Keluaran 1:13

1:13 and they ¹  made the Israelites serve rigorously. ² 

Keluaran 4:9

4:9 And if ³  they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, ⁴  then take ⁵  some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” ⁶ 

Keluaran 7:16-17

7:16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, ⁷  “Release my people, that they may serve me ⁸  in the desert!” But until now ⁹  you have not listened. ¹⁰  7:17 Thus says the Lord: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike ¹¹  the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. ¹² 

Keluaran 12:12

12:12 I will pass through ¹³  the land of Egypt in the same ¹⁴  night, and I will attack ¹⁵  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, ¹⁶  and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. ¹⁷  I am the Lord.

Keluaran 13:9

13:9 ¹⁸  It ¹⁹  will be a sign ²⁰  for you on your hand and a memorial ²¹  on your forehead, ²²  so that the law of the Lord may be ²³  in your mouth, ²⁴  for ²⁵  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Keluaran 18:8

18:8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel’s sake, and all the hardship ²⁶  that had come on them ²⁷  along the way, and how ²⁸  the Lord had delivered them.

Keluaran 23:6

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.

Keluaran 24:15

24:15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

Keluaran 25:24

25:24 You are to overlay it with ²⁹  pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it.

Keluaran 28:18-19

28:18 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 28:19 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

Keluaran 28:43

28:43 These must be on Aaron and his sons when they enter ³⁰  to the tent of meeting, or when they approach ³¹  the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they bear no iniquity and die. ³²  It is to be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants ³³  after him. ³⁴ 

Keluaran 29:21

29:21 You are to take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it ³⁵  on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, so that he may be holy, ³⁶  he and his garments along with his sons and his sons’ garments.

Keluaran 30:10

30:10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; ³⁷  once in the year ³⁸  he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” ³⁹ 

Keluaran 30:17

The Bronze Laver

30:17 ⁴⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁴¹ 

Keluaran 30:28

30:28 the altar for the burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its base.

Keluaran 32:1

The Sin of the Golden Calf

32:1 ⁴² When the people saw that Moses delayed ⁴³  in coming down ⁴⁴  from the mountain, they ⁴⁵  gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, ⁴⁶  make us gods ⁴⁷  that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, ⁴⁸  the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what ⁴⁹  has become of him!”

Keluaran 32:12

32:12 Why ⁵⁰  should the Egyptians say, ⁵¹  ‘For evil ⁵²  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ⁵³  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ⁵⁴  of this evil against your people.

Keluaran 32:34

32:34 So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, ⁵⁵  my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.” ⁵⁶ 

Keluaran 33:5-6

33:5 For ⁵⁷  the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, ⁵⁸  I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, ⁵⁹  that I may know ⁶⁰  what I should do to you.’” ⁶¹  33:6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

Keluaran 34:8-9

34:8 Moses quickly bowed ⁶²  to the ground and worshiped 34:9 and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord ⁶³  go among us, for we ⁶⁴  are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Keluaran 36:23

36:23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side.

Keluaran 36:27

36:27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames.

Keluaran 38:16

38:16 All the hangings around the courtyard were of fine twisted linen.

Keluaran 39:11-12

39:11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 39:12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

Keluaran 39:22

The Other Garments

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

[1:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the Egyptians.” For stylistic reasons this has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation.

[1:13]  ² tn Heb “with rigor, oppression.”

[4:9]  ³ tn Heb “and it will be if.”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “listen to your voice.”

[4:9]  ⁵ tn The verb form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it functions then as the equivalent of the imperfect tense – here as an imperfect of instruction.

[4:9]  ⁶ sn This is a powerful sign, for the Nile was always known as the source of life in Egypt, but now it will become the evidence of death. So the three signs were alike, each consisting of life and death. They would clearly anticipate the struggle with Egypt through the plagues. The point is clear that in the face of the possibility that people might not believe, the servants of God must offer clear proof of the power of God as they deliver the message of God. The rest is up to God.

[7:16]  ⁷ tn The form לֵאמֹר (le’mor) is the Qal infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. It is used so often epexegetically that it has achieved idiomatic status – “saying” (if translated at all). But here it would make better sense to take it as a purpose infinitive. God sent him to say these words.

[7:16]  ⁸ tn The imperfect tense with the vav (וְיַעַבְדֻנִי, vÿya’avduni) following the imperative is in volitive sequence, showing the purpose – “that they may serve me.” The word “serve” (עָבַד, ’avad) is a general term to include religious observance and obedience.

[7:16]  ⁹ tn The final עַד־כֹּה (’ad-koh, “until now”) narrows the use of the perfect tense to the present perfect: “you have not listened.” That verb, however, involves more than than mere audition. It has the idea of responding to, hearkening, and in some places obeying; here “you have not complied” might catch the point of what Moses is saying, while “listen” helps to maintain the connection with other uses of the verb.

[7:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “complied” (שָׁמַעְתָּ, shama’ta).

[7:17]  ¹¹ tn The construction using הִנֵּה (hinneh) before the participle (here the Hiphil participle מַכֶּה, makkeh) introduces a futur instans use of the participle, expressing imminent future, that he is about to do something.

