Genesis 42:1--50:26

Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

42:1 When Jacob heard ¹  there was grain in Egypt, he ²  said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” ³  42:2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us ⁴  so that we may live ⁵  and not die.” ⁶ 

42:3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, ⁷  for he said, ⁸  “What if some accident ⁹  happens ¹⁰  to him?” 42:5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among the other travelers, ¹¹  for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. ¹²  Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down ¹³  before him with ¹⁴  their faces to the ground. 42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹⁵  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ¹⁶  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ¹⁷ 

42:8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 42:9 Then Joseph remembered ¹⁸  the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!” ¹⁹ 

42:10 But they exclaimed, ²⁰  “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food! 42:11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”

42:12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” ²¹  42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. ²²  We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, ²³  and one is no longer alive.” ²⁴ 

42:14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you: ²⁵  You are spies! 42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, ²⁶  you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 42:16 One of you must go and get ²⁷  your brother, while ²⁸  the rest of you remain in prison. ²⁹  In this way your words may be tested to see if ³⁰  you are telling the truth. ³¹  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 42:17 He imprisoned ³²  them all for three days. 42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ³³  and you will live, ³⁴  for I fear God. ³⁵  42:19 If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison ³⁶  while the rest of you go ³⁷  and take grain back for your hungry families. ³⁸  42:20 But you must bring ³⁹  your youngest brother to me. Then ⁴⁰  your words will be verified ⁴¹  and you will not die.” They did as he said. ⁴² 

42:21 They said to one other, ⁴³  “Surely we’re being punished ⁴⁴  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ⁴⁵  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁴⁶  has come on us!” 42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ⁴⁷  42:23 (Now ⁴⁸  they did not know that Joseph could understand them, ⁴⁹  for he was speaking through an interpreter.) ⁵⁰  42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ⁵¹  he had Simeon taken ⁵²  from them and tied up ⁵³  before their eyes.

42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill ⁵⁴  their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. ⁵⁵  42:26 So they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. ⁵⁶ 

42:27 When one of them ⁵⁷  opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, ⁵⁸  he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. ⁵⁹  42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; ⁶⁰  they turned trembling one to another ⁶¹  and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” ⁶² 

42:29 They returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying, 42:30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us ⁶³  as if we were ⁶⁴  spying on the land. 42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies! 42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. ⁶⁵  One is no longer alive, ⁶⁶  and the youngest is with our father at this time ⁶⁷  in the land of Canaan.’

42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain ⁶⁸  for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know ⁶⁹  that you are honest men and not spies. ⁷⁰  Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” ⁷¹ 

42:35 When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid. 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ⁷²  Simeon is gone. ⁷³  And now you want to take ⁷⁴  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may ⁷⁵  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care ⁷⁶  and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But Jacob ⁷⁷  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ⁷⁸  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁷⁹  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁸⁰ 

The Second Journey to Egypt

43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. ⁸¹  43:2 When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return, buy us a little more food.”

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned ⁸²  us, ‘You will not see my face ⁸³  unless your brother is with you.’ 43:4 If you send ⁸⁴  our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you. 43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

43:6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble ⁸⁵  on me by telling ⁸⁶  the man you had one more brother?”

43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us ⁸⁷  thoroughly ⁸⁸  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ⁸⁹  So we answered him in this way. ⁹⁰  How could we possibly know ⁹¹  that he would say, ⁹²  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. ⁹³  Then we will live ⁹⁴  and not die – we and you and our little ones. 43:9 I myself pledge security ⁹⁵  for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ⁹⁶  43:10 But if we had not delayed, we could have traveled there and back ⁹⁷  twice by now!”

43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 43:12 Take double the money with you; ⁹⁸  you must take back ⁹⁹  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight. 43:13 Take your brother too, and go right away ¹⁰⁰  to the man. ¹⁰¹  43:14 May the sovereign God ¹⁰²  grant you mercy before the man so that he may release ¹⁰³  your other brother ¹⁰⁴  and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.” ¹⁰⁵ 

43:15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt ¹⁰⁶  and stood before Joseph. 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.” 43:17 The man did just as Joseph said; he ¹⁰⁷  brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹⁰⁸ 

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ¹⁰⁹  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ¹¹⁰  He wants to capture us, ¹¹¹  make us slaves, and take ¹¹²  our donkeys!” 43:19 So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 43:20 They said, “My lord, we did indeed come down ¹¹³  the first time ¹¹⁴  to buy food. 43:21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ¹¹⁵  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ¹¹⁶  43:22 We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”

43:23 “Everything is fine,” ¹¹⁷  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ¹¹⁸  I had your money.” ¹¹⁹  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

43:24 The servant in charge ¹²⁰  brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys. 43:25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph’s arrival ¹²¹  at noon, for they had heard ¹²²  that they were to have a meal ¹²³  there.

43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, ¹²⁴  and they bowed down to the ground before him. 43:27 He asked them how they were doing. ¹²⁵  Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they replied. “He is still alive.” They bowed down in humility. ¹²⁶ 

43:29 When Joseph looked up ¹²⁷  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ¹²⁸  43:30 Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother ¹²⁹  and was at the point of tears. ¹³⁰  So he went to his room and wept there.

43:31 Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said, ¹³¹  “Set out the food.” 43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹³²  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ¹³³  to do so.) ¹³⁴  43:33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. ¹³⁵  The men looked at each other in astonishment. ¹³⁶  43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ¹³⁷  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ¹³⁸ 

The Final Test

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 44:2 Then put ¹³⁹  my cup – the silver cup – in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” He did as Joseph instructed. ¹⁴⁰ 

44:3 When morning came, ¹⁴¹  the men and their donkeys were sent off. ¹⁴²  44:4 They had not gone very far from the city ¹⁴³  when Joseph said ¹⁴⁴  to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! ¹⁴⁵  When you overtake ¹⁴⁶  them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup ¹⁴⁷  and use it for divination? ¹⁴⁸  You have done wrong!’” ¹⁴⁹ 

44:6 When the man ¹⁵⁰  overtook them, he spoke these words to them. 44:7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? ¹⁵¹  Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ¹⁵²  44:8 Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 44:9 If one of us has it, ¹⁵³  he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves!”

44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! ¹⁵⁴  The one who has it will become my slave, ¹⁵⁵  but the rest of ¹⁵⁶  you will go free.” ¹⁵⁷  44:11 So each man quickly lowered ¹⁵⁸  his sack to the ground and opened it. 44:12 Then the man ¹⁵⁹  searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! 44:13 They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

44:14 So Judah and his brothers ¹⁶⁰  came back to Joseph’s house. He was still there, ¹⁶¹  and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ¹⁶²  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ¹⁶³ 

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ¹⁶⁴  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ¹⁶⁵  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ¹⁶⁶  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ¹⁶⁷  you may go back ¹⁶⁸  to your father in peace.”

