Proverbs 17:2

17:2 A servant who acts wisely ¹  will rule

over ²  an heir ³  who behaves shamefully, ⁴ 

and will share the inheritance along with the relatives. ⁵ 

Proverbs 22:29

22:29 Do you see a person skilled ⁶  in his work?

He will take his position before kings;

he will not take his position ⁷  before obscure people. ⁸ 

Genesis 24:2-3

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ⁹  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ¹⁰  24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise ¹¹  by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire ¹²  a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

Genesis 39:2-5

39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful ¹³  and lived ¹⁴  in the household of his Egyptian master. 39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ¹⁵  39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ¹⁶  Potiphar appointed Joseph ¹⁷  overseer of his household and put him in charge ¹⁸  of everything he owned. 39:5 From the time ¹⁹  Potiphar ²⁰  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ²¹  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ²²  in his house and in his fields. ²³ 

Genesis 39:22-23

39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. ²⁴  39:23 The warden did not concern himself ²⁵  with anything that was in Joseph’s ²⁶  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

Exodus 24:13

24:13 So Moses set out ²⁷  with ²⁸  Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God.

Exodus 24:2

24:2 Moses alone may come ²⁹  near the Lord, but the others ³⁰  must not come near, ³¹  nor may the people go up with him.”

Exodus 3:11

3:11 Moses said ³²  to God, ³³  “Who am I, that I should go ³⁴  to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Exodus 3:2

3:2 The angel of the Lord ³⁵  appeared ³⁶  to him in ³⁷  a flame of fire from within a bush. ³⁸  He looked ³⁹  – and ⁴⁰  the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! ⁴¹ 

Exodus 5:2-3

5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord ⁴²  that ⁴³  I should obey him ⁴⁴  by releasing ⁴⁵  Israel? I do not know the Lord, ⁴⁶  and I will not release Israel!” 5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ⁴⁷  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ⁴⁸  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ⁴⁹ 

Exodus 5:1

Opposition to the Plan of God

5:1 ⁵⁰ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, ⁵¹  the God of Israel, ‘Release ⁵²  my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast ⁵³  to me in the desert.’”

Exodus 5:1

Opposition to the Plan of God

5:1 ⁵⁴ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, ⁵⁵  the God of Israel, ‘Release ⁵⁶  my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast ⁵⁷  to me in the desert.’”

Mark 10:43

10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

Acts 10:7

10:7 When the angel who had spoken to him departed, Cornelius ⁵⁸  called two of his personal servants ⁵⁹  and a devout soldier from among those who served him, ⁶⁰ 

Colossians 3:22

3:22 Slaves, ⁶¹  obey your earthly ⁶²  masters in every respect, not only when they are watching – like those who are strictly people-pleasers – but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord.

[17:2]  ¹ sn The setting is in the ancient world where a servant rarely advanced beyond his or her station in life. But there are notable exceptions (e.g., Gen 15:3 where the possibility is mentioned, 1 Chr 2:35 where it changed through marriage, and 2 Sam 16:1-4; 19:24-30, with the story of Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth). This proverb focuses on a servant who is wise, one who uses all his abilities effectively – a Joseph figure.

[17:2]  ² sn The parallelism indicates that “ruling over” and “sharing in the inheritance” means that the disgraceful son will be disinherited.

[17:2]  ³ tn Heb “son.”

[17:2]  ⁴ tn The form מֵבִישׁ (mevish) is a Hiphil participle, modifying בֵן (ben). This original heir would then be one who caused shame or disgrace to the family, probably by showing a complete lack of wisdom in the choices he made.

[17:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the midst of the brothers”; NIV “as one of the brothers.”

[22:29]  ⁶ sn The word translated “skilled” is general enough to apply to any crafts; but it may refer to a scribe or an official (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 134).

[22:29]  ⁷ tn The verb form used twice here is יִתְיַצֵּב (yityatsev), the Hitpael imperfect of יָצַב (yatsav), which means “to set or station oneself; to take one’s stand” in this stem. With the form לִפְנֵי (life) it means “to present oneself before” someone; so here it has the idea of serving as a courtier in the presence of a king.

