Keluaran 33:3

33:3 Go up ¹  to a land flowing with milk and honey. But ²  I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you ³  on the way.”

Keluaran 9:25

9:25 The hail struck everything in the open fields, both ⁴  people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows ⁵  in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces.

Keluaran 12:13

12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see ⁶  the blood I will pass over you, ⁷  and this plague ⁸  will not fall on you to destroy you ⁹  when I attack ¹⁰  the land of Egypt. ¹¹ 

Keluaran 10:7

10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long ¹²  will this man be a menace ¹³  to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know ¹⁴  that Egypt is destroyed?”

Keluaran 23:24

23:24 “You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones ¹⁵  to pieces. ¹⁶ 

Keluaran 33:5

33:5 For ¹⁷  the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, ¹⁸  I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, ¹⁹  that I may know ²⁰  what I should do to you.’” ²¹ 

Keluaran 9:19

9:19 So now, send instructions ²²  to gather ²³  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ²⁴  or animal caught ²⁵  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

Keluaran 9:15

9:15 For by now I could have stretched out ²⁶  my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed ²⁷  from the earth.

Keluaran 23:23

23:23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely. ²⁸ 

Keluaran 32:12

32:12 Why ²⁹  should the Egyptians say, ³⁰  ‘For evil ³¹  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ³²  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ³³  of this evil against your people.

Keluaran 15:7

15:7 In the abundance of your majesty ³⁴  you have overthrown ³⁵ 

those who rise up against you. ³⁶ 

You sent forth ³⁷  your wrath; ³⁸ 

it consumed them ³⁹  like stubble.

Keluaran 15:9

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ⁴⁰  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ⁴¹  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ⁴²  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ⁴³ 

Keluaran 19:21

19:21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn ⁴⁴  the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. ⁴⁵ 

Keluaran 24:11

24:11 But he did not lay a hand ⁴⁶  on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, ⁴⁷  and they ate and they drank. ⁴⁸ 

Keluaran 9:32

9:32 But the wheat and the spelt ⁴⁹  were not struck, for they are later crops.) ⁵⁰ 

Keluaran 17:13

17:13 So Joshua destroyed ⁵¹  Amalek and his army ⁵²  with the sword. ⁵³ 

Keluaran 17:7

17:7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, ⁵⁴  saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Keluaran 32:10

32:10 So now, leave me alone ⁵⁵  so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”

Keluaran 19:22

19:22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through ⁵⁶  against them.”

Keluaran 22:20

22:20 “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord ⁵⁷  alone must be utterly destroyed. ⁵⁸ 

Keluaran 9:31

9:31 (Now the ⁵⁹  flax and the barley were struck ⁶⁰  by the hail, ⁶¹  for the barley had ripened ⁶²  and the flax ⁶³  was in bud.

Keluaran 23:28

23:28 I will send ⁶⁴  hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

Keluaran 12:23

12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ⁶⁵  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ⁶⁶  to enter your houses to strike you. ⁶⁷ 

Keluaran 10:5

10:5 They will cover ⁶⁸  the surface ⁶⁹  of the earth, so that you ⁷⁰  will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped ⁷¹  – what is left over ⁷²  for you – from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field.

Keluaran 10:17

10:17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only ⁷³  take this death ⁷⁴  away from me.”

Keluaran 11:7

11:7 But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark ⁷⁵  against either people or animals, ⁷⁶  so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes ⁷⁷  between Egypt and Israel.’

Keluaran 12:21

12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select ⁷⁸  for yourselves a lamb or young goat ⁷⁹  for your families, and kill the Passover animals. ⁸⁰ 

Keluaran 14:27

14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state ⁸¹  when the sun began to rise. ⁸²  Now the Egyptians were fleeing ⁸³  before it, but the Lord overthrew ⁸⁴  the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.

Keluaran 17:14

17:14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the ⁸⁵  book, and rehearse ⁸⁶  it in Joshua’s hearing; ⁸⁷  for I will surely wipe out ⁸⁸  the remembrance ⁸⁹  of Amalek from under heaven.

