4:18 4 So Moses went back 5 to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go, so that I may return 6 to my relatives 7 in Egypt and see 8 if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
1 tn The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).
2 tn Heb “in his hand.”
3 sn He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.
4 sn This last section of the chapter reports Moses’ compliance with the commission. It has four parts: the decision to return (18-20), the instruction (21-23), the confrontation with Yahweh (24-26), and the presentation with Aaron (27-31).
5 tn The two verbs form a verbal hendiadys, the second verb becoming adverbial in the translation: “and he went and he returned” becomes “and he went back.”
6 tn There is a sequence here with the two cohortative forms: אֵלְכָה נָּא וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elÿkhah nna’ vÿ’ashuva) – “let me go in order that I may return.”
7 tn Heb “brothers.”
8 tn This verb is parallel to the preceding cohortative and so also expresses purpose: “let me go that I may return…and that I may see.”