Keluaran 2:22

2:22 When she bore ¹  a son, Moses ²  named him Gershom, for he said, “I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land.” ³ 

Keluaran 3:5

3:5 God ⁴  said, “Do not approach any closer! ⁵  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ⁶  ground.” ⁷ 

Keluaran 7:24

7:24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, ⁸  because they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Keluaran 9:16

9:16 But ⁹  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ¹⁰  to show you ¹¹  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ¹²  in all the earth.

Keluaran 11:6

11:6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, ¹³  nor ever will be again. ¹⁴ 

Keluaran 11:9

11:9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders ¹⁵  may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Keluaran 12:9

12:9 Do not eat it raw ¹⁶  or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails.

Keluaran 14:7

14:7 He took six hundred select ¹⁷  chariots, and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, ¹⁸  and officers ¹⁹  on all of them.

Keluaran 15:8

15:8 By the blast of your nostrils ²⁰  the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap, ²¹ 

and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

Keluaran 18:5

18:5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ ²²  sons and his wife, came to Moses in the desert where he was camping by ²³  the mountain of God. ²⁴ 

Keluaran 25:34

25:34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,

Keluaran 26:28

26:28 The middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end. ²⁵ 

Keluaran 29:10

29:10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put ²⁶  their hands on the head ²⁷  of the bull.

Keluaran 30:31

30:31 And you are to tell the Israelites: ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil throughout your generations.

Keluaran 36:14

36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. ²⁸ 

Keluaran 38:14

38:14 with hangings on one side ²⁹  of the gate that were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases,

Keluaran 39:19

39:19 They made two rings of gold and put them on the other ³⁰  two ends of the breastpiece on its edge, which is on the inner side of the ephod. ³¹ 

Keluaran 40:21

40:21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung ³²  the protecting curtain, ³³  and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[2:22]  ¹ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is subordinated to the next clause, which reports the naming and its motivation.

[2:22]  ² tn Heb “and he called”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ³ sn Like the naming of Moses, this naming that incorporates a phonetic wordplay forms the commemorative summary of the account just provided. Moses seems to have settled into a domestic life with his new wife and his father-in-law. But when the first son is born, he named him גֵּרְשֹׁם (gerÿshom). There is little information available about what the name by itself might have meant. If it is linked to the verb “drive away” used earlier (גָרַשׁ, garash), then the final mem (מ) would have to be explained as an enclitic mem. It seems most likely that that verb was used in the narrative to make a secondary wordplay on the name. The primary explanation is the popular etymology supplied by Moses himself. He links the name to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to live as an alien”). He then adds that he was a sojourner (גֵּר, ger, the participle) in a foreign land. The word “foreign” (נָכְרִיּה, nokhriyyah) adds to the idea of his being a resident alien. The final syllable in the name would then be connected to the adverb “there” (שָׁם, sham). Thus, the name is given the significance in the story of “sojourner there” or “alien there.” He no doubt knew that this was not the actual meaning of the name; the name itself had already been introduced into the family of Levi (1 Chr 6:1, 16). He chose the name because its sounds reflected his sentiment at that time. But to what was Moses referring? In view of naming customs among the Semites, he was most likely referring to Midian as the foreign land. If Egypt had been the strange land, and he had now found his place, he would not have given the lad such a name. Personal names reflect the present or recent experiences, or the hope for the future. So this naming is a clear expression by Moses that he knows he is not where he is supposed to be. That this is what he meant is supported in the NT by Stephen (Acts 7:29). So the choice of the name, the explanation of it, and the wordplay before it, all serve to stress the point that Moses had been driven away from his proper place of service.

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:5]  ⁵ sn Even though the Lord was drawing near to Moses, Moses could not casually approach him. There still was a barrier between God and human, and God had to remind Moses of this with instructions. The removal of sandals was, and still is in the East, a sign of humility and reverence in the presence of the Holy One. It was a way of excluding the dust and dirt of the world. But it also took away personal comfort and convenience and brought the person more closely in contact with the earth.

