Keluaran 1:22

1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons ¹  that are born you must throw ²  into the river, but all daughters you may let live.” ³ 

Keluaran 13:12

13:12 then you must give over ⁴  to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. ⁵  Every firstling ⁶  of a beast that you have ⁷  – the males will be the Lord’s. ⁸ 

Keluaran 19:23

19:23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, because you solemnly warned us, ⁹  ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and set it apart.’” ¹⁰ 

Keluaran 21:14

21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ¹¹  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Keluaran 22:1

Laws about Property

22:1 ¹² (21:37) ¹³  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back ¹⁴  five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. ¹⁵ 

Keluaran 22:3

22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief ¹⁶  must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.

Keluaran 22:7

22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles ¹⁷  for safekeeping, ¹⁸  and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, ¹⁹  he must repay double.

Keluaran 25:12

25:12 You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.

Keluaran 25:19

25:19 Make ²⁰  one cherub on one end ²¹  and one cherub on the other end; from the atonement lid ²²  you are to make the cherubim on the two ends.

Keluaran 25:33

25:33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on the next ²³  branch, and the same ²⁴  for the six branches extending from the lampstand.

Keluaran 25:35

25:35 with a bud under the first ²⁵  two branches from it, and a bud under the next ²⁶  two branches from it, and a bud under the third ²⁷  two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand.

Keluaran 28:1

The Clothing of the Priests

28:1 ²⁸ “And you, bring near ²⁹  to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests ³⁰  – Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

Keluaran 29:33-34

29:33 They are to eat those things by which atonement was made ³¹  to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else ³²  may eat them, for they are holy. 29:34 If any of the meat from the consecration offerings ³³  or any of the bread is left over ³⁴  until morning, then you are to burn up ³⁵  what is left over. It must not be eaten, ³⁶  because it is holy.

Keluaran 30:2

30:2 Its length is to be a foot and a half ³⁷  and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet, ³⁸  with its horns of one piece with it. ³⁹ 

Keluaran 30:4

30:4 You are to make two gold rings for it under its border, on its two flanks; you are to make them on its two sides. ⁴⁰  The rings ⁴¹  will be places ⁴²  for poles to carry it with.

Keluaran 30:20

30:20 When they enter ⁴³  the tent of meeting, they must wash with ⁴⁴  water so that they do not die. ⁴⁵  Also, when they approach ⁴⁶  the altar to minister by burning incense ⁴⁷  as an offering made by fire ⁴⁸  to the Lord,

Keluaran 30:32

30:32 It must not be applied ⁴⁹  to people’s bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.

Keluaran 40:15

40:15 and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”

[1:22]  ¹ tn The substantive כֹּל (kol) followed by the article stresses the entirety – “all sons” or “all daughters” – even though the nouns are singular in Hebrew (see GKC 411 §127.b).

[1:22]  ² tn The form includes a pronominal suffix that reiterates the object of the verb: “every son…you will throw it.”

[1:22]  ³ tn The first imperfect has the force of a definite order, but the second, concerning the girls, could also have the nuance of permission, which may fit better. Pharaoh is simply allowing the girls to live.

[1:22]  sn Verse 22 forms a fitting climax to the chapter, in which the king continually seeks to destroy the Israelite strength. Finally, with this decree, he throws off any subtlety and commands the open extermination of Hebrew males. The verse forms a transition to the next chapter, in which Moses is saved by Pharaoh’s own daughter. These chapters show that the king’s efforts to destroy the strength of Israel – so clearly a work of God – met with failure again and again. And that failure involved the efforts of women, whom Pharaoh did not consider a threat.

[13:12]  ⁴ tn The unusual choice of words in this passage reflects the connection with the deliverance of the firstborn in the exodus when the Lord passed over the Israelites (12:12, 23). Here the Law said, “you will cause to pass over (וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ, vÿha’avarta) to Yahweh.” The Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) provides the main clause after the temporal clauses. Yahweh here claimed the firstborn as his own. The remarkable thing about this is that Yahweh did not keep the firstborn that was dedicated to him, but allowed the child to be redeemed by his father. It was an acknowledgment that the life of the child belonged to God as the one redeemed from death, and that the child represented the family. Thus, the observance referred to the dedication of all the redeemed to God.

[13:12]  sn It was once assumed by some scholars that child sacrifice lay behind this text in the earlier days, but that the priests and prophets removed those themes. Apart from the fact that there is absolutely no evidence for anything like that, the Law forbade child sacrifice, and always used child sacrifice as the sample of what not to do in conformity with the pagans (e.g., Deut 12:31). Besides, how absurd would it be for Yahweh to redeem the firstborn from death and then ask Israel to kill them. See further B. Jacob, Exodus, 371.

[13:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “every opener of a womb,” that is, the firstborn from every womb.

[13:12]  ⁶ tn The descriptive noun שֶׁגֶר (sheger) is related to the verb “drop, cast”; it refers to a newly born animal that is dropped or cast from the womb. The expression then reads, “and all that first open [the womb], the casting of a beast.”

[13:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “that is to you.” The preposition expresses possession.

[13:12]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text simply has “the males to Yahweh.” It indicates that the Lord must have them, or they belong to the Lord.

[19:23]  ⁹ tn The construction is emphatic: “because you – you solemnly warned us.” Moses’ response to God is to ask how they would break through when God had already charged them not to. God knew them better than Moses did.

[19:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sanctify it.”

[21:14]  ¹¹ tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.

[22:1]  ¹² sn The next section of laws concerns property rights. These laws protected property from thieves and oppressors, but also set limits to retribution. The message could be: God’s laws demand that the guilty make restitution for their crimes against property and that the innocent be exonerated.