Keluaran 18:11

18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” ⁹⁰ 

Keluaran 20:19

20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak ⁹¹  to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”

Keluaran 23:33

23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare ⁹²  to you.”

Keluaran 33:4

33:4 When the people heard this troubling word ⁹³  they mourned; ⁹⁴  no one put on his ornaments.

Keluaran 5:3

5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ⁹⁵  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ⁹⁶  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ⁹⁷ 

Keluaran 12:27

12:27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice ⁹⁸  of the Lord’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck ⁹⁹  Egypt and delivered our households.’” The people bowed down low ¹⁰⁰  to the ground,

Keluaran 19:24

19:24 The Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest he break through against them.”

Keluaran 31:14

31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ¹⁰¹  must surely be put to death; indeed, ¹⁰²  if anyone does ¹⁰³  any ¹⁰⁴  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ¹⁰⁵  people.

[33:3]  ¹ tn This verse seems to be a continuation of the command to “go up” since it begins with “to a land….” The intervening clauses are therefore parenthetical or relative. But the translation is made simpler by supplying the verb.

[33:3]  ² tn This is a strong adversative here, “but.”

[33:3]  ³ tn The clause is “lest I consume you.” It would go with the decision not to accompany them: “I will not go up with you…lest I consume (destroy) you in the way.” The verse is saying that because of the people’s bent to rebellion, Yahweh would not remain in their midst as he had formerly said he would do. Their lives would be at risk if he did.

[9:25]  ⁴ tn The exact expression is “from man even to beast.” R. J. Williams lists this as an example of the inclusive use of the preposition מִן (min) to be rendered “both…and” (Hebrew Syntax, 57, §327).

[9:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the cultivated grain of.”

[12:13]  ⁶ tn Both of the verbs for seeing and passing over are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives: וּפָסַחְתִּי…וְרָאִיתִי (vÿra’iti...ufasakhti); the first of these parallel verb forms is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause. See Gesenius’s description of perfect consecutives in the protasis and apodosis (GKC 494 §159.g).

[12:13]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the verb is supplied in part from the near context of seeing the sign and omitting to destroy, as well as the verb at the start of verse 12 “pass through, by, over.” Isa 31:5 says, “Just as birds hover over a nest, so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over he will rescue it.” The word does not occur enough times to enable one to delineate a clear meaning. It is probably not the same word as “to limp” found in 1 Kgs 18:21, 26, unless there is a highly developed category of meaning there.

[12:13]  ⁸ tn The word “plague” (נֶגֶף, negef) is literally “a blow” or “a striking.” It usually describes a calamity or affliction given to those who have aroused God’s anger, as in Exod 30:12; Num 8:19; 16:46, 47; Josh 22:17 (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 92-93).

[12:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “for destruction.” The form מַשְׁחִית (mashkhit) is the Hiphil participle of שָׁחַת (shakhat). The word itself is a harsh term; it was used to describe Yahweh’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 13:10).

[12:13]  ¹⁰ tn בְּהַכֹּתִי (bÿhakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah), with a preposition prefixed and a pronominal suffix added to serve as the subjective genitive – the subject of this temporal clause. It is also used in 12:12.

[12:13]  ¹¹ sn For additional discussions, see W. H. Elder, “The Passover,” RevExp 74 (1977): 511-22; E. Nutz, “The Passover,” BV 12 (1978): 23-28; H. M. Kamsler, “The Blood Covenant in the Bible,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 94-98; A. Rodriguez, Substitution in the Hebrew Cultus; B. Ramm, “The Theology of the Book of Exodus: A Reflection on Exodus 12:12,” SwJT 20 (1977): 59-68; and M. Gilula, “The Smiting of the First-Born: An Egyptian Myth?” TA 4 (1977): 94-85.

[10:7]  ¹² sn The question of Pharaoh’s servants echoes the question of Moses – “How long?” Now the servants of Pharaoh are demanding what Moses demanded – “Release the people.” They know that the land is destroyed, and they speak of it as Moses’ doing. That way they avoid acknowledging Yahweh or blaming Pharaoh.