[7:17]  ¹² sn W. C. Kaiser summarizes a view that has been adopted by many scholars, including a good number of conservatives, that the plagues overlap with natural phenomena in Egypt. Accordingly, the “blood” would not be literal blood, but a reddish contamination in the water. If there was an unusually high inundation of the Nile, the water flowed sluggishly through swamps and was joined with the water from the mountains that washed out the reddish soil. If the flood were high, the water would have a deeper red color. In addition to this discoloration, there is said to be a type of algae which produce a stench and a deadly fluctuation of the oxygen level of the river that is fatal to fish (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:350; he cites Greta Hort, “The Plagues of Egypt,” ZAW 69 [1957]: 84-103; same title, ZAW 70 [1958]: 48-59). While most scholars would agree that the water did not actually become blood (any more than the moon will be turned to literal blood [Joel 2:31]), many are not satisfied with this kind of explanation. If the event was a fairly common feature of the Nile, it would not have been any kind of sign to Pharaoh – and it should still be observable. The features that would have to be safeguarded are that it was understood to be done by the staff of God, that it was unexpected and not a mere coincidence, and that the magnitude of the contamination, color, stench, and death, was unparalleled. God does use natural features in miracles, but to be miraculous signs they cannot simply coincide with natural phenomena.

[12:12]  ¹³ tn The verb וְעָבַרְתִּי (vÿ’avarti) is a Qal perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, announcing the future action of God in bringing judgment on the land. The word means “pass over, across, through.” This verb provides a contextual motive for the name “Passover.”

[12:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this night.”

[12:12]  ¹⁵ tn The verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to strike, smite, attack”; it does not always mean “to kill,” but that is obviously its outcome in this context. This is also its use in 2:12, describing how Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

[12:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from man and to beast.”

[12:12]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים (’e’eseh shÿfatim) is “I will do judgments.” The statement clearly includes what had begun in Exod 6:1. But the statement that God would judge the gods of Egypt is appropriately introduced here (see also Num 33:4) because with the judgment on Pharaoh and the deliverance from bondage, Yahweh would truly show himself to be the one true God. Thus, “I am Yahweh” is fitting here (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 312).

[13:9]  ¹⁸ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ¹⁹ tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ²² tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  sn That these festivals and consecrations were to be signs and memorials is akin to the expressions used in the book of Proverbs (Prov 3:3, “bind them around your neck…write them on your heart”). The people were to use the festivals as outward and visible tokens to remind them to obey what the Law required.

[13:9]  ²³ tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ²⁴ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ²⁵ tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[18:8]  ²⁶ tn A rare word, “weariness” of the hardships.

[18:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “found them.”

[18:8]  ²⁸ tn Here “how” has been supplied.

[25:24]  ²⁹ tn “Gold” is an adverbial accusative of material.

[28:43]  ³⁰ tn The construction for this temporal clause is the infinitive construct with the temporal preposition bet (ב) and the suffixed subjective genitive.

[28:43]  ³¹ tn This construction is also the temporal clause with the infinitive construct and the temporal preposition bet (ב) and the suffixed subjective genitive.

[28:43]  ³² tn The text has וְלאֹ־יִשְׂאוּ עָוֹן וָמֵתוּ (vÿlo’-yis’u ’avon vametu). The imperfect tense here introduces a final clause, yielding a purpose or result translation (“in order that” or “so that”). The last verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive, and so it too is equal to a final imperfect – but it would show the result of bearing the iniquity. The idea is that if they approached the holy things with a lack of modesty, perhaps like the pagans who have nakedness and sexuality as part of the religious ritual, they would pollute the holy things, and it would be reckoned to them for iniquity and they would die.

[28:43]  ³³ tn Heb “seed.”

[28:43]  ³⁴ sn So the priests were to make intercession for the people, give decisions from God’s revealed will, enter his presence in purity, and represent holiness to Yahweh. The clothing of the priests provided for these functions, but in a way that brought honor and dignity. A priest was, therefore, to serve in purity, holiness, and fear (Malachi). There is much that can be derived from this chapter to form principles of spiritual leadership, but the overall point can be worded this way: Those whom God selects to minister to the congregation through intercessory prayer, divine counsel, and sacrificial worship, must always represent the holiness of Yahweh in their activities and demeanor.

[29:21]  ³⁵ tn Here “it” has been supplied.

[29:21]  ³⁶ tn The verb in this instance is Qal and not Piel, “to be holy” rather than “sanctify.” The result of all this ritual is that Aaron and his sons will be set aside and distinct in their life and their service.

[30:10]  ³⁷ tn The word “atonements” (plural in Hebrew) is a genitive showing the result or product of the sacrifice made.

[30:10]  ³⁸ sn This ruling presupposes that the instruction for the Day of Atonement has been given, or at the very least, is to be given shortly. That is the one day of the year that all sin and all ritual impurity would be removed.

[30:10]  ³⁹ sn The phrase “most holy to the Lord” means that the altar cannot be used for any other purpose than what is stated here.