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹⁶⁹  Please do not get angry with your servant, ¹⁷⁰  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹⁷¹  44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ¹⁷²  The boy’s ¹⁷³  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ¹⁷⁴  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ¹⁷⁵  him.’ ¹⁷⁶  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ¹⁷⁷  will die.’ ¹⁷⁸  44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ¹⁷⁹  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ¹⁸⁰  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ¹⁸¹  44:28 The first disappeared ¹⁸²  and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take ¹⁸³  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹⁸⁴  in tragedy ¹⁸⁵  to the grave.’ ¹⁸⁶ 

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ¹⁸⁷  44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹⁸⁸  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 44:32 Indeed, ¹⁸⁹  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers. 44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ¹⁹⁰  my father’s pain.” ¹⁹¹ 

The Reconciliation of the Brothers

45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, ¹⁹²  so he cried out, “Make everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained ¹⁹³  with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 45:2 He wept loudly; ¹⁹⁴  the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. ¹⁹⁵ 

45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him. 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” so they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 45:5 Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ¹⁹⁶  for God sent me ¹⁹⁷  ahead of you to preserve life! 45:6 For these past two years there has been famine in ¹⁹⁸  the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 45:7 God sent me ¹⁹⁹  ahead of you to preserve you ²⁰⁰  on the earth and to save your lives ²⁰¹  by a great deliverance. 45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser ²⁰²  to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45:9 Now go up to my father quickly ²⁰³  and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay! 45:10 You will live ²⁰⁴  in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me – you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everything you have. 45:11 I will provide you with food ²⁰⁵  there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’ 45:12 You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you. ²⁰⁶  45:13 So tell ²⁰⁷  my father about all my honor in Egypt and about everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!” ²⁰⁸ 

45:14 Then he threw himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 45:15 He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After this his brothers talked with him.

45:16 Now it was reported ²⁰⁹  in the household of Pharaoh, “Joseph’s brothers have arrived.” It pleased ²¹⁰  Pharaoh and his servants. 45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go ²¹¹  to the land of Canaan! 45:18 Get your father and your households and come to me! Then I will give you ²¹²  the best land in Egypt and you will eat ²¹³  the best ²¹⁴  of the land.’ 45:19 You are also commanded to say, ²¹⁵  ‘Do this: Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives. Bring your father and come. 45:20 Don’t worry ²¹⁶  about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.’”

45:21 So the sons of Israel did as he said. ²¹⁷  Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, ²¹⁸  and he gave them provisions for the journey. 45:22 He gave sets of clothes to each one of them, ²¹⁹  but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of clothes. ²²⁰  45:23 To his father he sent the following: ²²¹  ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, food, and provisions for his father’s journey. 45:24 Then he sent his brothers on their way and they left. He said to them, “As you travel don’t be overcome with fear.” ²²² 

45:25 So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²²³  45:26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, ²²⁴  for he did not believe them. 45:27 But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them, ²²⁵  and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob’s spirit revived. 45:28 Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt

46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. ²²⁶  When he came to Beer Sheba ²²⁷  he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 46:2 God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night ²²⁸  and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!” 46:3 He said, “I am God, ²²⁹  the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. ²³⁰  Joseph will close your eyes.” ²³¹ 

46:5 Then Jacob started out ²³²  from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. 46:6 Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt. ²³³  46:7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, ²³⁴  his daughters and granddaughters – all his descendants.

46:8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt – Jacob and his sons:

Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob.

46:9 The sons of Reuben:

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

46:10 The sons of Simeon:

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar,

and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).

46:11 The sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

46:12 The sons of Judah:

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah

(but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).

The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

46:13 The sons of Issachar:

Tola, Puah, ²³⁵  Jashub, ²³⁶  and Shimron.

46:14 The sons of Zebulun:

Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all. ²³⁷ 

46:16 The sons of Gad:

Zephon, ²³⁸  Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

46:17 The sons of Asher:

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.

The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.

46:18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all.

46:19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob:

Joseph and Benjamin.

46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ²³⁹  bore them to him.

46:21 The sons of Benjamin: ²⁴⁰ 

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

46:22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.

46:23 The son of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴¹ 

46:24 The sons of Naphtali:

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

46:25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

46:26 All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.) ²⁴²  46:27 Counting the two sons ²⁴³  of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy. ²⁴⁴ 

46:28 Jacob ²⁴⁵  sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen. ²⁴⁶  So they came to the land of Goshen. 46:29 Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him, ²⁴⁷  he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.

46:30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” ²⁴⁸  46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ²⁴⁹  ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 46:32 The men are shepherds; ²⁵⁰  they take care of livestock. ²⁵¹  They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 46:33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ²⁵²  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ²⁵³  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ²⁵⁴  to the Egyptians.”

Joseph’s Wise Administration

47:1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of

Canaan. They are now ²⁵⁵  in the land of Goshen.” 47:2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. ²⁵⁶ 

47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s ²⁵⁷  brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” ²⁵⁸  47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ²⁵⁹  in the land. There ²⁶⁰  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men ²⁶¹  among them, put them in charge ²⁶²  of my livestock.”

47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him ²⁶³  before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed ²⁶⁴  Pharaoh. 47:8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” ²⁶⁵  47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All ²⁶⁶  the years of my travels ²⁶⁷  are 130. All ²⁶⁸  the years of my life have been few and painful; ²⁶⁹  the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” ²⁷⁰  47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. ²⁷¹ 

47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory ²⁷²  in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, ²⁷³  just as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children.

47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ²⁷⁴  because of the famine. 47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ²⁷⁵  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ²⁷⁶  47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ²⁷⁷  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ²⁷⁸  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

47:16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food ²⁷⁹  in exchange for ²⁸⁰  your livestock.” 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. ²⁸¹  He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock.

47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our ²⁸²  lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ²⁸³  Pharaoh’s slaves. ²⁸⁴  Give us seed that we may live ²⁸⁵  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ²⁸⁶ 

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ²⁸⁷  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ²⁸⁸  So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph ²⁸⁹  made all the people slaves ²⁹⁰  from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate ²⁹¹  the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, ²⁹²  give ²⁹³  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ²⁹⁴  will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ²⁹⁵  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁹⁶ 

47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, ²⁹⁷  which is in effect ²⁹⁸  to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

47:27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number.

47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years ²⁹⁹  of Jacob’s life were 147 in all. 47:29 The time ³⁰⁰  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ³⁰¹  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ³⁰²  Do not bury me in Egypt, 47:30 but when I rest ³⁰³  with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph ³⁰⁴  said, “I will do as you say.”

47:31 Jacob ³⁰⁵  said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” ³⁰⁶  So Joseph ³⁰⁷  gave him his word. ³⁰⁸  Then Israel bowed down ³⁰⁹  at the head of his bed. ³¹⁰ 

Manasseh and Ephraim

48:1 After these things Joseph was told, ³¹¹  “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 48:2 When Jacob was told, ³¹²  “Your son Joseph has just ³¹³  come to you,” Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed. 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign God ³¹⁴  appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful ³¹⁵  and will multiply you. ³¹⁶  I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants ³¹⁷  as an everlasting possession.’ ³¹⁸ 

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. ³¹⁹  Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are. 48:6 Any children that you father ³²⁰  after them will be yours; they will be listed ³²¹  under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. ³²²  48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow ³²³  – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). ³²⁴ 

48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the ³²⁵  sons God has given me in this place.” His father ³²⁶  said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” ³²⁷  48:10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing ³²⁸  because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph ³²⁹  brought his sons ³³⁰  near to him, and his father ³³¹  kissed them and embraced them. 48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected ³³²  to see you ³³³  again, but now God has allowed me to see your children ³³⁴  too.”

