Exodus 3:20

3:20 So I will extend my hand ¹  and strike Egypt with all my wonders ²  that I will do among them, and after that he will release you. ³ 

Exodus 12:9

12:9 Do not eat it raw ⁴  or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails.

Exodus 23:21

23:21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name ⁵  is in him.

Exodus 33:3

33:3 Go up ⁶  to a land flowing with milk and honey. But ⁷  I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you ⁸  on the way.”

Exodus 34:12

34:12 Be careful not to make ⁹  a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare ¹⁰  among you.

¹ sn The outstretched arm is a bold anthropomorphism. It describes the power of God. The Egyptians will later admit that the plagues were by the hand of God (Exod 8:19).

² tn The word נִפְלְאֹתַי (niflÿ’otay) does not specify what the intervention will be. As the text unfolds it will be clear that the plagues are intended. Signs and portents could refer to things people might do, but “wonders” only God could do. The root refers to that which is extraordinary, surpassing, amazing, difficult to comprehend. See Isa 9:6; Gen 18:14; Ps 139:6.

³ sn The two uses of the root שָׁלָח (shalakh) in this verse contribute to its force. When the Lord “sends” (Qal) his hand, Pharaoh will “send” (Piel) the Israelites out of Egypt.

⁴ sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.

⁷ sn This means “the manifestation of my being” is in him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 247). Driver quotes McNeile as saying, “The ‘angel’ is Jehovah Himself ‘in a temporary descent to visibility for a special purpose.’” Others take the “name” to represent Yahweh’s “power” (NCV) or “authority” (NAB, CEV).

¹⁰ tn This verse seems to be a continuation of the command to “go up” since it begins with “to a land….” The intervening clauses are therefore parenthetical or relative. But the translation is made simpler by supplying the verb.

¹¹ tn This is a strong adversative here, “but.”

¹² tn The clause is “lest I consume you.” It would go with the decision not to accompany them: “I will not go up with you…lest I consume (destroy) you in the way.” The verse is saying that because of the people’s bent to rebellion, Yahweh would not remain in their midst as he had formerly said he would do. Their lives would be at risk if he did.

¹³ tn The exact expression is “take heed to yourself lest you make.” It is the second use of this verb in the duties, now in the Niphal stem. To take heed to yourself means to watch yourself, be sure not to do something. Here, if they failed to do this, they would end up making entangling treaties.

¹⁴ sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.