14:1 7 The Lord spoke to Moses:
8:2 Obey the king’s command, 9
because you took 10 an oath before God 11 to be loyal to him. 12
8:3 Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, 13
for he can do whatever he pleases.
8:4 Surely the king’s authority 14 is absolute; 15
no one can say 16 to him, “What are you doing?”
8:5 Whoever obeys his 17 command will not experience harm,
and a wise person 18 knows the proper time 19 and procedure.
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, 23 and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13:2 So the person who resists such authority 24 resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation, 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer. 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities 25 but also because of your conscience. 26 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities 27 are God’s servants devoted to governing. 28 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and 29 authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.
3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and 30 authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.
1 tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse is making.
2 tn Heb “the great hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for work or power. The word play using “hand” contrasts the Lord’s hand/power at work on behalf of the Israelites with the hand/power of Egypt that would have killed them.
3 tn Heb “did, made.”
4 tn Heb “and the people feared.”
5 tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of אָמַן (’aman).
6 sn Here the title of “servant” is given to Moses. This is the highest title a mortal can have in the OT – the “servant of Yahweh.” It signifies more than a believer; it describes the individual as acting on behalf of God. For example, when Moses stretched out his hand, God used it as his own (Isa 63:12). Moses was God’s personal representative. The chapter records both a message of salvation and of judgment. Like the earlier account of deliverance at the Passover, this chapter can be a lesson on deliverance from present troubles – if God could do this for Israel, there is no trouble too great for him to overcome. The passage can also be understood as a picture (at least) of the deliverance at the final judgment on the world. But the Israelites used this account for a paradigm of the power of God: namely, God is able to deliver his people from danger because he is the sovereign Lord of creation. His people must learn to trust him, even in desperate situations; they must fear him and not the situation. God can bring any threat to an end by bringing his power to bear in judgment on the wicked.
7 sn The account recorded in this chapter is one of the best known events in all of Scripture. In the argument of the book it marks the division between the bondage in Egypt and the establishment of the people as a nation. Here is the deliverance from Egypt. The chapter divides simply in two, vv. 1-14 giving the instructions, and vv. 15-31 reporting the victory. See among others, G. Coats, “History and Theology in the Sea Tradition,” ST 29 (1975): 53-62); A. J. Ehlen, “Deliverance at the Sea: Diversity and Unity in a Biblical Theme,” CTM 44 (1973): 168-91; J. B. Scott, “God’s Saving Acts,” The Presbyterian Journal 38 (1979): 12-14; W. Wifall, “The Sea of Reeds as Sheol,” ZAW 92 (1980): 325-32.
8 sn The people and Yahweh through this will be united by blood, for half was spattered on the altar and the other half spattered on/toward the people (v. 8).
9 tc The Leningrad Codex (the basis of BHS) reads אֲנִי (’ani, 1st person common singular independent personal pronoun): “I obey the king’s command.” Other medieval Hebrew
10 tn The phrase “you took” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
11 tn The genitive-construct שְׁבוּעַת אֱלֹהִים (shÿvu’at ’elohim, “an oath of God”) functions as a genitive of location (“an oath before God”) or an adjectival genitive of attribute (“a supreme oath”).
12 tn The words “to be loyal to him” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 tn Or “do not stand up for a bad cause.”
14 tn Heb “word.”
15 tn Heb “supreme.”
16 tn Heb “Who can say…?”
17 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
18 tn Heb “the heart of a wise man.”
19 tn The term עֵת (’et, “time”) connotes “a proper, suitable time for an event; the right moment” (HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6; BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.b); e.g., “it was the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “a time of judgment for the nations” (Ezek 30:3); “there is an appropriate time for every occasion” (Eccl 3:1); “the time when mountain goats are born” (Job 39:1); “the rain in its season” (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24); “the time for the harvest” (Hos 2:11; Ps 1:3); “food in its season” (Ps 104:27).
20 tn Grk “they said to him.”
21 tn Grk “then he said to them.” τότε (tote) has not been translated to avoid redundancy.
22 sn Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.
23 tn Grk “by God.”
24 tn Grk “the authority,” referring to the authority just described.
25 tn Grk “its wrath”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Grk “because of (the) conscience,” but the English possessive “your” helps to show whose conscience the context implies.
27 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Grk “devoted to this very thing.”
29 tc Most later witnesses (D2 0278 Ï lat sy) have καί (kai, “and”) after ἀρχαῖς (arcai", “rulers”), though the earliest and best witnesses (א A C D* F G Ψ 33 104 1739 1881) lack the conjunction. Although the καί is most likely not authentic, it has been added in translation due to the requirements of English style. For more discussion, see TCGNT 586.
30 tc Most later witnesses (D2 0278 Ï lat sy) have καί (kai, “and”) after ἀρχαῖς (arcai", “rulers”), though the earliest and best witnesses (א A C D* F G Ψ 33 104 1739 1881) lack the conjunction. Although the καί is most likely not authentic, it has been added in translation due to the requirements of English style. For more discussion, see TCGNT 586.
31 tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
32 tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.