[30:17]  ⁴⁰ sn Another piece of furniture is now introduced, the laver, or washing basin. It was a round (the root means to be round) basin for holding water, but it had to be up on a pedestal or base to let water run out (through taps of some kind) for the priests to wash – they could not simply dip dirty hands into the basin. This was for the priests primarily to wash their hands and feet before entering the tent. It stood in the courtyard between the altar and the tent. No dimensions are given. The passage can be divided into three sections: the instructions (17-18), the rules for washing (19-20), and the reminder that this is a perpetual statute.

[30:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying.”

[32:1]  ⁴² sn This narrative is an unhappy interlude in the flow of the argument of the book. After the giving of the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle, the people get into idolatry. So this section tells what the people were doing when Moses was on the mountain. Here is an instant violation of the covenant that they had just agreed to uphold. But through it all Moses shines as the great intercessor for the people. So the subject matter is the sin of idolatry, its effects and its remedy. Because of the similarities to Jeroboam’s setting up the calves in Dan and Bethel, modern critics have often said this passage was written at that time. U. Cassuto shows how the language of this chapter would not fit an Iron Age setting in Dan. Rather, he argues, this story was well enough known for Jeroboam to imitate the practice (Exodus, 407-10). This chapter can be divided into four parts for an easier exposition: idolatry (32:1-6), intercession (32:7-14), judgment (32:15-29), intercession again (32:30-33:6). Of course, these sections are far more complex than this, but this gives an overview. Four summary statements for expository points might be: I. Impatience often leads to foolish violations of the faith, II. Violations of the covenant require intercession to escape condemnation, III. Those spared of divine wrath must purge evil from their midst, and IV. Those who purge evil from their midst will find reinstatement through intercession. Several important studies are available for this. See, among others, D. R. Davis, “Rebellion, Presence, and Covenant: A Study in Exodus 32-34,” WTJ 44 (1982): 71-87; M. Greenberg, “Moses’ Intercessory Prayer,” Ecumenical Institute for Advanced Theological Studies (1978): 21-35; R. A. Hamer, “The New Covenant of Moses,” Judaism 27 (1978): 345-50; R. L. Honeycutt, Jr., “Aaron, the Priesthood, and the Golden Calf,” RevExp 74 (1977): 523-35; J. N. Oswalt, “The Golden Calves and the Egyptian Concept of Deity,” EvQ 45 (1973): 13-20.

[32:1]  ⁴³ tn The meaning of this verb is properly “caused shame,” meaning cause disappointment because he was not coming back (see also Judg 5:28 for the delay of Sisera’s chariots [S. R. Driver, Exodus, 349]).

[32:1]  ⁴⁴ tn The infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition is used here epexegetically, explaining the delay of Moses.

[32:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the people.”

[32:1]  ⁴⁶ tn The imperative means “arise.” It could be serving here as an interjection, getting Aaron’s attention. But it might also have the force of prompting him to get busy.

[32:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The plural translation is required here (although the form itself could be singular in meaning) because the verb that follows in the relative clause is a plural verb – that they go before us).

[32:1]  ⁴⁸ tn The text has “this Moses.” But this instance may find the demonstrative used in an earlier deictic sense, especially since there is no article with it.

[32:1]  ⁴⁹ tn The interrogative is used in an indirect question (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).

[32:12]  ⁵⁰ tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ⁵² tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ⁵³ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[32:34]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “behold, look.” Moses should take this fact into consideration.

[32:34]  ⁵⁶ sn The Law said that God would not clear the guilty. But here the punishment is postponed to some future date when he would revisit this matter. Others have taken the line to mean that whenever a reckoning was considered necessary, then this sin would be included (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 957). The repetition of the verb traditionally rendered “visit” in both clauses puts emphasis on the certainty – so “indeed.”

[33:5]  ⁵⁷ tn The verse simply begins “And Yahweh said.” But it is clearly meant to be explanatory for the preceding action of the people.

[33:5]  ⁵⁸ tn The construction is formed with a simple imperfect in the first half and a perfect tense with vav (ו) in the second half. Heb “[in] one moment I will go up in your midst and I will destroy you.” The verse is certainly not intended to say that God was about to destroy them. That, plus the fact that he has announced he will not go in their midst, leads most commentators to take this as a conditional clause: “If I were to do such and such, then….”

[33:5]  ⁵⁹ tn The Hebrew text also has “from on you.”

[33:5]  ⁶⁰ tn The form is the cohortative with a vav (ו) following the imperative; it therefore expresses the purpose or result: “strip off…that I may know.” The call to remove the ornaments must have been perceived as a call to show true repentance for what had happened. If they repented, then God would know how to deal with them.

[33:5]  ⁶¹ tn This last clause begins with the interrogative “what,” but it is used here as an indirect interrogative. It introduces a noun clause, the object of the verb “know.”

[34:8]  ⁶² tn The first two verbs form a hendiadys: “he hurried…he bowed,” meaning “he quickly bowed down.”

[34:9]  ⁶³ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” two times here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[34:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “it is.” Hebrew uses the third person masculine singular pronoun here in agreement with the noun “people.”