[22:1]  ¹³ sn Beginning with 22:1, the verse numbers through 22:31 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:1 ET = 21:37 HT, 22:2 ET = 22:1 HT, etc., through 22:31 ET = 22:30 HT. Thus in the English Bible ch. 22 has 31 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 30 verses, with the one extra verse attached to ch. 21 in the Hebrew Bible.

[22:1]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of obligatory imperfect – he must pay back.

[22:1]  ¹⁵ tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tso’n) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.

[22:3]  ¹⁶ tn The words “a thief” have been added for clarification. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 224) thinks that these lines are out of order, since some of them deal with killing the thief and then others with the thief making restitution, but rearranging the clauses is not a necessary way to bring clarity to the paragraph. The idea here would be that any thief caught alive would pay restitution.

[22:7]  ¹⁷ tn The word usually means “vessels” but can have the sense of household goods and articles. It could be anything from jewels and ornaments to weapons or pottery.

[22:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to keep.” Here “safekeeping,” that is, to keep something secure on behalf of a third party, is intended.

[22:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “found.”

[25:19]  ²⁰ tn The text now shifts to use an imperative with the vav (ו) conjunction.

[25:19]  ²¹ tn The use of זֶה (zeh) repeated here expresses the reciprocal ideas of “the one” and “the other” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 26, §132).

[25:19]  ²² sn The angels were to form one piece with the lid and not be separated. This could be translated “of one piece with” the lid, but it is likely the angels were simply fastened to it permanently.

[25:33]  ²³ tn The text uses “one” again; “the one…the one” means “the one…and the next” in the distributive sense.

[25:33]  ²⁴ tn Heb “thus.”

[25:35]  ²⁵ tn For clarity the phrase “the first” has been supplied.

[25:35]  ²⁶ tn For clarity the phrase “the next” has been supplied.

[25:35]  ²⁷ tn For clarity the phrase “the third” has been supplied.

[28:1]  ²⁸ sn Some modern scholars find this and the next chapter too elaborate for the wilderness experience. To most of them this reflects the later Zadokite priesthood of the writer’s (P’s) day that was referred to Mosaic legislation for authentication. But there is no compelling reason why this should be late; it is put late because it is assumed to be P, and that is assumed to be late. But both assumptions are unwarranted. This lengthy chapter could be divided this way: instructions for preparing the garments (1-5), details of the apparel (6-39), and a warning against deviating from these (40-43). The subject matter of the first part is that God requires that his chosen ministers reflect his holy nature; the point of the second part is that God requires his ministers to be prepared to fulfill the tasks of the ministry, and the subject matter of the third part is that God warns all his ministers to safeguard the holiness of their service.

[28:1]  ²⁹ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperative of the root קָרַב (qarav, “to draw near”). In the present stem the word has religious significance, namely, to present something to God, like an offering.

[28:1]  ³⁰ tn This entire clause is a translation of the Hebrew לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִי (lÿkhahano-li, “that he might be a priest to me”), but the form is unusual. The word means “to be a priest” or “to act as a priest.” The etymology of the word for priest, כֹּהֵן (kohen), is uncertain.

[29:33]  ³¹ tn The clause is a relative clause modifying “those things,” the direct object of the verb “eat.” The relative clause has a resumptive pronoun: “which atonement was made by them” becomes “by which atonement was made.” The verb is a Pual perfect of כִּפֵּר (kipper, “to expiate, atone, pacify”).

[29:33]  ³² tn The Hebrew word is “stranger, alien” (זָר, zar). But in this context it means anyone who is not a priest (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 324).

[29:34]  ³³ tn Or “ordination offerings” (Heb “fillings”).

[29:34]  ³⁴ tn The verb in the conditional clause is a Niphal imperfect of יָתַר (yatar); this verb is repeated in the next clause (as a Niphal participle) as the direct object of the verb “you will burn” (a Qal perfect with a vav [ו] consecutive to form the instruction).

[29:34]  ³⁵ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:34]  ³⁶ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect negated. It expresses the prohibition against eating this, but in the passive voice: “it will not be eaten,” or stronger, “it must not be eaten.”

[30:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “a cubit.”

[30:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “two cubits.”

[30:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “its horns from it.”

[30:4]  ⁴⁰ sn Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second clause clarifies that the rings should be on the sides, the right and the left, as you approach the altar.

[30:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And it”; this refers to the rings collectively in their placement on the box, and so the word “rings” has been used to clarify the referent for the modern reader.

[30:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “for houses.”

[30:20]  ⁴³ tn The form is an infinitive construct with the temporal preposition bet (ב), and a suffixed subjective genitive: “in their going in,” or, whenever they enter.

[30:20]  ⁴⁴ tn “Water” is an adverbial accusative of means, and so is translated “with water.” Gesenius classifies this with verbs of “covering with something.” But he prefers to emend the text with a preposition (see GKC 369 §117.y, n. 1).

[30:20]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb is a Qal imperfect with a nuance of final imperfect. The purpose/result clause here is indicated only with the conjunction: “and they do not die.” But clearly from the context this is the intended result of their washing – it is in order that they not die.

[30:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Here, too, the infinitive is used in a temporal clause construction. The verb נָגַשׁ (nagash) is the common verb used for drawing near to the altar to make offerings – the official duties of the priest.

[30:20]  ⁴⁷ tn The text uses two infinitives construct: “to minister to burn incense”; the first is the general term and expresses the purpose of the drawing near, and the second infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first infinitive.

[30:20]  ⁴⁸ tn The translation “as an offering made by fire” is a standard rendering of the one word in the text that appears to refer to “fire.” Milgrom and others contend that it simply means a “gift” (Leviticus 1-16, 161).

[30:32]  ⁴⁹ tn Without an expressed subject, the verb may be treated as a passive. Any common use, as in personal hygiene, would be a complete desecration.