48:12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees ³³⁵  and bowed down with his face to the ground. 48:13 Joseph positioned them; ³³⁶  he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. ³³⁷  48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ³³⁸  Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked –

the God who has been my shepherd ³³⁹ 

all my life long to this day,

48:16 the Angel ³⁴⁰  who has protected me ³⁴¹ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ³⁴² 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. ³⁴³  So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 48:18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude ³⁴⁴  of nations.” 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you ³⁴⁵  will Israel bless, ³⁴⁶  saying,

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ³⁴⁷ 

48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you ³⁴⁸  and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 48:22 As one who is above your ³⁴⁹  brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, ³⁵⁰  which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

The Blessing of Jacob

49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you ³⁵¹  what will happen to you in the future. ³⁵² 

49:2 “Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;

listen to Israel, your father.

49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

49:4 You are destructive ³⁵³  like water and will not excel, ³⁵⁴ 

for you got on your father’s bed, ³⁵⁵ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ³⁵⁶ 

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ³⁵⁷ 

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ³⁵⁸ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel! ³⁵⁹ 

49:8 Judah, ³⁶⁰  your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, ³⁶¹ 

until he comes to whom it belongs; ³⁶² 

the nations will obey him. ³⁶³ 

49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash ³⁶⁴  his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk. ³⁶⁵ 

49:13 Zebulun will live ³⁶⁶  by the haven of the sea

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon. ³⁶⁷ 

49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

49:15 When he sees ³⁶⁸  a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer. ³⁶⁹ 

49:16 Dan ³⁷⁰  will judge ³⁷¹  his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward. ³⁷² 

49:18 I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. ³⁷³ 

49:19 Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels. ³⁷⁴ 

49:20 Asher’s ³⁷⁵  food will be rich, ³⁷⁶ 

and he will provide delicacies ³⁷⁷  to royalty.

49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe, ³⁷⁸ 

he speaks delightful words. ³⁷⁹ 

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, ³⁸⁰ 

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches ³⁸¹  climb over the wall.

49:23 The archers will attack him, ³⁸² 

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

49:24 But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands ³⁸³  will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of ³⁸⁴  the Shepherd, the Rock ³⁸⁵  of Israel,

49:25 because of the God of your father,

who will help you, ³⁸⁶ 

because of the sovereign God, ³⁸⁷ 

who will bless you ³⁸⁸ 

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb. ³⁸⁹ 

49:26 The blessings of your father are greater

than ³⁹⁰  the blessings of the eternal mountains ³⁹¹ 

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. ³⁹² 

49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning devouring the prey,

and in the evening dividing the plunder.”

49:28 These ³⁹³  are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. ³⁹⁴ 

49:29 Then he instructed them, ³⁹⁵  “I am about to go ³⁹⁶  to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 49:30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.” ³⁹⁷ 

49:33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went ³⁹⁸  to his people.

The Burials of Jacob and Joseph

50:1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face. ³⁹⁹  He wept over him and kissed him. 50:2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service ⁴⁰⁰  to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 50:3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. ⁴⁰¹  The Egyptians mourned ⁴⁰²  for him seventy days. ⁴⁰³ 

50:4 When the days of mourning ⁴⁰⁴  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ⁴⁰⁵  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ⁴⁰⁶  50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, ⁴⁰⁷  “I am about to die. Bury me ⁴⁰⁸  in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” 50:6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.” ⁴⁰⁹ 

50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers ⁴¹⁰  of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 50:9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. ⁴¹¹ 

50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad ⁴¹²  on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. ⁴¹³  There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. 50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ⁴¹⁴  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ⁴¹⁵  Abel Mizraim, ⁴¹⁶  which is beyond the Jordan.

50:12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 50:14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.

50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay ⁴¹⁷  us in full ⁴¹⁸  for all the harm ⁴¹⁹  we did to him?” 50:16 So they sent word ⁴²⁰  to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died: 50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. ⁴²¹  50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am ⁴²²  I in the place of God? 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, ⁴²³  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ⁴²⁴  50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly ⁴²⁵  to them.

50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family. ⁴²⁶  Joseph lived 110 years. 50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. ⁴²⁷  He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. ⁴²⁸ 

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ⁴²⁹  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ⁴³⁰  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. ⁴³¹  After they embalmed him, his body ⁴³²  was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Genesis 1:27

1:27 God created humankind ⁴³³  in his own image,

in the image of God he created them, ⁴³⁴ 

male and female he created them. ⁴³⁵ 

Genesis 1:9

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ⁴³⁶  and let dry ground appear.” ⁴³⁷  It was so.

Exodus 7:1--12:51

7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God ⁴³⁸  to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ⁴³⁹  7:2 You are to speak ⁴⁴⁰  everything I command you, ⁴⁴¹  and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release ⁴⁴²  the Israelites from his land. 7:3 But I will harden ⁴⁴³  Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply ⁴⁴⁴  my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, 7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. ⁴⁴⁵  I will reach into ⁴⁴⁶  Egypt and bring out my regiments, ⁴⁴⁷  my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 7:5 Then ⁴⁴⁸  the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I extend my hand ⁴⁴⁹  over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.

7:6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7:7 Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

7:8 The Lord said ⁴⁵⁰  to Moses and Aaron, ⁴⁵¹  7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do ⁴⁵²  a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down ⁴⁵³  before Pharaoh,’ it will become ⁴⁵⁴  a snake.” 7:10 When ⁴⁵⁵  Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw ⁴⁵⁶  down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. ⁴⁵⁷  7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, ⁴⁵⁸  and the magicians ⁴⁵⁹  of Egypt by their secret arts ⁴⁶⁰  did the same thing. 7:12 Each man ⁴⁶¹  threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 7:13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard, ⁴⁶²  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

The First Blow: Water to Blood

7:14 ⁴⁶³ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; ⁴⁶⁴  he refuses to release ⁴⁶⁵  the people. 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when ⁴⁶⁶  he goes out to the water. Position yourself ⁴⁶⁷  to meet him by the edge of the Nile, ⁴⁶⁸  and take ⁴⁶⁹  in your hand the staff ⁴⁷⁰  that was turned into a snake. 7:16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, ⁴⁷¹  “Release my people, that they may serve me ⁴⁷²  in the desert!” But until now ⁴⁷³  you have not listened. ⁴⁷⁴  7:17 Thus says the Lord: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike ⁴⁷⁵  the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. ⁴⁷⁶  7:18 Fish ⁴⁷⁷  in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable ⁴⁷⁸  to drink water from the Nile.”’” 7:19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, ⁴⁷⁹  over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs ⁴⁸⁰  – so that it becomes ⁴⁸¹  blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in ⁴⁸²  the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.” 7:20 Moses and Aaron did so, ⁴⁸³  just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised ⁴⁸⁴  the staff ⁴⁸⁵  and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes ⁴⁸⁶  of Pharaoh and his servants, ⁴⁸⁷  and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ⁴⁸⁸  7:21 When the fish ⁴⁸⁹  that were in the Nile died, the Nile began ⁴⁹⁰  to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood ⁴⁹¹  everywhere in the land of Egypt! 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same ⁴⁹²  by their secret arts, and so ⁴⁹³  Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁴⁹⁴  and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron ⁴⁹⁵  – just as the Lord had predicted. 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this. ⁴⁹⁶  7:24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, ⁴⁹⁷  because they could not drink the water of the Nile.

