34:18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days 7 you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this 8 at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.
28:16 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord’s Passover.
16:1 Observe the month Abib 10 and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month 11 he 12 brought you out of Egypt by night.
3:7 In the first month (that is, the month of Nisan), in the twelfth year 13 of King Ahasuerus’ reign, pur 14 (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman in order to determine a day and a month. 15 It turned out to be the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). 16
1 tn The word הַיּוֹם (hayyom) means literally “the day, today, this day.” In this sentence it functions as an adverbial accusative explaining when the event took place.
2 sn Abib appears to be an old name for the month, meaning something like “[month of] fresh young ears” (Lev 2:14 [Heb]) (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 106). B. Jacob (Exodus, 364) explains that these names were not precise designations, but general seasons based on the lunar year in the agricultural setting.
3 tn The form is the active participle, functioning verbally.
4 tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
5 tn Heb “in it.”
6 tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).
7 tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
8 tn The words “do this” have been supplied.
9 tn Heb “between the two evenings,” perhaps designating the time between the setting of the sun and the true darkness of night. Cf. KJV, ASV “at even”; NAB “at the evening twilight.”
10 sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
11 tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Heb “the
13 sn This year would be ca. 474
14 tn The term פּוּר (pur, “lot”) is an Akkadian loanword; the narrator therefore explains it for his Hebrew readers (“that is, the lot”). It is from the plural form of this word (i.e., Purim) that the festival celebrating the deliverance of the Jews takes its name (cf. 9:24, 26, 28, 31).
15 tc The LXX adds the following words: “in order to destroy in one day the race of Mordecai, and the lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month.” The LXX reading is included by NAB.
16 tn Since v. 7 seems to interrupt the flow of the narrative, many scholars have suggested that it is a late addition to the text. But there is not enough evidence to warrant such a conclusion. Even though its placement is somewhat awkward, the verse supplies to the reader an important piece of chronological information.