[3:5]  ⁶ sn The word קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) indicates “set apart, distinct, unique.” What made a mountain or other place holy was the fact that God chose that place to reveal himself or to reside among his people. Because God was in this place, the ground was different – it was holy.

[3:5]  ⁷ tn The causal clause includes within it a typical relative clause, which is made up of the relative pronoun, then the independent personal pronoun with the participle, and then the preposition with the resumptive pronoun. It would literally be “which you are standing on it,” but the relative pronoun and the resumptive pronoun are combined and rendered, “on which you are standing.”

[7:24]  ⁸ sn The text stresses that the water in the Nile, and Nile water that had been diverted or collected for use, was polluted and undrinkable. Water underground also was from the Nile, but it had not been contaminated, certainly not with dead fish, and so would be drinkable.

[9:16]  ⁹ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ¹⁰ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ¹¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ¹² tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[11:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “which like it there has never been.”

[11:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and like it it will not add.”

[11:9]  ¹⁵ sn The thought is essentially the same as in Exod 7:3-4, but the wonders, or portents, here refer to what is yet to be done in Egypt.

[12:9]  ¹⁶ sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.

[14:7]  ¹⁷ tn The passive participle of the verb “to choose” means that these were “choice” or superb chariots.

[14:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “every chariot of Egypt.” After the mention of the best chariots, the meaning of this description is “all the other chariots.”

[14:7]  ¹⁹ tn The word שָׁלִשִׁם (shalishim) means “officers” or some special kind of military personnel. At one time it was taken to mean a “three man chariot,” but the pictures of Egyptian chariots only show two in a chariot. It may mean officers near the king, “men of the third rank” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 394). So the chariots and the crew represented the elite. See the old view by A. E. Cowley that linked it to a Hittite word (“A Hittite Word in Hebrew,” JTS 21 [1920]: 326), and the more recent work by P. C. Craigie connecting it to Egyptian “commander” (“An Egyptian Expression in the Song of the Sea: Exodus XV.4,” VT 20 [1970]: 85).

[15:8]  ²⁰ sn The phrase “the blast of your nostrils” is a bold anthropomorphic expression for the wind that came in and dried up the water.

[15:8]  ²¹ tn The word “heap” describes the walls of water. The waters, which are naturally fluid, stood up as though they were a heap, a mound of earth. Likewise, the flowing waters deep in the ocean solidified – as though they were turned to ice (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 175).

[18:5]  ²² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:5]  ²³ tn This is an adverbial accusative that defines the place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).

[18:5]  ²⁴ sn The mountain of God is Horeb, and so the desert here must be the Sinai desert by it. But chap. 19 suggests that they left Rephidim to go the 24 miles to Sinai. It may be that this chapter fits in chronologically after the move to Sinai, but was placed here thematically. W. C. Kaiser defends the present location of the story by responding to other reasons for the change given by Lightfoot, but does not deal with the travel locations (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:411).

[26:28]  ²⁵ sn These bars served as reinforcements to hold the upright frames together. The Hebrew term for these bars is also used of crossbars on gates (Judg 16:3; Neh 3:3).

[29:10]  ²⁶ tn The verb is singular, agreeing with the first of the compound subject – Aaron.

[29:10]  ²⁷ sn The details of these offerings have to be determined from a careful study of Leviticus. There is a good deal of debate over the meaning of laying hands on the animals. At the very least it identifies the animal formally as their sacrifice. But it may very well indicate that the animal is a substitute for them as well, given the nature and the effect of the sacrifices.

[36:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”

[38:14]  ²⁹ tn The word literally means “shoulder.” The next words, “of the gate,” have been supplied here. The east end contained the courtyard’s entry with a wall of curtains on each side of the entry (see v. 15).

[39:19]  ³⁰ tn Here “other” has been supplied.

[39:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “homeward side.”

[40:21]  ³² tn Heb “set up,” if it includes more than the curtain.

[40:21]  ³³ tn Or “shielding” (NIV); Heb “the veil of the covering” (cf. KJV).