The Second Blow: Frogs

7:25 ⁴⁹⁸ Seven full days passed ⁴⁹⁹  after the Lord struck ⁵⁰⁰  the Nile. 8:1 (7:26) ⁵⁰¹  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Release my people in order that they may serve me! 8:2 But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague ⁵⁰²  all your territory with frogs. ⁵⁰³  8:3 The Nile will swarm ⁵⁰⁴  with frogs, and they will come up and go into your house, in your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading troughs. ⁵⁰⁵  8:4 Frogs ⁵⁰⁶  will come up against you, your people, and all your servants.”’” ⁵⁰⁷ 

8:5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff ⁵⁰⁸  over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’” 8:6 So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs ⁵⁰⁹  came up and covered the land of Egypt.

8:7 The magicians did the same ⁵¹⁰  with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too. ⁵¹¹ 

8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned ⁵¹²  Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray ⁵¹³  to the Lord that he may take the frogs away ⁵¹⁴  from me and my people, and I will release ⁵¹⁵  the people that they may sacrifice ⁵¹⁶  to the Lord.” 8:9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me ⁵¹⁷  – when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed ⁵¹⁸  from you and your houses, so that ⁵¹⁹  they will be left ⁵²⁰  only in the Nile?” 8:10 He said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said, ⁵²¹  “It will be ⁵²²  as you say, ⁵²³  so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 8:11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”

8:12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried ⁵²⁴  to the Lord because of ⁵²⁵  the frogs that he had brought on ⁵²⁶  Pharaoh. 8:13 The Lord did as Moses asked ⁵²⁷  – the ⁵²⁸  frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields. 8:14 The Egyptians ⁵²⁹  piled them in countless heaps, ⁵³⁰  and the land stank. 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, ⁵³¹  he hardened ⁵³²  his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. ⁵³³ 

The Third Blow: Gnats

8:16 ⁵³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become ⁵³⁵  gnats ⁵³⁶  throughout all the land of Egypt.’” 8:17 They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people ⁵³⁷  and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. 8:18 When ⁵³⁸  the magicians attempted ⁵³⁹  to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 8:19 The magicians said ⁵⁴⁰  to Pharaoh, “It is the finger ⁵⁴¹  of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁵⁴²  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

The Fourth Blow: Flies

8:20 ⁵⁴³ The Lord ⁵⁴⁴  said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Release my people that they may serve me! 8:21 If you do not release ⁵⁴⁵  my people, then I am going to send ⁵⁴⁶  swarms of flies ⁵⁴⁷  on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground they stand on. ⁵⁴⁸  8:22 But on that day I will mark off ⁵⁴⁹  the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, ⁵⁵⁰  so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land. ⁵⁵¹  8:23 I will put a division ⁵⁵²  between my people and your people. This sign will take place ⁵⁵³  tomorrow.”’” 8:24 The Lord did so; a ⁵⁵⁴  thick ⁵⁵⁵  swarm of flies came into ⁵⁵⁶  Pharaoh’s house and into the houses ⁵⁵⁷  of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined ⁵⁵⁸  because of the swarms of flies.

8:25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ⁵⁵⁹  8:26 But Moses said, “That would not be the right thing to do, ⁵⁶⁰  for the sacrifices we make ⁵⁶¹  to the Lord our God would be an abomination ⁵⁶²  to the Egyptians. ⁵⁶³  If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, ⁵⁶⁴  will they not stone us? ⁵⁶⁵  8:27 We must go ⁵⁶⁶  on a three-day journey ⁵⁶⁷  into the desert and sacrifice ⁵⁶⁸  to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us.” ⁵⁶⁹ 

8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you ⁵⁷⁰  so that you may sacrifice ⁵⁷¹  to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. ⁵⁷²  Do ⁵⁷³  pray for me.”

8:29 Moses said, “I am going to go out ⁵⁷⁴  from you and pray to the Lord, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again ⁵⁷⁵  by not releasing ⁵⁷⁶  the people to sacrifice to the Lord.” 8:30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 8:31 and the Lord did as Moses asked ⁵⁷⁷  – he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained! 8:32 But Pharaoh hardened ⁵⁷⁸  his heart this time also and did not release the people.

The Fifth Blow: Disease

9:1 ⁵⁷⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me! 9:2 For if you refuse to release them ⁵⁸⁰  and continue holding them, ⁵⁸¹  9:3 then the hand of the Lord will surely bring ⁵⁸²  a very terrible plague ⁵⁸³  on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, ⁵⁸⁴  the herds, and the flocks. 9:4 But the Lord will distinguish ⁵⁸⁵  between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing ⁵⁸⁶  will die of all that the Israelites have.”’” ⁵⁸⁷ 

9:5 The Lord set ⁵⁸⁸  an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this ⁵⁸⁹  in the land.” 9:6 And the Lord did this ⁵⁹⁰  on the next day; ⁵⁹¹  all ⁵⁹²  the livestock of the Egyptians ⁵⁹³  died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died. 9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, ⁵⁹⁴  and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁵⁹⁵  and he did not release the people.

The Sixth Blow: Boils

9:8 ⁵⁹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot ⁵⁹⁷  from a furnace, and have Moses throw it ⁵⁹⁸  into the air while Pharaoh is watching. ⁵⁹⁹  9:9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester ⁶⁰⁰  on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt.” 9:10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh, Moses threw it into the air, and it caused festering boils to break out on both people and animals.

9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 9:12 But the Lord hardened ⁶⁰¹  Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.

The Seventh Blow: Hail

9:13 ⁶⁰² The Lord said ⁶⁰³  to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand ⁶⁰⁴  before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Release my people so that they may serve me! 9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues ⁶⁰⁵  on your very self ⁶⁰⁶  and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 9:15 For by now I could have stretched out ⁶⁰⁷  my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed ⁶⁰⁸  from the earth. 9:16 But ⁶⁰⁹  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ⁶¹⁰  to show you ⁶¹¹  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ⁶¹²  in all the earth. 9:17 You are still exalting ⁶¹³  yourself against my people by ⁶¹⁴  not releasing them. 9:18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ⁶¹⁵  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ⁶¹⁶  in Egypt from the day it was founded ⁶¹⁷  until now. 9:19 So now, send instructions ⁶¹⁸  to gather ⁶¹⁹  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ⁶²⁰  or animal caught ⁶²¹  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

9:20 Those ⁶²²  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ⁶²³  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ⁶²⁴  who did not take ⁶²⁵  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ⁶²⁶  in the field.

9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky ⁶²⁷  that there may be ⁶²⁸  hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, ⁶²⁹  and on everything that grows ⁶³⁰  in the field in the land of Egypt.” 9:23 When Moses extended ⁶³¹  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ⁶³²  sent thunder ⁶³³  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ⁶³⁴  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt. 9:24 Hail fell ⁶³⁵  and fire mingled ⁶³⁶  with the hail; the hail was so severe ⁶³⁷  that there had not been any like it ⁶³⁸  in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 9:25 The hail struck everything in the open fields, both ⁶³⁹  people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows ⁶⁴⁰  in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces. 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.

