Keluaran 19:22

19:22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through ¹  against them.”

Keluaran 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ² In the third month after the Israelites went out ³  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁴  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

1 Samuel 5:6

5:6 The Lord attacked ⁵  the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of ⁶  both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 5:1

The Ark Causes Trouble for the Philistines

5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

1 Samuel 6:19

6:19 But the Lord ⁸  struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 ⁹  of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow.

1 Samuel 6:1

The Philistines Return the Ark

6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land ¹⁰  of the Philistines for seven months, ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 25:38

25:38 After about ten days the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.

[19:22]  ¹ tn The verb יִפְרֹץ (yifrots) is the imperfect tense from פָּרַץ (parats, “to make a breach, to break through”). The image of Yahweh breaking forth on them means “work destruction” (see 2 Sam 6:8; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 174).

[19:1]  ² sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ³ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “on this day.”

[5:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was heavy upon.”

[5:6]  ⁶ tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:6]  ⁷ tc The LXX and Vulgate add the following: “And mice multiplied in their land, and the terror of death was throughout the entire city.”

[5:6]  tn Or “tumors” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “growths on their skin”; KJV “emerods”; NAB “hemorrhoids.”

[6:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:19]  ⁹ tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew mss lack “50,000,” reading simply “70” instead. However, there does not seem to be sufficient external evidence to warrant reading 70 rather than 50,070, although that is done by a number of recent translations (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The present translation (reluctantly) follows the MT and the ancient versions here.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “field.”

[6:1]  ¹¹ tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”