Keluaran 1:16

1:16 ¹  “When you assist ²  the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: ³  If it is a son, kill him, ⁴  but if it is a daughter, she may live.” ⁵ 

Keluaran 5:7-8

5:7 “You must no longer ⁶  give straw to the people for making bricks ⁷  as before. ⁸  Let them go ⁹  and collect straw for themselves. 5:8 But you must require ¹⁰  of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. ¹¹  Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. ¹²  That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.’

Keluaran 6:13

6:13 The Lord spoke ¹³  to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge ¹⁴  for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Keluaran 8:1

8:1 (7:26) ¹⁵  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Release my people in order that they may serve me!

Keluaran 8:5

8:5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff ¹⁶  over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’”

Keluaran 9:13-14

The Seventh Blow: Hail

9:13 ¹⁷ The Lord said ¹⁸  to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand ¹⁹  before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Release my people so that they may serve me! 9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues ²⁰  on your very self ²¹  and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

Keluaran 12:3

12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each ²²  must take a lamb ²³  for themselves according to their families ²⁴  – a lamb for each household. ²⁵ 

Keluaran 12:30

12:30 Pharaoh got up ²⁶  in the night, ²⁷  along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house ²⁸  in which there was not someone dead.

Keluaran 12:36

12:36 The Lord ²⁹  gave the people favor ³⁰  in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatever they wanted, ³¹  and so they plundered Egypt. ³² 

Keluaran 14:19

14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar ³³  of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

Keluaran 15:9

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ³⁴  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ³⁵  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ³⁶  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ³⁷ 

Keluaran 16:13

16:13 In the evening the quail ³⁸  came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp.

Keluaran 16:33

16:33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come.”

Keluaran 18:1

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ³⁹ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ⁴⁰  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ⁴¹ 

Keluaran 18:7

18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; ⁴²  they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent.

Keluaran 18:18

18:18 You will surely wear out, ⁴³  both you and these people who are with you, for this is too ⁴⁴  heavy a burden ⁴⁵  for you; you are not able to do it by yourself.

Keluaran 20:20

20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, ⁴⁶  that the fear of him ⁴⁷  may be before you so that you do not ⁴⁸  sin.”

Keluaran 20:22

The Altar

20:22 ⁴⁹ The Lord said ⁵⁰  to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

Keluaran 21:18

21:18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed, ⁵¹ 

Keluaran 24:18

24:18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up ⁵²  the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. ⁵³ 

Keluaran 28:25

28:25 the other ⁵⁴  two ends of the two chains you will attach to the two settings and then attach them ⁵⁵  to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.

Keluaran 38:11-12

38:11 For the north side the hangings were ⁵⁶  one hundred fifty feet, with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:12 For the west side there were ⁵⁷  hangings seventy-five feet long, with ⁵⁸  their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.

[1:16]  ¹ tn The verse starts with the verb that began the last verse; to read it again seems redundant. Some versions render it “spoke” in v. 15 and “said” in v. 16. In effect, Pharaoh has been delayed from speaking while the midwives are named.

[1:16]  ² tn The form is the Piel infinitive construct serving in an adverbial clause of time. This clause lays the foundation for the next verb, the Qal perfect with a vav consecutive: “when you assist…then you will observe.” The latter carries an instructional nuance (= the imperfect of instruction), “you are to observe.”

[1:16]  ³ tn Heb “at the birthstool” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV), but since this particular item is not especially well known today, the present translation simply states “at the delivery.” Cf. NIV “delivery stool.”

[1:16]  ⁴ sn The instructions must have been temporary or selective, otherwise the decree from the king would have ended the slave population of Hebrews. It is also possible that the king did not think through this, but simply took steps to limit the population growth. The narrative is not interested in supplying details, only in portraying the king as a wicked fool bent on destroying Israel.

[1:16]  ⁵ tn The last form וָחָיָה (vakhaya) in the verse is unusual; rather than behaving as a III-Hey form, it is written as a geminate but without the daghesh forte in pause (GKC 218 §76.i). In the conditional clause, following the parallel instruction (“kill him”), this form should be rendered “she may live” or “let her live.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys: לֹא תֹאסִפוּן לָתֵת (lo’ to’sifun latet, “you must not add to give”). The imperfect tense acts adverbially, and the infinitive becomes the main verb of the clause: “you must no longer give.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn The expression “for making bricks” is made of the infinitive construct followed by its cognate accusative: לִלְבֹּן הַלְּבֵנִים (lilbon hallÿvenim).

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “as yesterday and three days ago” or “as yesterday and before that.” This is idiomatic for “as previously” or “as in the past.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn The jussive יֵלְכוּ (yelÿkhu) and its following sequential verb would have the force of decree and not permission or advice. He is telling them to go and find straw or stubble for the bricks.