9:27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! ⁶⁴¹  The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. ⁶⁴²  9:28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty ⁶⁴³  thunderings and hail are too much! ⁶⁴⁴  I will release you and you will stay no longer.” ⁶⁴⁵ 

9:29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city ⁶⁴⁶  I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ⁶⁴⁷  9:30 But as for you ⁶⁴⁸  and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear ⁶⁴⁹  the Lord God.”

9:31 (Now the ⁶⁵⁰  flax and the barley were struck ⁶⁵¹  by the hail, ⁶⁵²  for the barley had ripened ⁶⁵³  and the flax ⁶⁵⁴  was in bud. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt ⁶⁵⁵  were not struck, for they are later crops.) ⁶⁵⁶ 

9:33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth. 9:34 When Pharaoh saw ⁶⁵⁷  that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: ⁶⁵⁸  both he and his servants hardened ⁶⁵⁹  their hearts. 9:35 So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁶⁶⁰  and he did not release the Israelites, as the Lord had predicted through Moses.

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 ⁶⁶¹ The Lord said ⁶⁶²  to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display ⁶⁶³  these signs of mine before him, ⁶⁶⁴  10:2 and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell ⁶⁶⁵  how I made fools ⁶⁶⁶  of the Egyptians ⁶⁶⁷  and about ⁶⁶⁸  my signs that I displayed ⁶⁶⁹  among them, so that you may know ⁶⁷⁰  that I am the Lord.”

10:3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse ⁶⁷¹  to humble yourself before me? ⁶⁷²  Release my people so that they may serve me! 10:4 But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring ⁶⁷³  locusts ⁶⁷⁴  into your territory ⁶⁷⁵  tomorrow. 10:5 They will cover ⁶⁷⁶  the surface ⁶⁷⁷  of the earth, so that you ⁶⁷⁸  will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped ⁶⁷⁹  – what is left over ⁶⁸⁰  for you – from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field. 10:6 They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as ⁶⁸¹  neither ⁶⁸²  your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been ⁶⁸³  in the land until this day!’” Then Moses ⁶⁸⁴  turned and went out from Pharaoh.

10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long ⁶⁸⁵  will this man be a menace ⁶⁸⁶  to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know ⁶⁸⁷  that Egypt is destroyed?”

10:8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?” ⁶⁸⁸  10:9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold ⁶⁸⁹  a pilgrim feast for the Lord.”

10:10 He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you ⁶⁹⁰  if I release you and your dependents! ⁶⁹¹  Watch out! ⁶⁹²  Trouble is right in front of you! ⁶⁹³  10:11 No! ⁶⁹⁴  Go, you men ⁶⁹⁵  only, and serve the Lord, for that ⁶⁹⁶  is what you want.” ⁶⁹⁷  Then Moses and Aaron ⁶⁹⁸  were driven ⁶⁹⁹  out of Pharaoh’s presence.

10:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for ⁷⁰⁰  the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows ⁷⁰¹  in the ground, everything that the hail has left.” 10:13 So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord ⁷⁰²  brought ⁷⁰³  an east wind on the land all that day and all night. ⁷⁰⁴  The morning came, ⁷⁰⁵  and the east wind had brought up ⁷⁰⁶  the locusts! 10:14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory ⁷⁰⁷  of Egypt. It was very severe; ⁷⁰⁸  there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again. ⁷⁰⁹  10:15 They covered ⁷¹⁰  the surface ⁷¹¹  of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, ⁷¹²  and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

10:16 ⁷¹³ Then Pharaoh quickly ⁷¹⁴  summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned ⁷¹⁵  against the Lord your God and against you! 10:17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only ⁷¹⁶  take this death ⁷¹⁷  away from me.” 10:18 Moses ⁷¹⁸  went out ⁷¹⁹  from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 10:19 and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, ⁷²⁰  and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. ⁷²¹  Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. 10:20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites.

The Ninth Blow: Darkness

10:21 ⁷²² The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward heaven ⁷²³  so that there may be ⁷²⁴  darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.” ⁷²⁵ 

10:22 So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness ⁷²⁶  throughout the land of Egypt for three days. ⁷²⁷  10:23 No one ⁷²⁸  could see ⁷²⁹  another person, and no one could rise from his place for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord – only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families ⁷³⁰  may go with you.”

10:25 But Moses said, “Will you also ⁷³¹  provide us ⁷³²  with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them ⁷³³  to the Lord our God? 10:26 Our livestock must ⁷³⁴  also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take ⁷³⁵  these animals ⁷³⁶  to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord.” ⁷³⁷ 

10:27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them. 10:28 Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me! ⁷³⁸  Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, ⁷³⁹  for when ⁷⁴⁰  you see my face you will die!” 10:29 Moses said, “As you wish! ⁷⁴¹  I will not see your face again.” ⁷⁴² 

The Tenth Blow: Death

11:1 ⁷⁴³ The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will release you from this place. When he releases you, ⁷⁴⁴  he will drive you out completely ⁷⁴⁵  from this place. 11:2 Instruct ⁷⁴⁶  the people that each man and each woman is to request ⁷⁴⁷  from his or her neighbor ⁷⁴⁸  items of silver and gold.” ⁷⁴⁹ 

11:3 (Now the Lord granted the people favor with ⁷⁵⁰  the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s servants and by the Egyptian people.) ⁷⁵¹ 

11:4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight ⁷⁵²  I will go throughout Egypt, ⁷⁵³  11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh ⁷⁵⁴  who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 11:6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, ⁷⁵⁵  nor ever will be again. ⁷⁵⁶  11:7 But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark ⁷⁵⁷  against either people or animals, ⁷⁵⁸  so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes ⁷⁵⁹  between Egypt and Israel.’ 11:8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow down ⁷⁶⁰  to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow ⁷⁶¹  you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Moses ⁷⁶²  went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

11:9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders ⁷⁶³  may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

11:10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.

The Institution of the Passover

12:1 ⁷⁶⁴ The Lord said ⁷⁶⁵  to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ⁷⁶⁶  12:2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year. ⁷⁶⁷  12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each ⁷⁶⁸  must take a lamb ⁷⁶⁹  for themselves according to their families ⁷⁷⁰  – a lamb for each household. ⁷⁷¹  12:4 If any household is too small ⁷⁷²  for a lamb, ⁷⁷³  the man ⁷⁷⁴  and his next-door neighbor ⁷⁷⁵  are to take ⁷⁷⁶  a lamb according to the number of people – you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat. ⁷⁷⁷  12:5 Your lamb must be ⁷⁷⁸  perfect, ⁷⁷⁹  a male, one year old; ⁷⁸⁰  you may take ⁷⁸¹  it from the sheep or from the goats. 12:6 You must care for it ⁷⁸²  until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community ⁷⁸³  of Israel will kill it around sundown. ⁷⁸⁴  12:7 They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it. 12:8 They will eat the meat the same night; ⁷⁸⁵  they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast ⁷⁸⁶  and with bitter herbs. 12:9 Do not eat it raw ⁷⁸⁷  or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. 12:10 You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning. 12:11 This is how you are to eat it – dressed to travel, ⁷⁸⁸  your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. ⁷⁸⁹ 

12:12 I will pass through ⁷⁹⁰  the land of Egypt in the same ⁷⁹¹  night, and I will attack ⁷⁹²  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, ⁷⁹³  and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. ⁷⁹⁴  I am the Lord. 12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see ⁷⁹⁵  the blood I will pass over you, ⁷⁹⁶  and this plague ⁷⁹⁷  will not fall on you to destroy you ⁷⁹⁸  when I attack ⁷⁹⁹  the land of Egypt. ⁸⁰⁰ 

12:14 This day will become ⁸⁰¹  a memorial ⁸⁰²  for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival ⁸⁰³  to the Lord – you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance. ⁸⁰⁴  12:15 For seven days ⁸⁰⁵  you must eat ⁸⁰⁶  bread made without yeast. ⁸⁰⁷  Surely ⁸⁰⁸  on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast ⁸⁰⁹  from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off ⁸¹⁰  from Israel.