[22:29]  ⁸ sn The fifth saying affirms that true skill earns recognition and advancement (cf. Instruction of Amenemope, chap. 30, 27:16-17 [ANET 424]).

[24:2]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ¹⁰ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[24:3]  ¹¹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

[24:3]  ¹² tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[39:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).

[39:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he was.”

[39:3]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:4]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.

[39:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “put into his hand.”

[39:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ²¹ sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ²² tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ²³ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.

[39:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.

[39:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”

[39:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and he arose” meaning “started to go.”

[24:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and.”

[24:2]  ²⁹ tn The verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive; it and the preceding perfect tense follow the imperative, and so have either a force of instruction, or, as taken here, are the equivalent of an imperfect tense (of permission).

[24:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “they.”

[24:2]  ³¹ tn Now the imperfect tense negated is used; here the prohibition would fit (“they will not come near”), or the obligatory (“they must not”) in which the subjects are obliged to act – or not act in this case.

[3:11]  ³² tn Heb “And Moses said.”

[3:11]  ³³ sn When he was younger, Moses was confident and impulsive, but now that he is older the greatness of the task makes him unsure. The remainder of this chapter and the next chapter record the four difficulties of Moses and how the Lord answers them (11-12, 13-22; then 4:1-9; and finally 4:10-17).

[3:11]  ³⁴ tn The imperfect tense אֵלֵךְ (’elekh) carries the modal nuance of obligatory imperfect, i.e., “that I should go.” Moses at this point is overwhelmed with the task of representing God, and with his personal insufficiency, and so in honest humility questions the choice.

[3:2]  ³⁵ sn The designation “the angel of the Lord” (Heb “the angel of Yahweh”) occurred in Genesis already (16:7-13; 21:17; 22:11-18). There is some ambiguity in the expression, but it seems often to be interchangeable with God’s name itself, indicating that it refers to the Lord.

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn The verb וַיֵּרָא (vayyera’) is the Niphal preterite of the verb “to see.” For similar examples of רָאָה (ra’ah) in Niphal where the subject “appears,” that is, allows himself to be seen, or presents himself, see Gen 12:7; 35:9; 46:29; Exod 6:3; and 23:17. B. Jacob notes that God appears in this way only to individuals and never to masses of people; it is his glory that appears to the masses (Exodus, 49).

[3:2]  ³⁷ tn Gesenius rightly classifies this as a bet (ב) essentiae (GKC 379 §119.i); it would then indicate that Yahweh appeared to Moses “as a flame.”

[3:2]  ³⁸ sn Fire frequently accompanies the revelation of Yahweh in Exodus as he delivers Israel, guides her, and purifies her. The description here is unique, calling attention to the manifestation as a flame of fire from within the bush. Philo was the first to interpret the bush as Israel, suffering under the persecution of Egypt but never consumed. The Bible leaves the interpretation open. However, in this revelation the fire is coming from within the bush, not from outside, and it represents the Lord who will deliver his people from persecution. See further E. Levine, “The Evolving Symbolism of the Burning Bush,” Dor le Dor 8 (1979): 185-93.

[3:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “And he saw.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The text again uses the deictic particle with vav, וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), traditionally rendered “and behold.” The particle goes with the intense gaze, the outstretched arm, the raised eyebrow – excitement and intense interest: “look, over there.” It draws the reader into the immediate experience of the subject.

[3:2]  ⁴¹ tn The construction uses the suffixed negative אֵינֶנּוּ (’enennu) to convey the subject of the passive verb: “It was not” consumed. This was the amazing thing, for nothing would burn faster in the desert than a thornbush on fire.

[5:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “Yahweh.” This is a rhetorical question, expressing doubt or indignation or simply a negative thought that Yahweh is nothing (see erotesis in E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 944-45). Pharaoh is not asking for information (cf. 1 Sam 25:5-10).

[5:2]  ⁴³ tn The relative pronoun introduces the consecutive clause that depends on the interrogative clause (see GKC 318-19 §107.u).

[5:2]  ⁴⁴ tn The imperfect tense here receives the classification of obligatory imperfect. The verb שָׁמַע (shama’) followed by “in the voice of” is idiomatic; rather than referring to simple audition – “that I should hear his voice” – it conveys the thought of listening that issues in action – “that I should obey him.”

