Keluaran 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ¹  was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert ²  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ³ 

Keluaran 4:20

4:20 Then Moses took ⁴  his wife and sons ⁵  and put them on a donkey and headed back ⁶  to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

Keluaran 10:14

10:14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory ⁷  of Egypt. It was very severe; ⁸  there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again. ⁹ 

Keluaran 11:3

11:3 (Now the Lord granted the people favor with ¹⁰  the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s servants and by the Egyptian people.) ¹¹ 

Keluaran 12:42

12:42 It was a night of vigil for the Lord to bring them out from the land of Egypt, ¹²  and so ¹³  on this night all Israel is to keep the vigil ¹⁴  to the Lord for generations to come.

Keluaran 15:13

15:13 By your loyal love you will lead ¹⁵  the people whom ¹⁶  you have redeemed;

you will guide ¹⁷  them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.

Keluaran 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ¹⁸ Then Moses led Israel to journey ¹⁹  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ²⁰  into the desert, and found no water.

Keluaran 16:6

16:6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening ²¹  you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt,

Keluaran 19:2

19:2 After they journeyed ²²  from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ²³ 

Keluaran 32:23

32:23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’

[3:1]  ¹ sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.

[3:1]  ² tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).

[3:1]  ³ sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[4:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “And Moses took.”

[4:20]  ⁵ sn Only Gershom has been mentioned so far. The other son’s name will be explained in chapter 18. The explanation of Gershom’s name was important to Moses’ sojourn in Midian. The explanation of the name Eliezer fits better in the later chapter (18:2-4).

[4:20]  ⁶ tn The verb would literally be rendered “and returned”; however, the narrative will record other happenings before he arrived in Egypt, so an ingressive nuance fits here – he began to return, or started back.

[10:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “border.”

[10:14]  ⁸ tn This is an interpretive translation. The clause simply has כָּבֵד מְאֹד (kaved mÿ’od), the stative verb with the adverb – “it was very heavy.” The description prepares for the following statement about the uniqueness of this locust infestation.

[10:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “after them.”

[11:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[11:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh and in the eyes of the people.” In the translation the word “Egyptian” has been supplied to clarify that the Egyptians and not the Israelites are meant here.

[11:3]  sn The presence of this clause about Moses, which is parenthetical in nature, further indicates why the Egyptians gave rather willingly to the Israelites. They were impressed by Moses’ miracles and his power with Pharaoh. Moses was great in stature – powerful and influential.

[12:42]  ¹² tn There is some ambiguity in לֵיל שִׁמֻּרִים הוּא לַיהוָה (lel shimmurim hu’ la’adonay [layhveh]). It is likely that this first clause means that Yahweh was on watch for Israel to bring them out, as the next clause says. He was protecting his people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 102). Then, the night of vigil will be transferred to Israel, who now must keep it “to” him.

[12:42]  ¹³ tn “and so” has been supplied.

[12:42]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this night is for Yahweh a vigil for all Israelites for their generations.”

[15:13]  ¹⁵ tn The verbs in the next two verses are perfect tenses, but can be interpreted as a prophetic perfect, looking to the future.

[15:13]  ¹⁶ tn The particle זוּ (zu) is a relative pronoun, subordinating the next verb to the preceding.

[15:13]  ¹⁷ tn This verb seems to mean “to guide to a watering-place” (See Ps 23:2).

[15:22]  ¹⁸ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ¹⁹ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ²⁰ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[16:6]  ²¹ tn The text simply has “evening, and you will know.” Gesenius notes that the perfect tense with the vav consecutive occurs as the apodosis to temporal clauses or their equivalents. Here the first word implies the idea “[when it becomes] evening” or simply “[in the] evening” (GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

[16:6]  sn Moses is very careful to make sure that they know it is Yahweh who has brought them out, and it will be Yahweh who will feed them. They are going to be convinced of this now.

[19:2]  ²² tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, “and they journeyed.” It is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause. But since the action of this temporal clause preceded the actions recorded in v. 1, a translation of “after” will keep the sequence in order. Verse 2 adds details to the summary in v. 1.

[19:2]  ²³ sn The mountain is Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, the place where God had met and called Moses and had promised that they would be here to worship him. If this mountain is Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Sinai, then the plain in front of it would be Er-Rahah, about a mile and a half long by half a mile wide, fronting the mountain on the NW side (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 169). The plain itself is about 5000 feet above sea level. A mountain on the west side of the Arabian Peninsula has also been suggested as a possible site.