[10:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “snare” (מוֹקֵשׁ, moqesh), a word used for a trap for catching birds. Here it is a figure for the cause of Egypt’s destruction.

[10:7]  ¹⁴ tn With the adverb טֶרֶם (terem), the imperfect tense receives a present sense: “Do you not know?” (See GKC 481 §152.r).

[23:24]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew is מַצֵּבֹתֵיהֶם (matsevotehem, “their standing stones”); these long stones were erected to represent the abode of the numen or deity. They were usually set up near the altar or the high place. To destroy these would be to destroy the centers of Canaanite worship in the land.

[23:24]  ¹⁶ tn Both verbs are joined with their infinitive absolutes to provide the strongest sense to these instructions. The images of the false gods in Canaan were to be completely and utterly destroyed. This could not be said any more strongly.

[33:5]  ¹⁷ tn The verse simply begins “And Yahweh said.” But it is clearly meant to be explanatory for the preceding action of the people.

[33:5]  ¹⁸ tn The construction is formed with a simple imperfect in the first half and a perfect tense with vav (ו) in the second half. Heb “[in] one moment I will go up in your midst and I will destroy you.” The verse is certainly not intended to say that God was about to destroy them. That, plus the fact that he has announced he will not go in their midst, leads most commentators to take this as a conditional clause: “If I were to do such and such, then….”

[33:5]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text also has “from on you.”

[33:5]  ²⁰ tn The form is the cohortative with a vav (ו) following the imperative; it therefore expresses the purpose or result: “strip off…that I may know.” The call to remove the ornaments must have been perceived as a call to show true repentance for what had happened. If they repented, then God would know how to deal with them.

[33:5]  ²¹ tn This last clause begins with the interrogative “what,” but it is used here as an indirect interrogative. It introduces a noun clause, the object of the verb “know.”

[9:19]  ²² tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ²³ tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[9:15]  ²⁶ tn The verb is the Qal perfect שָׁלַחְתִּי (shalakhti), but a past tense, or completed action translation does not fit the context at all. Gesenius lists this reference as an example of the use of the perfect to express actions and facts, whose accomplishment is to be represented not as actual but only as possible. He offers this for Exod 9:15: “I had almost put forth” (GKC 313 §106.p). Also possible is “I should have stretched out my hand.” Others read the potential nuance instead, and render it as “I could have…” as in the present translation.

[9:15]  ²⁷ tn The verb כָּחַד (kakhad) means “to hide, efface,” and in the Niphal it has the idea of “be effaced, ruined, destroyed.” Here it will carry the nuance of the result of the preceding verbs: “I could have stretched out my hand…and struck you…and (as a result) you would have been destroyed.”

[23:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will cut them off” (so KJV, ASV).

[32:12]  ²⁹ tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ³¹ tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ³² tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ³³ tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[15:7]  ³⁴ sn This expression is cognate with words in v. 1. Here that same greatness or majesty is extolled as in abundance.

[15:7]  ³⁵ tn Here, and throughout the song, these verbs are the prefixed conjugation that may look like the imperfect but are actually historic preterites. This verb is to “overthrow” or “throw down” – like a wall, leaving it in shattered pieces.

[15:7]  ³⁶ tn The form קָמֶיךָ (qamekha) is the active participle with a pronominal suffix. The participle is accusative, the object of the verb, but the suffix is the genitive of nearer definition (see GKC 358 §116.i).

[15:7]  ³⁷ sn The verb is the Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh), the same verb used throughout for the demand on Pharaoh to release Israel. Here, in some irony, God released his wrath on them.

[15:7]  ³⁸ sn The word wrath is a metonymy of cause; the effect – the judgment – is what is meant.

[15:7]  ³⁹ tn The verb is the prefixed conjugation, the preterite, without the consecutive vav (ו).

[15:9]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.

[19:21]  ⁴⁴ tn The imperative הָעֵד (ha’ed) means “charge” them – put them under oath, or solemnly warn them. God wished to ensure that the people would not force their way past the barriers that had been set out.