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Qal imperfect of שִׂים (sim, “place, put”). The form could be an imperfect of instruction: “You will place upon them the quota.” Or, as here, it may be an obligatory imperfect: “You must place.”

[5:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “yesterday and three days ago” or “yesterday and before that” is idiomatic for “previously” or “in the past.”

[5:8]  ¹² tn Or “loafers.” The form נִרְפִּים (nirpim) is derived from the verb רָפָה (rafah), meaning “to be weak, to let oneself go.” They had been letting the work go, Pharaoh reasoned, and being idle is why they had time to think about going to worship.

[6:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “And Yahweh spoke.”

[6:13]  ¹⁴ tn The term וַיְצַוֵּם (vayÿtsavvem) is a Piel preterite with a pronominal suffix on it. The verb צָוָה (tsavah) means “to command” but can also have a much wider range of meanings. In this short summary statement, the idea of giving Moses and Aaron a commission to Israel and to Pharaoh indicates that come what may they have their duty to perform.

[8:1]  ¹⁵ sn Beginning with 8:1, the verse numbers through 8:32 in English Bibles differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 8:1 ET = 7:26 HT, 8:2 ET = 7:27 HT, 8:3 ET = 7:28 HT, 8:4 ET = 7:29 HT, 8:5 ET = 8:1 HT, etc., through 8:32 ET = 8:28 HT. Thus in English Bibles chapter 8 has 32 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 28 verses, with the four extra verses attached to chapter 7.

[8:5]  ¹⁶ sn After the instructions for Pharaoh (7:25-8:4), the plague now is brought on by the staff in Aaron’s hand (8:5-7). This will lead to the confrontation (vv. 8-11) and the hardening (vv. 12-15).

[9:13]  ¹⁷ sn With the seventh plague there is more explanation of what God is doing to Pharaoh. This plague begins with an extended lesson (vv. 13-21). Rain was almost unknown in Egypt, and hail and lightning were harmless. The Egyptians were fascinated by all these, though, and looked on them as portentous. Herodotus describes how they studied such things and wrote them down (1.2.c.38). If ordinary rainstorms were ominous, what must fire and hail have been? The Egyptians had denominated fire Hephaistos, considering it to be a mighty deity (cf. Diodorus, 1.1.c.1). Porphry says that at the opening of the temple of Serapis the Egyptians worshiped with water and fire. If these connections were clearly understood, then these elements in the plague were thought to be deities that came down on their own people with death and destruction.

[9:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[9:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or “take your stand.”

[9:14]  ²⁰ tn The expression “all my plagues” points to the rest of the plagues and anticipates the proper outcome. Another view is to take the expression to mean the full brunt of the attack on the Egyptian people.

[9:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “to your heart.” The expression is unusual, but it may be an allusion to the hard heartedness of Pharaoh – his stubbornness and blindness (B. Jacob, Exodus, 274).

[12:3]  ²² tn Heb “and they will take for them a man a lamb.” This is clearly a distributive, or individualizing, use of “man.”

[12:3]  ²³ tn The שֶּׂה (seh) is a single head from the flock, or smaller cattle, which would include both sheep and goats.

[12:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to the house of their fathers.” The expression “house of the father” is a common expression for a family.

[12:3]  sn The Passover was to be a domestic institution. Each lamb was to be shared by family members.

[12:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “house” (also at the beginning of the following verse).

[12:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “arose,” the verb קוּם (qum) in this context certainly must describe a less ceremonial act. The entire country woke up in terror because of the deaths.

[12:30]  ²⁷ tn The noun is an adverbial accusative of time – “in the night” or “at night.”

[12:30]  ²⁸ sn Or so it seemed. One need not push this description to complete literalness. The reference would be limited to houses that actually had firstborn people or animals. In a society in which households might include more than one generation of humans and animals, however, the presence of a firstborn human or animal would be the rule rather than the exception.

[12:36]  ²⁹ tn The holy name (“Yahweh,” represented as “the Lord” in the translation) has the vav disjunctive with it. It may have the force: “Now it was Yahweh who gave the people favor….”

[12:36]  ³⁰ sn God was destroying the tyrant and his nobles and the land’s economy because of their stubborn refusal. But God established friendly, peaceful relations between his people and the Egyptians. The phrase is used outside Exod only in Gen 39:21, referring to Joseph.

[12:36]  ³¹ tn The verb וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם (vayyash’ilum) is a Hiphil form that has the root שָׁאַל (sha’al), used earlier in Qal with the meaning “requested” (12:35). The verb here is frequently translated “and they lent them,” but lending does not fit the point. What they gave the Israelites were farewell gifts sought by demanding or asking for them. This may exemplify a “permissive” use of the Hiphil stem, in which “the Hiphil designates an action that is agreeable to the object and allowed by the subject” (B. T. Arnold and J. H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 52).