12:16 On the first day there will be a holy convocation, ⁸¹¹  and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind ⁸¹²  on them, only what every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you. 12:17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very ⁸¹³  day I brought your regiments ⁸¹⁴  out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance. ⁸¹⁵  12:18 In the first month, ⁸¹⁶  from the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat bread made without yeast until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 12:19 For seven days ⁸¹⁷  yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person ⁸¹⁸  will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner ⁸¹⁹  or one born in the land. 12:20 You will not eat anything made with yeast; in all the places where you live you must eat bread made without yeast.’”

12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select ⁸²⁰  for yourselves a lamb or young goat ⁸²¹  for your families, and kill the Passover animals. ⁸²²  12:22 Take a branch of hyssop, ⁸²³  dip it in the blood that is in the basin, ⁸²⁴  and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out ⁸²⁵  the door of his house until morning. 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ⁸²⁶  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ⁸²⁷  to enter your houses to strike you. ⁸²⁸  12:24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. 12:25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe ⁸²⁹  this ceremony. 12:26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ⁸³⁰  – 12:27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice ⁸³¹  of the Lord’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck ⁸³²  Egypt and delivered our households.’” The people bowed down low ⁸³³  to the ground, 12:28 and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁸³⁴ 

The Deliverance from Egypt

12:29 ⁸³⁵ It happened ⁸³⁶  at midnight – the Lord attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 12:30 Pharaoh got up ⁸³⁷  in the night, ⁸³⁸  along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house ⁸³⁹  in which there was not someone dead. 12:31 Pharaoh ⁸⁴⁰  summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out ⁸⁴¹  from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested! ⁸⁴²  12:32 Also, take your flocks and your herds, just as you have requested, and leave. But bless me also.” ⁸⁴³ 

12:33 The Egyptians were urging ⁸⁴⁴  the people on, in order to send them out of the land quickly, ⁸⁴⁵  for they were saying, “We are all dead!” 12:34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, ⁸⁴⁶  with their kneading troughs bound up in their clothing on their shoulders. 12:35 Now the Israelites had done ⁸⁴⁷  as Moses told them – they had requested from the Egyptians ⁸⁴⁸  silver and gold items and clothing. 12:36 The Lord ⁸⁴⁹  gave the people favor ⁸⁵⁰  in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatever they wanted, ⁸⁵¹  and so they plundered Egypt. ⁸⁵² 

12:37 The Israelites journeyed ⁸⁵³  from Rameses ⁸⁵⁴  to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men ⁸⁵⁵  on foot, plus their dependants. ⁸⁵⁶  12:38 A mixed multitude ⁸⁵⁷  also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. ⁸⁵⁸  12:39 They baked cakes of bread without yeast using the dough they had brought from Egypt, for it was made without yeast – because they were thrust out ⁸⁵⁹  of Egypt and were not able to delay, they ⁸⁶⁰  could not prepare ⁸⁶¹  food for themselves either.

12:40 Now the length of time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁸⁶²  12:41 At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments ⁸⁶³  of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt. 12:42 It was a night of vigil for the Lord to bring them out from the land of Egypt, ⁸⁶⁴  and so ⁸⁶⁵  on this night all Israel is to keep the vigil ⁸⁶⁶  to the Lord for generations to come.

Participation in the Passover

12:43 ⁸⁶⁷ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner may ⁸⁶⁸  share in eating it. ⁸⁶⁹  12:44 But everyone’s servant who is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it. 12:45 A foreigner and a hired worker must not eat it. 12:46 It must be eaten in one house; you must not bring any of the meat outside the house, and you must not break a bone of it. 12:47 The whole community of Israel must observe it.

12:48 “When a foreigner lives ⁸⁷⁰  with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, ⁸⁷¹  and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land ⁸⁷²  – but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 12:49 The same law will apply ⁸⁷³  to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you.”

12:50 So all the Israelites did exactly as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁸⁷⁴  12:51 And on this very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.

Deuteronomy 4:34

4:34 Or has God ⁸⁷⁵  ever before tried to deliver ⁸⁷⁶  a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, ⁸⁷⁷  signs, wonders, war, strength, power, ⁸⁷⁸  and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Deuteronomy 6:22

6:22 And he ⁸⁷⁹  brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family ⁸⁸⁰  before our very eyes.

Nehemiah 9:10

9:10 You performed awesome signs ⁸⁸¹  against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians ⁸⁸²  had acted presumptuously ⁸⁸³  against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day.

[42:1]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[42:1]  ² tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:1]  ³ sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.

[42:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and buy for us from there.” The word “grain,” the direct object of “buy,” has been supplied for clarity, and the words “from there” have been omitted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:2]  ⁵ tn Following the imperatives, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav expresses purpose of result.

[42:2]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense continues the nuance of the verb before it.

[42:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers.” The disjunctive clause highlights the contrast between Benjamin and the other ten.

[42:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) could also be translated “thought” (i.e., “he said to himself”) here, giving Jacob’s reasoning rather than spoken words.

[42:4]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew noun אָסוֹן (’ason) is a rare word meaning “accident, harm.” Apart from its use in these passages it occurs in Exodus 21:22-23 of an accident to a pregnant woman. The term is a rather general one, but Jacob was no doubt thinking of his loss of Joseph.

[42:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “encounters.”

[42:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the midst of the coming ones.”

[42:6]  ¹² tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.

[42:6]  ¹³ sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).

[42:6]  ¹⁴ tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.

[42:7]  ¹⁵ sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.

[42:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[42:7]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.

[42:9]  ¹⁸ sn You are spies. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react if they were accused of spying.

[42:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”

[42:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they said to him.” In context this is best understood as an exclamation.

[42:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he said, ‘No, for the nakedness of the land you have come to see.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for clarity.

[42:13]  ²² tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”

[42:13]  ²³ tn Heb “today.”

[42:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the one is not.”

[42:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to you, saying.”

[42:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”

[42:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ²⁸ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ³⁰ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

[42:17]  ³² sn The same Hebrew word is used for Joseph’s imprisonment in 40:3, 4, 7. There is some mirroring going on in the narrative. The Hebrew word used here (אָסַף, ’asaf, “to gather”) is not normally used in a context like this (for placing someone in prison), but it forms a wordplay on the name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yosoef) and keeps the comparison working.

