Keluaran 4:4

4:4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand ¹  –

Keluaran 5:4

5:4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work? ²  Return to your labor!”

Keluaran 6:5

6:5 I ³  have also heard ⁴  the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, ⁵  and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶ 

Keluaran 9:4

9:4 But the Lord will distinguish ⁷  between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing ⁸  will die of all that the Israelites have.”’” ⁹ 

Keluaran 9:34

9:34 When Pharaoh saw ¹⁰  that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: ¹¹  both he and his servants hardened ¹²  their hearts.

Keluaran 12:5

12:5 Your lamb must be ¹³  perfect, ¹⁴  a male, one year old; ¹⁵  you may take ¹⁶  it from the sheep or from the goats.

Keluaran 13:18

13:18 So God brought the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea, ¹⁷  and the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt prepared for battle. ¹⁸ 

Keluaran 14:24

14:24 In the morning watch ¹⁹  the Lord looked down ²⁰  on the Egyptian army ²¹  through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army ²²  into a panic. ²³ 

Keluaran 17:10

17:10 So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him; ²⁴ and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Keluaran 21:7

21:7 “If a man sells his daughter ²⁵  as a female servant, ²⁶  she will not go out as the male servants do.

Keluaran 23:30

23:30 Little by little ²⁷  I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.

Keluaran 34:13

34:13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. ²⁸ 

Keluaran 37:20

37:20 On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,

Keluaran 39:18

39:18 the other ²⁹  two ends of the two chains they attached to the two settings, and they attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.

[4:4]  ¹ sn The signs authenticated Moses’ ministry as the Lord’s emissary. This sign will show that the Lord had control over Egypt and its stability, over life and death. But first Moses has to be convinced that he can turn it into a dead stick again.

[5:4]  ² sn The clause is a rhetorical question. Pharaoh is not asking them why they do this, but rather is accusing them of doing it. He suspects their request is an attempt to get people time away from their labor. In Pharaoh’s opinion, Moses and Aaron were “removing the restraint” (פָּרַע, para’) of the people in an effort to give them rest. Ironically, under the Law the people would be expected to cease their labor when they went to appear before God. He would give them the rest that Pharaoh refused to give. It should be noted also that it was not Israel who doubted that Yahweh had sent Moses, as Moses had feared – but rather Pharaoh.

[6:5]  ³ tn The addition of the independent pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “I”) emphasizes the fact that it was Yahweh himself who heard the cry.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “And also I have heard.”

[6:5]  ⁵ tn The form is the Hiphil participle מַעֲבִדִים (ma’avidim, “causing to serve”). The participle occurs in a relative clause that modifies “the Israelites.” The clause ends with the accusative “them,” which must be combined with the relative pronoun for a smooth English translation. So “who the Egyptians are enslaving them,” results in the translation “whom the Egyptians are enslaving.”

[6:5]  ⁶ tn As in Exod 2:24, this remembering has the significance of God’s beginning to act to fulfill the covenant promises.

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

[9:4]  ⁸ tn There is a wordplay in this section. A pestilence – דֶּבֶר (dever) – will fall on Egypt’s cattle, but no thing – דָּבָר (davar) – belonging to Israel would die. It was perhaps for this reason that the verb was changed in v. 1 from “say” to “speak” (דִּבֶּר, dibber). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 111.

[9:4]  ⁹ tn The lamed preposition indicates possession: “all that was to the Israelites” means “all that the Israelites had.”

[9:34]  ¹⁰ tn The clause beginning with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next, and main clause – that he hardened his heart again.

[9:34]  ¹¹ tn The construction is another verbal hendiadys: וַיֹּסֶף לַחֲטֹּא (vayyosef lakhatto’), literally rendered “and he added to sin.” The infinitive construct becomes the main verb, and the Hiphil preterite becomes adverbial. The text is clearly interpreting as sin the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his refusal to release Israel. At the least this means that the plagues are his fault, but the expression probably means more than this – he was disobeying Yahweh God.

[9:34]  ¹² tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[12:5]  ¹³ tn The construction has: “[The] lamb…will be to you.” This may be interpreted as a possessive use of the lamed, meaning, “[the] lamb…you have” (your lamb) for the Passover. In the context instructing the people to take an animal for this festival, the idea is that the one they select, their animal, must meet these qualifications.