[12:36]  ³² sn See B. Jacob, “The Gifts of the Egyptians; A Critical Commentary,” Journal of Reformed Judaism 27 (1980): 59-69.

[14:19]  ³³ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 400-401) makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11; 5:22). See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.

[15:9]  ³⁴ sn W. C. Kaiser observes the staccato phrases that almost imitate the heavy, breathless heaving of the Egyptians as, with what reserve of strength they have left, they vow, “I will…, I will…, I will…” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:395).

[15:9]  ³⁵ tn The form is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”). But this word refers to the whole person, the body and the soul, or better, a bundle of appetites in a body. It therefore can figuratively refer to the desires or appetites (Deut 12:15; 14:26; 23:24). Here, with the verb “to be full” means “to be satisfied”; the whole expression might indicate “I will be sated with them” or “I will gorge myself.” The greedy appetite was to destroy.

[15:9]  ³⁶ tn The verb רִיק (riq) means “to be empty” in the Qal, and in the Hiphil “to empty.” Here the idea is to unsheathe a sword.

[15:9]  ³⁷ tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.

[16:13]  ³⁸ sn These are migratory birds, said to come up in the spring from Arabia flying north and west, and in the fall returning. They fly with the wind, and so generally alight in the evening, covering the ground. If this is part of the explanation, the divine provision would have had to alter their flight paths to bring them to the Israelites, and bring them in vast numbers.

[18:1]  ³⁹ sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.

[18:1]  ⁴⁰ tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.

[18:1]  ⁴¹ sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).

[18:7]  ⁴² sn This is more than polite oriental custom. Jethro was Moses’ benefactor, father-in-law, and a priest. He paid much respect to him. Now he could invite Jethro into his home (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 496).

[18:18]  ⁴³ tn The verb means “to fall and fade” as a leaf (Ps 1:3). In Ps 18:45 it is used figuratively of foes fading away, failing in strength and courage (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 166). Here the infinitive absolute construction heightens the meaning.

[18:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Gesenius lists the specialized use of the comparative min (מ) where with an adjective the thought expressed is that the quality is too difficult for the attainment of a particular aim (GKC 430 §133.c).

[18:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Here “a burden” has been supplied.

[20:20]  ⁴⁶ tn נַסּוֹת (nassot) is the Piel infinitive construct; it forms the purpose of God’s coming with all the accompanying phenomena. The verb can mean “to try, test, prove.” The sense of “prove” fits this context best because the terrifying phenomena were intended to put the fear of God in their hearts so that they would obey. In other words, God was inspiring them to obey, not simply testing to see if they would.

[20:20]  ⁴⁷ tn The suffix on the noun is an objective genitive, referring to the fear that the people would have of God (GKC 439 §135.m).

[20:20]  ⁴⁸ tn The negative form לְבִלְתִּי (lÿvilti) is used here with the imperfect tense (see for other examples GKC 483 §152.x). This gives the imperfect the nuance of a final imperfect: that you might not sin. Others: to keep you from sin.

[20:22]  ⁴⁹ sn Based on the revelation of the holy sovereign God, this pericope instructs Israel on the form of proper worship of such a God. It focuses on the altar, the centerpiece of worship. The point of the section is this: those who worship this holy God must preserve holiness in the way they worship – they worship where he permits, in the manner he prescribes, and with the blessings he promises. This paragraph is said to open the Book of the Covenant, which specifically rules on matters of life and worship.

[20:22]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[21:18]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “falls to bed.”

[24:18]  ⁵² tn The verb is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive; here, the second clause, is subordinated to the first preterite, because it seems that the entering into the cloud is the dominant point in this section of the chapter.

[24:18]  ⁵³ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 750) offers this description of some of the mystery involved in Moses’ ascending into the cloud: Moses ascended into the presence of God, but remained on earth. He did not rise to heaven – the ground remained firmly under his feet. But he clearly was brought into God’s presence; he was like a heavenly servant before God’s throne, like the angels, and he consumed neither bread nor water. The purpose of his being there was to become familiar with all God’s demands and purposes. He would receive the tablets of stone and all the instructions for the tabernacle that was to be built (beginning in chap. 25). He would not descend until the sin of the golden calf.

[28:25]  ⁵⁴ tn Here “the other” has been supplied.

[28:25]  ⁵⁵ tn Here “them” has been supplied.

[38:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Here the phrase “the hangings were” has been supplied.

[38:12]  ⁵⁷ tn The phrase “there were” has been supplied.

[38:12]  ⁵⁸ tn The text simply has “their posts ten and their bases ten”; this may be added here as a circumstantial clause with the main sentence in order to make sense out of the construction.