Exodus 3:4

3:4 When the Lord ¹  saw that ²  he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” ³  And Moses ⁴  said, “Here I am.”

Exodus 9:18

9:18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ⁵  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ⁶  in Egypt from the day it was founded ⁷  until now.

Exodus 14:17

14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ⁸  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ⁹  they will come after them, that I may be honored ¹⁰  because ¹¹  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Exodus 34:11

34:11 “Obey ¹²  what I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out ¹³  before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

¹ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) is subordinated as a temporal clause to the main point of the verse, that God called to him. The language is anthropomorphic, as if God’s actions were based on his observing what Moses did.

² tn The particle כִּי (ki, “that”) introduces the noun clause that functions as the direct object of the verb “saw” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490).

³ sn The repetition of the name in God’s call is emphatic, making the appeal direct and immediate (see also Gen 22:11; 46:2). The use of the personal name shows how specifically God directed the call and that he knew this person. The repetition may have stressed even more that it was indeed he whom the Lord wanted. It would have been an encouragement to Moses that this was in fact the Lord who was meeting him.

⁴ tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר (hinÿni mamtir) is the futur instans construction, giving an imminent future translation: “Here – I am about to cause it to rain.”

⁶ tn Heb “which not was like it in Egypt.” The pronoun suffix serves as the resumptive pronoun for the relative particle: “which…like it” becomes “the like of which has not been.” The word “hail” is added in the translation to make clear the referent of the relative particle.

⁷ tn The form הִוָּסְדָה (hivvasdah) is perhaps a rare Niphal perfect and not an infinitive (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 117).

⁹ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.

¹⁰ tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.

¹¹ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

¹² tn Or “I will get glory over.”

¹³ tn The covenant duties begin with this command to “keep well” what is being commanded. The Hebrew expression is “keep for you”; the preposition and the suffix form the ethical dative, adding strength to the imperative.

¹⁴ tn Again, this is the futur instans use of the participle.