[42:18]  ³³ tn Heb “Do this.”

[42:18]  ³⁴ tn After the preceding imperative, the imperative with vav (ו) can, as here, indicate logical sequence.

[42:18]  ³⁵ sn For I fear God. Joseph brings God into the picture to awaken his brothers’ consciences. The godly person cares about the welfare of people, whether they live or die. So he will send grain back, but keep one of them in Egypt. This action contrasts with their crime of selling their brother into slavery.

[42:19]  ³⁶ tn Heb “bound in the house of your prison.”

[42:19]  ³⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal.

[42:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “[for] the hunger of your households.”

[42:20]  ³⁹ tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.

[42:20]  ⁴⁰ tn After the injunctive imperfect, this imperfect with vav indicates purpose or result.

[42:20]  ⁴¹ tn The Niphal form of the verb has the sense of “to be faithful; to be sure; to be reliable.” Joseph will test his brothers to see if their words are true.

[42:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “and they did so.”

[42:21]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ⁴⁶ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[42:22]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.

[42:23]  ⁴⁸ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

[42:23]  ⁴⁹ tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.

[42:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.

[42:24]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”

[42:24]  ⁵² tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.

[42:24]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”

[42:25]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and they filled.” The clause appears to be elliptical; one expects “Joseph gave orders to fill…and they filled.” See GKC 386 §120.f.

[42:25]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and he did for them so.” Joseph would appear to be the subject of the singular verb. If the text is retained, the statement seems to be a summary of the preceding, more detailed statement. However, some read the verb as plural, “and they did for them so.” In this case the statement indicates that Joseph’s subordinates carried out his orders. Another alternative is to read the singular verb as passive (with unspecified subject), “and this was done for them so” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[42:26]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and they went from there.”

[42:27]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and the one.” The article indicates that the individual is vivid in the mind of the narrator, yet it is not important to identify him by name.

[42:27]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “at the lodging place.”

[42:27]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and look, it [was] in the mouth of his sack.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to look through the eyes of the character and thereby draws attention to the money.

[42:28]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and their heart went out.” Since this expression is used only here, the exact meaning is unclear. The following statement suggests that it may refer to a sudden loss of emotional strength, so “They were dismayed” adequately conveys the meaning (cf. NRSV); NIV has “Their hearts sank.”

[42:28]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and they trembled, a man to his neighbor.”

[42:28]  ⁶² tn Heb “What is this God has done to us?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question.

[42:30]  ⁶³ tn Heb “made us.”

[42:30]  ⁶⁴ tn The words “if we were” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:32]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “twelve [were] we, brothers, sons of our father [are] we.”

[42:32]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “the one is not.”

[42:32]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “today.”

[42:33]  ⁶⁸ tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:34]  ⁶⁹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.

[42:34]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”

[42:34]  ⁷¹ sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.

[42:36]  ⁷² tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ⁷³ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ⁷⁴ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.

[42:37]  ⁷⁵ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

[42:37]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “my hand.”

[42:38]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ⁷⁸ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

[42:38]  ⁷⁹ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

[42:38]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[43:1]  ⁸¹ tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that is important to the storyline.

[43:3]  ⁸² tn The infinitive absolute with the finite verb stresses the point. The primary meaning of the verb is “to witness; to testify.” It alludes to Joseph’s oath, which was tantamount to a threat or warning.

[43:3]  ⁸³ tn The idiom “see my face” means “have an audience with me.”

[43:4]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “if there is you sending,” that is, “if you send.”

[43:6]  ⁸⁵ tn The verb may even have a moral connotation here, “Why did you do evil to me?”

[43:6]  ⁸⁶ tn The infinitive construct here explains how they brought trouble on Jacob.

[43:7]  ⁸⁷ tn The word “us” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:7]  ⁸⁸ tn The infinitive absolute with the perfect verbal form emphasizes that Joseph questioned them thoroughly.

[43:7]  ⁸⁹ sn The report given here concerning Joseph’s interrogation does not exactly match the previous account where they supplied the information to clear themselves (see 42:13). This section may reflect how they remembered the impact of his interrogation, whether he asked the specific questions or not. That may be twisting the truth to protect themselves, not wanting to admit that they volunteered the information. (They admitted as much in 42:31, but now they seem to be qualifying that comment.) On the other hand, when speaking to Joseph later (see 44:19), Judah claims that Joseph asked for the information about their family, making it possible that 42:13 leaves out some of the details of their first encounter.

[43:7]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “and we told to him according to these words.”

[43:7]  ⁹¹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the imperfect verbal form, which here is a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of a past time).

[43:7]  ⁹² tn Once again the imperfect verbal form is used as a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of past time).

[43:8]  ⁹³ tn Heb “and we will rise up and we will go.” The first verb is adverbial and gives the expression the sense of “we will go immediately.”

[43:8]  ⁹⁴ tn After the preceding cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form (either imperfect or cohortative) with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or result.

[43:9]  ⁹⁵ tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.

[43:9]  ⁹⁶ sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.

[43:10]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “we could have returned.”

[43:12]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[43:12]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “take back in your hand.” The imperfect verbal form probably has an injunctive or obligatory force here, since Jacob is instructing his sons.

[43:13]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “arise, return,” meaning “get up and go back,” or “go back immediately.”

[43:13]  ¹⁰¹ sn The man refers to the Egyptian official, whom the reader or hearer of the narrative knows is Joseph. In this context both the sons and Jacob refer to him simply as “the man” (see vv. 3-7).

[43:14]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[43:14]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “release to you.” After the jussive this perfect verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) probably indicates logical consequence, as well as temporal sequence.

[43:14]  ¹⁰⁴ sn Several Jewish commentators suggest that the expression your other brother refers to Joseph. This would mean that Jacob prophesied unwittingly. However, it is much more likely that Simeon is the referent of the phrase “your other brother” (see Gen 42:24).

[43:14]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.

[43:15]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “they arose and went down to Egypt.” The first verb has an adverbial function and emphasizes that they departed right away.

[43:17]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “the man.” This has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[43:17]  ¹⁰⁸ sn This verse is a summary statement. The next verses delineate intermediate steps (see v. 24) in the process.

[43:18]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “to roll himself upon us and to cause himself to fall upon us.” The infinitives here indicate the purpose (as viewed by the brothers) for their being brought to Joseph’s house.

[43:18]  ¹¹² tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:20]  ¹¹³ tn The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the finite verbal form.

[43:20]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “in the beginning” (see the note on the phrase “last time” in v. 18).

[43:21]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “in its weight.”

[43:21]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “brought it back in our hand.”

[43:23]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “and he said, ‘peace to you.’” Here the statement has the force of “everything is fine,” or perhaps even “calm down.” The referent of “he” (the man in charge of Joseph’ household) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[43:23]  ¹¹⁸ sn Your God and the God of your father…This is the first clear reference in the story to the theme of divine providence – that God works through the human actions to do his will.

[43:23]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “your money came to me.”

[43:24]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “the man.”

[43:25]  ¹²¹ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct after the preposition, followed by the subjective genitive.

[43:25]  ¹²² tn The action precedes the action of preparing the gift, and so must be translated as past perfect.

