Exodus 14:31

14:31 When Israel saw the great power that the Lord had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Luke 16:31

16:31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

John 5:46-47

5:46 If 10  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses 11  wrote, how will you believe my words?”

John 13:20

13:20 I tell you the solemn truth, 12  whoever accepts 13  the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” 14 


tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse is making.

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.

tn Heb “did, made.”

tn Heb “and the people feared.”

tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of אָמַן (’aman).

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.

tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

tn Or “obey”; Grk “hear.” See the note on the phrase “respond to” in v. 29.

sn The concluding statement of the parable, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead, provides a hint that even Jesus’ resurrection will not help some to respond. The message of God should be good enough. Scripture is the sign to be heeded.

10 tn Grk “For if.”

11 tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

12 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

13 tn Or “receives,” and so throughout this verse.

14 sn The one who sent me refers to God.