[12:5]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect” or “whole” or “complete” in the sense of not having blemishes and diseases – no physical defects. The rules for sacrificial animals applied here (see Lev 22:19-21; Deut 17:1).

[12:5]  ¹⁵ tn The idiom says “a son of a year” (בֶּן־שָׁנָה, ben shanah), meaning a “yearling” or “one year old” (see GKC 418 §128.v).

[12:5]  ¹⁶ tn Because a choice is being given in this last clause, the imperfect tense nuance of permission should be used. They must have a perfect animal, but it may be a sheep or a goat. The verb’s object “it” is supplied from the context.

[13:18]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf) cannot be a genitive (“wilderness of the Red Sea”) because it follows a noun that is not in construct; instead, it must be an adverbial accusative, unless it is simply joined by apposition to “the wilderness” – the way to the wilderness [and] to the Red Sea (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 217).

[13:18]  sn The translation of this name as “Red Sea” comes from the sea’s Greek name in the LXX and elsewhere. The Red Sea on today’s maps is farther south, below the Sinai Peninsula. But the title Red Sea in ancient times may very well have covered both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba (see Deut 1:1; 1 Kgs 9:26). The name “Sea of Reeds” in various English versions (usually in the form of a marginal note) and commentaries reflects the meaning of the Hebrew word סוּף a word for reedy water plants (Exod 2:3, 5; Isa 19:6; Jonah 2:6 [Eng. v. 5]) that may have a connection with an Egyptian word used for papyrus and other marsh plants. On this basis some have taken the term Yam Suph as perhaps referring to Lake Menzaleh or Lake Ballah, which have abundant reeds, north of the extension of the Red Sea on the western side of Sinai. Whatever exact body of water is meant, it was not merely a marshy swamp that the people waded through, but a body of water large enough to make passage impossible without divine intervention, and deep enough to drown the Egyptian army. Lake Menzaleh has always been deep enough to preclude passage on foot (E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66). Among the many sources dealing with the geography, see B. F. Batto, “The Reed Sea: Requiescat in Pace,” JBL 102 (1983): 27-35; M. Waxman, “I Miss the Red Sea,” Conservative Judaism 18 (1963): 35-44; G. Coats, “The Sea Tradition in the Wilderness Theme: A Review,” JSOT 12 (1979): 2-8; and K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, 261-63.

[13:18]  ¹⁸ tn The term חֲמֻשִׁים (khamushim) is placed first for emphasis; it forms a circumstantial clause, explaining how they went up. Unfortunately, it is a rare word with uncertain meaning. Most translations have something to do with “in battle array” or “prepared to fight” if need be (cf. Josh 1:14; 4:12). The Targum took it as “armed with weapons.” The LXX had “in the fifth generation.” Some have opted for “in five divisions.”

[14:24]  ¹⁹ tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.

[14:24]  ²⁰ tn This particular verb, שָׁקַף (shaqaf) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 120) suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder.

[14:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “camp.” The same Hebrew word is used in Exod 14:20. Unlike the English word “camp,” it can be used of a body of people at rest (encamped) or on the move.

[14:24]  ²² tn Heb “camp.”

[14:24]  ²³ tn The verb הָמַם (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).

[17:10]  ²⁴ tn The line in Hebrew reads literally: And Joshua did as Moses had said to him, to fight with Amalek. The infinitive construct is epexegetical, explaining what Joshua did that was in compliance with Moses’ words.

[21:7]  ²⁵ sn This paragraph is troubling to modern readers, but given the way that marriages were contracted and the way people lived in the ancient world, it was a good provision for people who might want to find a better life for their daughter. On the subject in general for this chapter, see W. M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women, 31-64.

[21:7]  ²⁶ tn The word אָמָה (’amah) refers to a female servant who would eventually become a concubine or wife; the sale price included the amount for the service as well as the bride price (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 621). The arrangement recognized her honor as an Israelite woman, one who could be a wife, even though she entered the household in service. The marriage was not automatic, as the conditions show, but her treatment was safeguarded come what may. The law was a way, then, for a poor man to provide a better life for a daughter.

[23:30]  ²⁷ tn The repetition expresses an exceptional or super-fine quality (see GKC 396 §123.e).

[34:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “their Asherah idols.”

[34:13]  sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

[39:18]  ²⁹ tn Here “other” has been supplied.