Exodus 8:12

8:12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried ¹  to the Lord because of ²  the frogs that he had brought on ³  Pharaoh.

Exodus 14:10

14:10 When ⁴  Pharaoh got closer, ⁵  the Israelites looked up, ⁶  and there were the Egyptians marching after them, ⁷  and they were terrified. ⁸  The Israelites cried out to the Lord, ⁹ 

Exodus 15:25

15:25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him ¹⁰  a tree. ¹¹  When Moses ¹²  threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord ¹³  made for them ¹⁴  a binding ordinance, ¹⁵  and there he tested ¹⁶  them.

¹ tn The verb צָעַק (tsa’aq) is used for prayers in which people cry out of trouble or from danger. U. Cassuto observes that Moses would have been in real danger if God had not answered this prayer (Exodus, 103).

² tn Heb “over the matter of.”

³ tn The verb is an unusual choice if it were just to mean “brought on.” It is the verb שִׂים (sim, “place, put”). S. R. Driver thinks the thought is “appointed for Pharaoh” as a sign (Exodus, 64). The idea of the sign might be too much, but certainly the frogs were positioned for the instruction of the stubborn king.

⁴ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.

⁵ tn Heb “drew near.”

⁶ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking – they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.

⁷ tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.

⁸ tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.

⁹ sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.

⁷ tn The verb is וַיּוֹרֵהוּ (vayyorehu, “and he showed him”). It is the Hiphil preterite from יָרָה (yarah), which has a basic meaning of “to point, show, direct.” It then came to mean “to teach”; it is the verb behind the noun “Law” (תּוֹרָה, torah).

⁸ tn Or “a [piece of] wood” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV); NLT “a branch.”

⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “there he”; the referent (the Lord) is supplied for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “for him” (referring to Israel as a whole).

¹² tn This translation interprets the two nouns as a hendiadys: “a statute and an ordinance” becomes “a binding ordinance.”

¹³ tn The verb נִסָּהוּ (nissahu, “and he tested him [them]”) is from the root נָסָה (nasah). The use of this word in the Bible indicates that there is question, doubt, or uncertainty about the object being tested.