Keluaran 2:1

The Birth of the Deliverer

2:1 ¹ A man from the household ²  of Levi married ³  a woman who was a descendant of Levi. ⁴ 

Keluaran 9:16

9:16 But ⁵  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ⁶  to show you ⁷  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ⁸  in all the earth.

Keluaran 15:10

15:10 But ⁹  you blew with your breath, and ¹⁰  the sea covered them.

They sank ¹¹  like lead in the mighty waters.

Keluaran 15:15

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ¹² 

trembling will seize ¹³  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

Keluaran 18:5

18:5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ ¹⁴  sons and his wife, came to Moses in the desert where he was camping by ¹⁵  the mountain of God. ¹⁶ 

Keluaran 18:9

18:9 Jethro rejoiced ¹⁷  because of all the good that the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had delivered from the hand of Egypt.

Keluaran 22:21

22:21 “You must not wrong ¹⁸  a foreigner ¹⁹  nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

[2:1]  ¹ sn The chapter records the exceptional survival of Moses under the decree of death by Pharaoh (vv. 1-10), the flight of Moses from Pharaoh after killing the Egyptian (vv. 11-15), the marriage of Moses (vv. 16-22), and finally a note about the Lord’s hearing the sighing of the people in bondage (vv. 23-25). The first part is the birth. The Bible has several stories about miraculous or special births and deliverances of those destined to lead Israel. Their impact is essentially to authenticate the individual’s ministry. If the person’s beginning was providentially provided and protected by the Lord, then the mission must be of divine origin too. In this chapter the plot works around the decree for the death of the children – a decree undone by the women. The second part of the chapter records Moses’ flight and marriage. Having introduced the deliverer Moses in such an auspicious way, the chapter then records how this deliverer acted presumptuously and had to flee for his life. Any deliverance God desired had to be supernatural, as the chapter’s final note about answering prayer shows.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “house.” In other words, the tribe of Levi.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “went and took”; NASB “went and married.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “a daughter of Levi.” The word “daughter” is used in the sense of “descendant” and connects the new account with Pharaoh’s command in 1:22. The words “a woman who was” are added for clarity in English.

[2:1]  sn The first part of this section is the account of hiding the infant (vv. 1-4). The marriage, the birth, the hiding of the child, and the positioning of Miriam, are all faith operations that ignore the decree of Pharaoh or work around it to preserve the life of the child.

[9:16]  ⁵ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ⁶ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ⁷ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[15:10]  ⁹ tn “But” has been supplied here.

[15:10]  ¹⁰ tn Here “and” has been supplied.

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.

[15:15]  ¹² tn This is a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ¹³ tn This verb is imperfect tense.

[18:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:5]  ¹⁵ tn This is an adverbial accusative that defines the place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).

[18:5]  ¹⁶ sn The mountain of God is Horeb, and so the desert here must be the Sinai desert by it. But chap. 19 suggests that they left Rephidim to go the 24 miles to Sinai. It may be that this chapter fits in chronologically after the move to Sinai, but was placed here thematically. W. C. Kaiser defends the present location of the story by responding to other reasons for the change given by Lightfoot, but does not deal with the travel locations (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:411).

[18:9]  ¹⁷ tn The word חָדָה (khada) is rare, occurring only in Job 3:6 and Ps 21:6, although it is common in Aramaic. The LXX translated it “he shuddered.” U. Cassuto suggests that that rendering was based on the midrashic interpretation in b. Sanhedrin 94b, “he felt cuts in his body” – a wordplay on the verb (Exodus, 215-16).

[22:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “oppress.”

[22:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “alien,” both here and in 23:9. This individual is a resident foreigner; he lives in the land but, aside from provisions such as this, might easily be without legal rights.