Keluaran 2:14

2:14 The man ¹  replied, “Who made you a ruler ²  and a judge over us? Are you planning ³  to kill me like you killed that ⁴  Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, ⁵  “Surely what I did ⁶  has become known.”

Keluaran 5:21

5:21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, ⁷  because you have made us stink ⁸  in the opinion of ⁹  Pharaoh and his servants, ¹⁰  so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” ¹¹ 

Keluaran 18:15

18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire ¹²  of God.

Keluaran 18:19

18:19 Now listen to me, ¹³  I will give you advice, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God, ¹⁴  and you bring ¹⁵  their disputes ¹⁶  to God;

Keluaran 18:22

18:22 They will judge ¹⁷  the people under normal circumstances, ¹⁸  and every difficult case ¹⁹  they will bring to you, but every small case ²⁰  they themselves will judge, so that ²¹  you may make it easier for yourself, ²²  and they will bear the burden ²³  with you.

Keluaran 18:26

18:26 They judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring ²⁴  to Moses, but every small case they would judge themselves.

Keluaran 21:6

21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, ²⁵  and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. ²⁶ 

Keluaran 21:22

21:22 “If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, ²⁷  but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides. ²⁸ 

Keluaran 21:30

21:30 If a ransom is set for him, ²⁹  then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.

Keluaran 22:8-9

22:8 If the thief is not caught, ³⁰  then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges ³¹  to see ³²  whether he has laid ³³  his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, ³⁴  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ³⁵  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ³⁶  and the one whom ³⁷  the judges declare guilty ³⁸  must repay double to his neighbor.

Keluaran 22:28

22:28 “You must not blaspheme ³⁹  God ⁴⁰  or curse the ruler of your people.

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “And he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:14]  ² tn Heb “Who placed you for a man, a ruler and a judge over us?” The pleonasm does not need to be translated. For similar constructions see Lev 21:9; Judg 6:8; 2 Sam 1:13; Esth 7:6.

[2:14]  ³ tn The line reads “[is it] to kill me you are planning?” The form אֹמֵר (’omer) is the active participle used verbally; it would literally be “[are you] saying,” but in this context it conveys the meaning of “thinking, planning.” The Qal infinitive then serves as the object of this verbal form – are you planning to kill me?

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Egyptian.” Here the Hebrew article functions in an anaphoric sense, referring back to the individual Moses killed.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The verb form is “and he said.” But the intent of the form is that he said this within himself, and so it means “he thought, realized, said to himself.” The form, having the vav consecutive, is subordinated to the main idea of the verse, that he was afraid.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn The term הַדָּבָר (haddavar, “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done. For clarity this has been specified in the translation with the phrase “what I did.”

[5:21]  ⁷ tn The foremen vented their anger on Moses and Aaron. The two jussives express their desire that the evil these two have caused be dealt with. “May Yahweh look on you and may he judge” could mean only that God should decide if Moses and Aaron are at fault, but given the rest of the comments it is clear the foremen want more. The second jussive could be subordinated to the first – “so that he may judge [you].”

[5:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have made our aroma stink.”

[5:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[5:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of his servants.” This phrase is not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” The infinitive construct with the lamed (לָתֶת, latet) signifies the result (“so that”) of making the people stink. Their reputation is now so bad that Pharaoh might gladly put them to death. The next infinitive could also be understood as expressing result: “put a sword in their hand so that they can kill us.”

[18:15]  ¹² tn The form is לִדְרֹשׁ (lidrosh), the Qal infinitive construct giving the purpose. To inquire of God would be to seek God’s will on a matter, to obtain a legal decision on a matter, or to settle a dispute. As a judge Moses is speaking for God, but as the servant of Yahweh Moses’ words will be God’s words. The psalms would later describe judges as “gods” because they made the right decisions based on God’s Law.

[18:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “hear my voice.”

[18:19]  ¹⁴ tn The line reads “Be you to the people before God.” He is to be their representative before God. This is introducing the aspect of the work that only Moses could do, what he has been doing. He is to be before God for the people, to pray for them, to appeal on their behalf. Jethro is essentially saying, I understand that you cannot delegate this to anyone else, so continue doing it (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 219-20).

[18:19]  ¹⁵ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; following the imperative it will be instruction as well. Since the imperative preceding this had the idea of “continue to be” as you are, this too has that force.

[18:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “words”; KJV, ASV “the causes”; NRSV “cases”; NLT “questions.”

[18:22]  ¹⁷ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.

[18:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[18:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “great thing.”

[18:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “thing.”

[18:22]  ²¹ tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.