[19:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and fall”; NAB “be struck down.”

[24:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he did not stretch out his hand,” i.e., to destroy them.

[24:11]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb is חָזָה (khazah); it can mean “to see, perceive” or “see a vision” as the prophets did. The LXX safeguarded this by saying, “appeared in the place of God.” B. Jacob says they beheld – prophetically, religiously (Exodus, 746) – but the meaning of that is unclear. The fact that God did not lay a hand on them – to kill them – shows that they saw something that they never expected to see and live. Some Christian interpreters have taken this to refer to a glorious appearance of the preincarnate Christ, the second person of the Trinity. They saw the brilliance of this manifestation – but not the detail. Later, Moses will still ask to see God’s glory – the real presence behind the phenomena.

[24:11]  ⁴⁸ sn This is the covenant meal, the peace offering, that they are eating there on the mountain. To eat from the sacrifice meant that they were at peace with God, in covenant with him. Likewise, in the new covenant believers draw near to God on the basis of sacrifice, and eat of the sacrifice because they are at peace with him, and in Christ they see the Godhead revealed.

[9:32]  ⁴⁹ tn The word כֻּסֶּמֶת (kussemet) is translated “spelt”; the word occurs only here and in Isa 28:25 and Ezek 4:9. Spelt is a grain closely allied to wheat. Other suggestions have been brought forward from the study of Egyptian crops (see a brief summary in W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363-64).

[9:32]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “for they are late.”

[17:13]  ⁵¹ tn The verb means “disabled, weakened, prostrated.” It is used a couple of times in the Bible to describe how man dies and is powerless (see Job 14:10; Isa 14:12).

[17:13]  ⁵² tn Or “people.”

[17:13]  ⁵³ tn Heb “mouth of the sword.” It means as the sword devours – without quarter (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 159).

[17:7]  ⁵⁴ sn The name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) means “Proving”; it is derived from the verb “test, prove, try.” And the name Meribah (מְרִיבָה, mÿrivah) means “Strife”; it is related to the verb “to strive, quarrel, contend.” The choice of these names for the place would serve to remind Israel for all time of this failure with God. God wanted this and all subsequent generations to know how unbelief challenges God. And yet, he gave them water. So in spite of their failure, he remained faithful to his promises. The incident became proverbial, for it is the warning in Ps 95:7-8, which is quoted in Heb 3:15: “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness. There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.” The lesson is clear enough: to persist in this kind of unbelief could only result in the loss of divine blessing. Or, to put it another way, if they refused to believe in the power of God, they would wander powerless in the wilderness. They had every reason to believe, but they did not. (Note that this does not mean they are unbelievers, only that they would not take God at his word.)

[32:10]  ⁵⁵ tn The imperative, from the word “to rest” (נוּחַ, nuakh), has the sense of “leave me alone, let me be.” It is a directive for Moses not to intercede for the people. B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 567) reflects the Jewish interpretation that there is a profound paradox in God’s words. He vows the severest punishment but then suddenly conditions it on Moses’ agreement. “Let me alone that I may consume them” is the statement, but the effect is that he has left the door open for intercession. He allows himself to be persuaded – that is what a mediator is for. God could have slammed the door (as when Moses wanted to go into the promised land). Moreover, by alluding to the promise to Abraham God gave Moses the strongest reason to intercede.

[19:22]  ⁵⁶ 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).

[22:20]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “not to Yahweh.”

[22:20]  ⁵⁸ tn The verb חָרַם (kharam) means “to be devoted” to God or “to be banned.” The idea is that it would be God’s to do with as he liked. What was put under the ban was for God alone, either for his service or for his judgment. But it was out of human control. Here the verb is saying that the person will be utterly destroyed.