[5:2]  ⁴⁵ tn The Piel infinitive construct here has the epexegetical usage with lamed (ל); it explains the verb “obey.”

[5:2]  ⁴⁶ sn This absolute statement of Pharaoh is part of a motif that will develop throughout the conflict. For Pharaoh, the Lord (Yahweh) did not exist. So he said “I do not know the Lord [i.e., Yahweh].” The point of the plagues and the exodus will be “that he might know.” Pharaoh will come to know this Yahweh, but not in any pleasant way.

[5:3]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ 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.

[5:1]  ⁵⁰ sn The enthusiasm of the worshipers in the preceding chapter turns sour in this one when Pharaoh refuses to cooperate. The point is clear that when the people of God attempt to devote their full service and allegiance to God, they encounter opposition from the world. Rather than finding instant blessing and peace, they find conflict. This is the theme that will continue through the plague narratives. But what makes chapter 5 especially interesting is how the people reacted to this opposition. The chapter has three sections: first, the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh (vv. 1-5); then the report of the stern opposition of the king (vv. 6-14); and finally, the sad account of the effect of this opposition on the people (vv. 15-21).

[5:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Yahweh.”

[5:1]  ⁵² tn The form שַׁלַּח (shallakh), the Piel imperative, has been traditionally translated “let [my people] go.” The Qal would be “send”; so the Piel “send away, release, dismiss, discharge.” B. Jacob observes, “If a person was dismissed through the use of this verb, then he ceased to be within the power or sphere of influence of the individual who had dismissed him. He was completely free and subsequently acted entirely on his own responsibility” (Exodus, 115).

[5:1]  ⁵³ tn The verb חָגַג (khagag) means to hold a feast or to go on a pilgrim feast. The Arabic cognate of the noun form is haj, best known for the pilgrim flight of Mohammed, the hajira. The form in the text (וְיָחֹגּוּ, vÿyakhoggu) is subordinated to the imperative and thus shows the purpose of the imperative.

[5:1]  ⁵⁴ sn The enthusiasm of the worshipers in the preceding chapter turns sour in this one when Pharaoh refuses to cooperate. The point is clear that when the people of God attempt to devote their full service and allegiance to God, they encounter opposition from the world. Rather than finding instant blessing and peace, they find conflict. This is the theme that will continue through the plague narratives. But what makes chapter 5 especially interesting is how the people reacted to this opposition. The chapter has three sections: first, the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh (vv. 1-5); then the report of the stern opposition of the king (vv. 6-14); and finally, the sad account of the effect of this opposition on the people (vv. 15-21).

[5:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh.”

[5:1]  ⁵⁶ tn The form שַׁלַּח (shallakh), the Piel imperative, has been traditionally translated “let [my people] go.” The Qal would be “send”; so the Piel “send away, release, dismiss, discharge.” B. Jacob observes, “If a person was dismissed through the use of this verb, then he ceased to be within the power or sphere of influence of the individual who had dismissed him. He was completely free and subsequently acted entirely on his own responsibility” (Exodus, 115).

[5:1]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb חָגַג (khagag) means to hold a feast or to go on a pilgrim feast. The Arabic cognate of the noun form is haj, best known for the pilgrim flight of Mohammed, the hajira. The form in the text (וְיָחֹגּוּ, vÿyakhoggu) is subordinated to the imperative and thus shows the purpose of the imperative.

[10:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:7]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “domestic servants.” The Greek word here is οἰκέτης (oiketh"), which technically refers to a member of the household, but usually means a household servant (slave) or personal servant rather than a field laborer.

[10:7]  ⁶⁰ tn The meaning of the genitive participle προσκαρτερούντων (proskarterountwn) could either be “a soldier from the ranks of those who served him” (referring to his entire command) or “a soldier from among his personal staff” (referring to a group of soldiers who were his personal attendants). The translation “from among those who served him” is general enough to cover either possibility.

[3:22]  ⁶¹ tn On this word here and in 4:1, see the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:22]  ⁶² tn The prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) does not necessarily qualify the masters as earthly or human (as opposed to the Master in heaven, the Lord), but could also refer to the sphere in which “the service-relation holds true.” See BDAG 577 s.v. κύριος 1.b.