[18:22]  ²² tn The expression וְהָקֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ (vÿhaqel me’aleykha) means literally “and make it light off yourself.” The word plays against the word for “heavy” used earlier – since it was a heavy or burdensome task, Moses must lighten the load.

[18:22]  ²³ tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.

[18:26]  ²⁴ tn This verb and the verb in the next clause are imperfect tenses. In the past tense narrative of the verse they must be customary, describing continuous action in past time.

[21:6]  ²⁵ tn The word is הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 211) says the phrase means “to God,” namely the nearest sanctuary in order that the oath and the ritual might be made solemn, although he does say that it would be done by human judges. That the reference is to Yahweh God is the view also of F. C. Fensham, “New Light on Exodus 21:7 and 22:7 from the Laws of Eshnunna,” JBL 78 (1959): 160-61. Cf. also ASV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT. Others have made a stronger case that it refers to judges who acted on behalf of God; see C. Gordon, “אלהים in its Reputed Meaning of Rulers, Judges,” JBL 54 (1935): 134-44; and A. E. Draffkorn, “Ilani/Elohim,” JBL 76 (1957): 216-24; cf. KJV, NIV.

[21:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “till his life’s end” (as in the idiom: “serve him for good”).

[21:22]  ²⁷ tn This line has occasioned a good deal of discussion. It may indicate that the child was killed, as in a miscarriage; or it may mean that there was a premature birth. The latter view is taken here because of the way the whole section is written: (1) “her children come out” reflects a birth and not the loss of children, (2) there is no serious damage, and (3) payment is to be set for any remuneration. The word אָסוֹן (’ason) is translated “serious damage.” The word was taken in Mekilta to mean “death.” U. Cassuto says the point of the phrase is that neither the woman or the children that are born die (Exodus, 275). But see among the literature on this: M. G. Kline, “Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus,” JETS 20 (1977): 193-201; W. House, “Miscarriage or Premature Birth: Additional Thoughts on Exodus 21:22-25,” WTJ 41 (1978): 108-23; S. E. Loewenstamm, “Exodus XXI 22-25,” VT 27 (1977): 352-60.

[21:22]  ²⁸ tn The word בִּפְלִלִים (biflilim) means “with arbitrators.” The point then seems to be that the amount of remuneration for damages that was fixed by the husband had to be approved by the courts. S. R. Driver mentions an alternative to this unusual reading presented by Budde, reading בנפלים as “untimely birth” (Exodus, 219). See also E. A. Speiser, “The Stem PLL in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6.

[21:30]  ²⁹ sn The family of the victim would set the amount for the ransom of the man guilty of criminal neglect. This practice was common in the ancient world, rare in Israel. If the family allowed the substitute price, then the man would be able to redeem his life.

[22:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “found.”

[22:8]  ³¹ tn Here again the word used is “the gods,” meaning the judges who made the assessments and decisions. In addition to other works, see J. R. Vannoy, “The Use of the Word ha’elohim in Exodus 21:6 and 22:7,8,” The Law and the Prophets, 225-41.

[22:8]  ³² tn The phrase “to see” has been supplied.

[22:8]  ³³ tn The line says “if he has not stretched out his hand.” This could be the oath formula, but the construction here would be unusual, or it could be taken as “whether” (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:438). U. Cassuto (Exodus, 286) does not think the wording can possibly fit an oath; nevertheless, an oath would be involved before God (as he takes it instead of “judges”) – if the man swore, his word would be accepted, but if he would not swear, he would be guilty.

[22:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “concerning every kind [thing] of trespass.”

[22:9]  ³⁵ tn The text simply has “this is it” (הוּא זֶה, hu’ zeh).

[22:9]  ³⁶ tn Again, or “God.”

[22:9]  ³⁷ tn This kind of clause Gesenius calls an independent relative clause – it does not depend on a governing substantive but itself expresses a substantival idea (GKC 445-46 §138.e).

[22:9]  ³⁸ tn The verb means “to be guilty” in Qal; in Hiphil it would have a declarative sense, because a causative sense would not possibly fit.

[22:28]  ³⁹ tn The two verbs in this verse are synonyms: קָלַל (qalal) means “to treat lightly, curse,” and אָרַר (’arar) means “to curse.”

[22:28]  ⁴⁰ tn The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is “gods” or “God.” If taken as the simple plural, it could refer to the human judges, as it has in the section of laws; this would match the parallelism in the verse. If it was taken to refer to God, then the idea of cursing God would be more along the line of blasphemy. B. Jacob says that the word refers to functioning judges, and that would indirectly mean God, for they represented the religious authority, and the prince the civil authority (Exodus, 708).