[9:31]  ⁵⁹ tn A disjunctive vav introduces the two verses that provide parenthetical information to the reader. Gesenius notes that the boldness of such clauses is often indicated by the repetition of nouns at the beginning (see GKC 452 §141.d). Some have concluded that because they have been put here rather than back after v. 25 or 26, they form part of Moses’ speech to Pharaoh, explaining that the crops that were necessary for humans were spared, but those for other things were destroyed. This would also mean that Moses was saying there is more that God can destroy (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 279).

[9:31]  ⁶⁰ tn The unusual forms נֻכָּתָה (nukkatah) in v. 31 and נֻכּוּ (nukku) in v. 32 are probably to be taken as old Qal passives. There are no attested Piel uses of the root.

[9:31]  ⁶¹ tn The words “by the hail” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied from context.

[9:31]  ⁶² tn Heb “was in the ear” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “had headed.”

[9:31]  ⁶³ sn Flax was used for making linen, and the area around Tanis was ideal for producing flax. Barley was used for bread for the poor people, as well as beer and animal feed.

[23:28]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and I will send.”

[12:23]  ⁶⁵ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ⁶⁶ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ⁶⁷ tn “you” has been supplied.

[10:5]  ⁶⁸ tn The verbs describing the locusts are singular because it is a swarm or plague of locusts. This verb (וְכִסָּה, vÿkhissah, “cover”) is a Piel perfect with a vav consecutive; it carries the same future nuance as the participle before it.

[10:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 15; Num 22:5, 11).

[10:5]  ⁷⁰ tn The text has לִרְאֹת וְלֹא יוּכַל (vÿlo’ yukhal lir’ot, “and he will not be able to see”). The verb has no expressed subjects. The clause might, therefore, be given a passive translation: “so that [it] cannot be seen.” The whole clause is the result of the previous statement.

[10:5]  ⁷¹ sn As the next phrase explains “what escaped” refers to what the previous plague did not destroy. The locusts will devour everything, because there will not be much left from the other plagues for them to eat.

[10:5]  ⁷² tn הַנִּשְׁאֶרֶת (hannish’eret) parallels (by apposition) and adds further emphasis to the preceding two words; it is the Niphal participle, meaning “that which is left over.”

[10:17]  ⁷³ sn Pharaoh’s double emphasis on “only” uses two different words and was meant to deceive. He was trying to give Moses the impression that he had finally come to his senses, and that he would let the people go. But he had no intention of letting them out.

[10:17]  ⁷⁴ sn “Death” is a metonymy that names the effect for the cause. If the locusts are left in the land it will be death to everything that grows.

[11:7]  ⁷⁵ tn Or perhaps “growl”; Heb “not a dog will sharpen his tongue.” The expression is unusual, but it must indicate that not only would no harm come to the Israelites, but that no unfriendly threat would come against them either – not even so much as a dog barking. It is possible this is to be related to the watchdog (see F. C. Fensham, “Remarks on Keret 114^b – 136^a,” JNSL 11 [1983]: 75).

[11:7]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “against man or beast.”

[11:7]  ⁷⁷ tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 9:4; 33:16.

[12:21]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “draw out and take.” The verb has in view the need “to draw out” a lamb or goat selected from among the rest of the flock.

[12:21]  ⁷⁹ tn The Hebrew noun is singular and can refer to either a lamb or a goat. Since English has no common word for both, the phrase “a lamb or young goat” is used in the translation.

[12:21]  ⁸⁰ tn The word “animals” is added to avoid giving the impression in English that the Passover festival itself is the object of “kill.”

[14:27]  ⁸¹ tn The Hebrew term לְאֵיתָנוֹ (lÿ’etano) means “to its place,” or better, “to its perennial state.” The point is that the sea here had a normal level, and now when the Egyptians were in the sea on the dry ground the water would return to that level.

[14:27]  ⁸² tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”

[14:27]  ⁸³ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”

[14:27]  ⁸⁴ tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.

[17:14]  ⁸⁵ tn The presence of the article does not mean that he was to write this in a book that was existing now, but in one dedicated to this purpose (book, meaning scroll). See GKC 408 §126.s.

[17:14]  ⁸⁶ tn The Hebrew word is “place,” meaning that the events were to be impressed on Joshua.

