Keluaran 10:28

10:28 Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me! ¹  Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, ²  for when ³  you see my face you will die!”

Keluaran 19:12

19:12 You must set boundaries ⁴  for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed ⁵  to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!

Keluaran 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ⁶  or any likeness ⁷  of anything ⁸  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁹ 

Keluaran 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ¹⁰  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ¹¹  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ¹²  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Keluaran 23:7

23:7 Keep your distance ¹³  from a false charge ¹⁴  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ¹⁵  for I will not justify the wicked. ¹⁶ 

[10:28]  ¹ tn The expression is לֵךְ מֵעָלָי (lekh me’alay, “go from on me”) with the adversative use of the preposition, meaning from being a trouble or a burden to me (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 84; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 51, §288).

[10:28]  ² tn Heb “add to see my face.” The construction uses a verbal hendiadys: “do not add to see” (אַל־תֹּסֶף רְאוֹת, ’al-toseph rÿ’ot), meaning “do not see again.” The phrase “see my face” means “come before me” or “appear before me.”

[10:28]  ³ tn The construction is בְּיוֹם רְאֹתְךָ (bÿyom rÿ’otÿkha), an adverbial clause of time made up of the prepositional phrase, the infinitive construct, and the suffixed subjective genitive. “In the day of your seeing” is “when you see.”

[19:12]  ⁴ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect (“make borders”) with vav (ו) consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.

[19:12]  ⁵ tn The Niphal imperative (“guard yourselves, take heed to yourselves”) is followed by two infinitives construct that provide the description of what is to be avoided – going up or touching the mountain.

[20:4]  ⁶ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ⁷ tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ⁸ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[20:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ¹¹ tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ¹² tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[23:7]  ¹³ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).

[23:7]  ¹⁶ sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.