Exodus 9:18-21

9:18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ¹  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ²  in Egypt from the day it was founded ³  until now. 9:19 So now, send instructions ⁴  to gather ⁵  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ⁶  or animal caught ⁷  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

9:20 Those ⁸  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ⁹  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ¹⁰  who did not take ¹¹  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ¹²  in the field.

[9:18]  ¹ tn הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר (hinÿni mamtir) is the futur instans construction, giving an imminent future translation: “Here – I am about to cause it to rain.”

[9:18]  ² tn Heb “which not was like it in Egypt.” The pronoun suffix serves as the resumptive pronoun for the relative particle: “which…like it” becomes “the like of which has not been.” The word “hail” is added in the translation to make clear the referent of the relative particle.

[9:18]  ³ tn The form הִוָּסְדָה (hivvasdah) is perhaps a rare Niphal perfect and not an infinitive (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 117).

[9:19]  ⁴ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[9:20]  ⁸ tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ¹² tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”