[17:14]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “in the ears of Joshua.” The account should be read to Joshua.

[17:14]  ⁸⁸ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense to stress the resolution of Yahweh to destroy Amalek. The verb מָחָה (makhah) is often translated “blot out” – but that is not a very satisfactory image, since it would not remove completely what is the object. “Efface, erase, scrape off” (as in a palimpsest, a manuscript that is scraped clean so it can be reused) is a more accurate image.

[17:14]  ⁸⁹ sn This would seem to be defeated by the preceding statement that the events would be written in a book for a memorial. If this war is recorded, then the Amalekites would be remembered. But here God was going to wipe out the memory of them. But the idea of removing the memory of a people is an idiom for destroying them – they will have no posterity and no lasting heritage.

[18:11]  ⁹⁰ tn The end of this sentence seems not to have been finished, or it is very elliptical. In the present translation the phrase “he has destroyed them” is supplied. Others take the last prepositional phrase to be the completion and supply only a verb: “[he was] above them.” U. Cassuto (Exodus, 216) takes the word “gods” to be the subject of the verb “act proudly,” giving the sense of “precisely (כִּי, ki) in respect of these things of which the gods of Egypt boasted – He is greater than they (עֲלֵיהֶם, ‘alehem).” He suggests rendering the clause, “excelling them in the very things to which they laid claim.”

[20:19]  ⁹¹ tn The verb is a Piel imperative. In this context it has more of the sense of a request than a command. The independent personal pronoun “you” emphasizes the subject and forms the contrast with God’s speaking.

[23:33]  ⁹² tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.

[33:4]  ⁹³ tn Or “bad news” (NAB, NCV).

[33:4]  ⁹⁴ sn The people would rather have risked divine discipline than to go without Yahweh in their midst. So they mourned, and they took off the ornaments. Such had been used in making the golden calf, and so because of their association with all of that they were to be removed as a sign of remorse.

[5:3]  ⁹⁵ tn The word “journey” is an adverbial accusative telling the distance that Moses wanted the people to go. It is qualified by “three days.” It is not saying that they will be gone three days, but that they will go a distance that will take three days to cover (see Gen 31:22-23; Num 10:33; 33:8).

[5:3]  ⁹⁶ tn The purpose clause here is formed with a second cohortative joined with a vav (ו): “let us go…and let us sacrifice.” The purpose of the going was to sacrifice.

[5:3]  sn Where did Moses get the idea that they should have a pilgrim feast and make sacrifices? God had only said they would serve Him in that mountain. In the OT the pilgrim feasts to the sanctuary three times a year incorporated the ideas of serving the Lord and keeping the commands. So the words here use the more general idea of appearing before their God. They would go to the desert because there was no homeland yet. Moses later spoke of the journey as necessary to avoid offending Egyptian sensibilities (8:25-26).

[5:3]  ⁹⁷ sn The last clause of this verse is rather unexpected here: “lest he meet [afflict] us with pestilence or sword.” To fail to comply with the summons of one’s God was to invite such calamities. The Law would later incorporate many such things as the curses for disobedience. Moses is indicating to Pharaoh that there is more reason to fear Yahweh than Pharaoh.

[12:27]  ⁹⁸ sn This expression “the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover” occurs only here. The word זֶבַח (zevakh) means “slaughtering” and so a blood sacrifice. The fact that this word is used in Lev 3 for the peace offering has linked the Passover as a kind of peace offering, and both the Passover and the peace offerings were eaten as communal meals.

[12:27]  ⁹⁹ tn The verb means “to strike, smite, plague”; it is the same verb that has been used throughout this section (נָגַף, nagaf). Here the construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause.

[12:27]  ¹⁰⁰ tn The two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “and the people bowed down and they worshiped.” The words are synonymous, and so one is taken as the adverb for the other.

[31:14]  ¹⁰¹ tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mÿkhalleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.

[31:14]  ¹⁰² tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

[31:14]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “the one who does.”

[31:14]  ¹⁰⁴ tn “any” has been supplied.

[31:14]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).