Keluaran 3:10

3:10 So now go, and I will send you ¹  to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

Keluaran 5:22

The Assurance of Deliverance

5:22 ² Moses returned ³  to the Lord, and said, “Lord, ⁴  why have you caused trouble for this people? ⁵  Why did you ever ⁶  send me?

Keluaran 19:14

19:14 Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

Keluaran 23:20

The Angel of the Presence

23:20 ⁷ “I am going to send ⁸  an angel ⁹  before you to protect you as you journey ¹⁰  and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. ¹¹ 

Keluaran 23:28

23:28 I will send ¹²  hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

Keluaran 35:1

Sabbath Regulations

35:1 Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. ¹³ 

Keluaran 36:5

36:5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than ¹⁴  is needed for the completion ¹⁵  of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!” ¹⁶ 

[3:10]  ¹ tn The verse has a sequence of volitives. The first form is the imperative לְכָה (lÿkha, “go”). Then comes the cohortative/imperfect form with the vav (ו), “and I will send you” or more likely “that I may send you” (וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ, vÿ’eshlakhakha), which is followed by the imperative with the vav, “and bring out” or “that you may bring out” (וְהוֹצֵא, vÿhotse’). The series of actions begins with Moses going. When he goes, it will be the Lord who sends him, and if the Lord sends him, it will be with the purpose of leading Israel out of Egypt.

[3:10]  sn These instructions for Moses are based on the preceding revelation made to him. The deliverance of Israel was to be God’s work – hence, “I will send you.” When God commissioned people, often using the verb “to send,” it indicated that they went with his backing, his power, and his authority. Moses could not have brought Israel out without this. To name this incident a commissioning, then, means that the authority came from God to do the work (compare John 3:2).

[5:22]  ² sn In view of the apparent failure of the mission, Moses seeks Yahweh for assurance. The answer from Yahweh not only assures him that all is well, but that there will be a great deliverance. The passage can be divided into three parts: the complaint of Moses (5:22-23), the promise of Yahweh (6:1-9), and the instructions for Moses (6:10-13). Moses complains because God has not delivered his people as he had said he would, and God answers that he will because he is the sovereign covenant God who keeps his word. Therefore, Moses must keep his commission to speak God’s word. See further, E. A. Martens, “Tackling Old Testament Theology,” JETS 20 (1977): 123-32. The message is very similar to that found in the NT, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Pet 3:4). The complaint of Moses (5:22-23) can be worded with Peter’s “Where is the promise of his coming?” theme; the assurance from Yahweh (6:1-9) can be worded with Peter’s “The Lord is not slack in keeping his promises” (2 Pet 3:9); and the third part, the instructions for Moses (6:10-13) can be worded with Peter’s “Prepare for the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Pet 3:12). The people who speak for God must do so in the sure confidence of the coming deliverance – Moses with the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, and Christians with the deliverance from this sinful world.

[5:22]  ³ tn Heb “and Moses returned.”

[5:22]  ⁴ tn The designation in Moses’ address is “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) – the term for “lord” or “master” but pointed as it would be when it represents the tetragrammaton.

[5:22]  ⁵ tn The verb is הֲרֵעֹתָה (hare’otah), the Hiphil perfect of רָעַע (ra’a’). The word itself means “to do evil,” and in this stem “to cause evil” – but evil in the sense of pain, calamity, trouble, or affliction, and not always in the sense of sin. Certainly not here. That God had allowed Pharaoh to oppose them had brought greater pain to the Israelites.

[5:22]  sn Moses’ question is rhetorical; the point is more of a complaint or accusation to God, although there is in it the desire to know why. B. Jacob (Exodus, 139) comments that such frank words were a sign of the man’s closeness to God. God never has objected to such bold complaints by the devout. He then notes how God was angered by his defenders in the book of Job rather than by Job’s heated accusations.

[5:22]  ⁶ tn The demonstrative pronoun serves for emphasis in the question (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118). This second question continues Moses’ bold approach to God, more chiding than praying. He is implying that if this was the result of the call, then God had no purpose calling him (compare Jeremiah’s similar complaint in Jer 20).

[23:20]  ⁷ sn This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise, but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.

[23:20]  ⁸ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the active participle indicates imminent future, something God is about to do.

[23:20]  ⁹ sn The word is מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger, angel”). This angel is to be treated with the same fear and respect as Yahweh, for Yahweh will be speaking in him. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 305-6) says that the words of the first clause do not imply a being distinct from God, for in the ancient world the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is liable easily to be blurred. He then shows how the “Angel of Yahweh” in Genesis is Yahweh. He concludes that the words here mean “I will guide you.” Christian commentators tend to identify the Angel of Yahweh as the second person of the Trinity (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:446). However, in addition to being a preincarnate appearance, the word could refer to Yahweh – some manifestation of Yahweh himself.

[23:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “protect you in the way.”

[23:20]  ¹¹ tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish, prepare”).

[23:28]  ¹² tn Heb “and I will send.”

[35:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[36:5]  ¹⁴ tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys: מַרְבִּים לְהָבִיא (marbim lÿhavi’) is the Hiphil participle followed (after the subject) by the Hiphil infinitive construct. It would read, “they multiply…to bring,” meaning, “they bring more” than is needed.

[36:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for the service” (so KJV, ASV).

[36:5]  ¹⁶ tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object – “to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.