people of God. Spiritually responsible people are to be selected to help in the work of the ministry (teaching, deciding cases, meeting needs), so that there will be peace, and so that leaders will not be exhausted. Probably capable people are more ready to do that than leaders are ready to relinquish control. But leaders have to be willing to take the risk, to entrust the task to others. Here Moses is the model of humility, receiving correction and counsel from Jethro. And Jethro is the ideal adviser, for he has no intention of remaining there to run the operation.

[25:4]  ⁸ sn The blue refers to dye made from shellfish. It has a dark blue or purple-blue, almost violet color. No significance for the color is attached.

[25:4]  ⁹ sn Likewise this color dye was imported from Phoenicia, where it was harvested from the shellfish or snail. It is a deep purple-red color.

[25:4]  ¹⁰ sn This color is made from the eggs and bodies of the worm coccus ilicus, which is found with the holly plant – so Heb “worm of brilliance.” The powder made from the dried maggots produces a bright red-yellow color (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:452). B. Jacob takes the view that these are not simply colors that are being introduced here, but fabrics dyed with these colors (Exodus, 765). At any rate, the sequence would then be metals, fabrics, and leathers (v. 5).

[25:4]  ¹¹ sn This is generally viewed as a fine Egyptian linen that had many more delicate strands than ordinary linen.

[25:4]  ¹² sn Goat’s hair was spun into yarn (35:26) and used to make the material for the first tent over the dwelling. It is ideal for tenting, since it is loosely woven and allows breezes to pass through, but with rain the fibers expand and prevent water from seeping through.

[28:31]  ¹³ tn The מְעִיל (mÿ’il), according to S. R. Driver (Exodus, 307), is a long robe worn over the ephod, perhaps open down the front, with sleeves. It is made of finer material than ordinary cloaks because it was to be worn by people in positions of rank.