Keluaran 4:18

The Return of Moses

4:18 ¹ So Moses went back ²  to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go, so that I may return ³  to my relatives ⁴  in Egypt and see ⁵  if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

Keluaran 10:7

10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long ⁶  will this man be a menace ⁷  to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know ⁸  that Egypt is destroyed?”

Keluaran 14:5

14:5 When it was reported ⁹  to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, ¹⁰  the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, ¹¹  “What in the world have we done? ¹²  For we have released the people of Israel ¹³  from serving us!”

Keluaran 14:17

14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ¹⁴  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ¹⁵  they will come after them, that I may be honored ¹⁶  because ¹⁷  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Keluaran 16:23

16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, ¹⁸  a holy Sabbath ¹⁹  to the Lord. Whatever you want to ²⁰  bake, bake today; ²¹  whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

Keluaran 16:32

16:32 Moses said, “This is what ²²  the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept ²³  for generations to come, ²⁴  so that they may see ²⁵  the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”

Keluaran 17:3

17:3 But the people were very thirsty ²⁶  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ²⁷  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ²⁸ 

Keluaran 29:28

29:28 It is to belong to Aaron and to his sons from the Israelites, by a perpetual ordinance, for it is a contribution. It is to be a contribution from the Israelites from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

Keluaran 32:27

32:27 and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten ²⁹  his sword on his side, and go back and forth ³⁰  from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” ³¹ 

[4:18]  ¹ sn This last section of the chapter reports Moses’ compliance with the commission. It has four parts: the decision to return (18-20), the instruction (21-23), the confrontation with Yahweh (24-26), and the presentation with Aaron (27-31).

[4:18]  ² tn The two verbs form a verbal hendiadys, the second verb becoming adverbial in the translation: “and he went and he returned” becomes “and he went back.”

[4:18]  ³ tn There is a sequence here with the two cohortative forms: אֵלְכָה נָּא וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elÿkhah nna’ vÿ’ashuva) – “let me go in order that I may return.”

[4:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

[4:18]  ⁵ tn This verb is parallel to the preceding cohortative and so also expresses purpose: “let me go that I may return…and that I may see.”

[10:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn With the adverb טֶרֶם (terem), the imperfect tense receives a present sense: “Do you not know?” (See GKC 481 §152.r).

[14:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.

[14:5]  ¹⁰ tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.

[14:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.

[14:5]  ¹² tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[14:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).

[14:17]  ¹⁴ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.

[14:17]  ¹⁵ tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.

[14:17]  ¹⁶ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

[14:17]  ¹⁷ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

[16:23]  ¹⁸ tn The noun שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) has the abstract ending on it: “resting, ceasing.” The root word means “cease” from something, more than “to rest.” The Law would make it clear that they were to cease from their normal occupations and do no common work.

[16:23]  ¹⁹ tn The technical expression is now used: שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ (shabbat-qodesh, “a holy Sabbath”) meaning a “cessation of/for holiness” for Yahweh. The rest was to be characterized by holiness.

[16:23]  ²⁰ tn The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects – “bake whatever you want to bake.”

[16:23]  ²¹ tn The word “today” is implied from the context.

[16:32]  ²² tn Heb “This is the thing that.”

[16:32]  ²³ tn Heb “for keeping.”

[16:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).

[16:32]  ²⁵ tn In this construction after the particle expressing purpose or result, the imperfect tense has the nuance of final imperfect, equal to a subjunctive in the classical languages.

[17:3]  ²⁶ tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.

[17:3]  ²⁷ tn The demonstrative pronoun is used as the enclitic form for special emphasis in the question; it literally says, “why is this you have brought us up?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[17:3]  ²⁸ sn Their words deny God the credit for bringing them out of Egypt, impugn the integrity of Moses and God by accusing them of bringing the people out here to die, and show a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide for them.

[32:27]  ²⁹ tn Heb “put.”

[32:27]  ³⁰ tn The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys: “pass over and return,” meaning, “go back and forth” throughout the camp.

[32:27]  ³¹ tn The phrases have “and kill a man his brother, and a man his companion, and a man his neighbor.” The instructions were probably intended to mean that they should kill leaders they knew to be guilty because they had been seen or because they failed the water test – whoever they were.