[43:25]  ¹²³ tn Heb “eat bread.” The imperfect verbal form is used here as a historic future (future from the perspective of the past).

[43:26]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “into the house.”

[43:27]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “concerning peace.”

[43:28]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “and they bowed low and they bowed down.” The use of synonyms here emphasizes the brothers’ humility.

[43:29]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ¹²⁸ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.

[43:30]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “for his affection boiled up concerning his brother.” The same expression is used in 1 Kgs 3:26 for the mother’s feelings for her endangered child.

[43:30]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “and he sought to weep.”

[43:31]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “and he controlled himself and said.”

[43:32]  ¹³² tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:32]  ¹³³ tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.

[43:32]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.

[43:33]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth.”

[43:33]  ¹³⁶ sn The brothers’ astonishment indicates that Joseph arranged them in this way. They were astonished because there was no way, as far as they were concerned, that Joseph could have known the order of their birth.

[43:34]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”

[43:34]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.

[44:2]  ¹³⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express Joseph’s instructions.

[44:2]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he did according to the word of Joseph which he spoke.”

[44:3]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “the morning was light.”

[44:3]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “and the men were sent off, they and their donkeys.” This clause, like the preceding one, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.

[44:4]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”

[44:4]  ¹⁴⁴ tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.

[44:4]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

[44:4]  ¹⁴⁶ tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”

[44:5]  ¹⁴⁷ tn Heb “Is this not what my master drinks from.” The word “cup” is not in the Hebrew text, but is obviously the referent of “this,” and so has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[44:5]  ¹⁴⁸ tn Heb “and he, divining, divines with it.” The infinitive absolute is emphatic, stressing the importance of the cup to Joseph.

[44:5]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Heb “you have caused to be evil what you have done.”

[44:6]  ¹⁵⁰ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:7]  ¹⁵¹ tn Heb “Why does my lord speak according to these words?”

[44:7]  ¹⁵² tn Heb “according to this thing.”

[44:9]  ¹⁵³ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found from your servants.” Here “your servants” (a deferential way of referring to the brothers themselves) has been translated by the pronoun “us” to avoid confusion with Joseph’s servants.

[44:10]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “Also now, according to your words, so it is.” As the next statement indicates, this does mean that he will do exactly as they say. He does agree with them the culprit should be punished, but not as harshly as they suggest. Furthermore, the innocent parties will not be punished.

[44:10]  ¹⁵⁵ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found will become my slave.”

[44:10]  ¹⁵⁶ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:10]  ¹⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew word נָקִי (naqi) means “acquitted,” that is, free of guilt and the responsibility for it.

[44:11]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Heb “and they hurried and they lowered.” Their speed in doing this shows their presumption of innocence.

[44:12]  ¹⁵⁹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:14]  ¹⁶⁰ sn Judah and his brothers. The narrative is already beginning to bring Judah to the forefront.

[44:14]  ¹⁶¹ tn The disjunctive clause here provides supplemental information.

[44:15]  ¹⁶² tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

[44:15]  ¹⁶³ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.

[44:16]  ¹⁶⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ¹⁶⁵ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ¹⁶⁶ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[44:17]  ¹⁶⁷ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ¹⁶⁸ tn Heb “up” (reflecting directions from their point of view – “up” to Canaan; “down” to Egypt).

[44:18]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ¹⁷⁰ tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ¹⁷¹ sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.

[44:20]  ¹⁷² tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ¹⁷³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ¹⁷⁴ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[44:21]  ¹⁷⁵ tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.

[44:21]  ¹⁷⁶ tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”

[44:22]  ¹⁷⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:22]  ¹⁷⁸ tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

[44:26]  ¹⁷⁹ tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:26]  ¹⁸⁰ tn Heb “go down.”

[44:27]  ¹⁸¹ tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[44:28]  ¹⁸² tn Heb “went forth from me.”

[44:29]  ¹⁸³ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ¹⁸⁴ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ¹⁸⁵ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ¹⁸⁶ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[44:30]  ¹⁸⁷ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”

[44:31]  ¹⁸⁸ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

[44:32]  ¹⁸⁹ tn Or “for.”

[44:34]  ¹⁹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has “lest I see,” which expresses a negative purpose – “I cannot go up lest I see.”

[44:34]  ¹⁹¹ tn Heb “the calamity which would find my father.”

[45:1]  ¹⁹² tn Heb “all the ones standing beside him.”

[45:1]  ¹⁹³ tn Heb “stood.”

[45:2]  ¹⁹⁴ tn Heb “and he gave his voice in weeping,” meaning that Joseph could not restrain himself and wept out loud.

[45:2]  ¹⁹⁵ tn Heb “and the Egyptians heard and the household of Pharaoh heard.” Presumably in the latter case this was by means of a report.

[45:5]  ¹⁹⁶ tn Heb “let there not be anger in your eyes.”

[45:5]  ¹⁹⁷ sn You sold me here, for God sent me. The tension remains as to how the brothers’ wickedness and God’s intentions work together. Clearly God is able to transform the actions of wickedness to bring about some gracious end. But this is saying more than that; it is saying that from the beginning it was God who sent Joseph here. Although harmonization of these ideas remains humanly impossible, the divine intention is what should be the focus. Only that will enable reconciliation.

[45:6]  ¹⁹⁸ tn Heb “the famine [has been] in the midst of.”

[45:7]  ¹⁹⁹ sn God sent me. The repetition of this theme that God sent Joseph is reminiscent of commission narratives in which the leader could announce that God sent him (e.g., Exod 3:15).

[45:7]  ²⁰⁰ tn Heb “to make you a remnant.” The verb, followed here by the preposition לְ (lÿ), means “to make.”

[45:7]  ²⁰¹ tn The infinitive gives a second purpose for God’s action.

[45:8]  ²⁰² tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.

[45:9]  ²⁰³ tn Heb “hurry and go up.”

[45:10]  ²⁰⁴ tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive here expresses instruction.

[45:11]  ²⁰⁵ tn The verb כּוּל (kul) in the Pilpel stem means “to nourish, to support, to sustain.” As in 1 Kgs 20:27, it here means “to supply with food.”

[45:12]  ²⁰⁶ tn Heb “And, look, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth is the one speaking to you.”

[45:13]  ²⁰⁷ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive here expresses instruction.

[45:13]  ²⁰⁸ tn Heb “and hurry and bring down my father to here.”

[45:16]  ²⁰⁹ tn Heb “and the sound was heard.”

[45:16]  ²¹⁰ tn Heb “was good in the eyes of.”

[45:17]  ²¹¹ tn Heb “and go! Enter!”

[45:18]  ²¹² tn After the imperatives in vv. 17-18a, the cohortative with vav indicates result.

[45:18]  ²¹³ tn After the cohortative the imperative with vav states the ultimate goal.

[45:18]  ²¹⁴ tn Heb “fat.”

[45:19]  ²¹⁵ tn The words “to say” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:20]  ²¹⁶ tn Heb “let not your eye regard.”

[45:21]  ²¹⁷ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel did so.”

[45:21]  ²¹⁸ tn Heb “according to the mouth of Pharaoh.”

[45:22]  ²¹⁹ tn Heb “to all of them he gave, to each one, changes of outer garments.”

[45:22]  ²²⁰ tn Heb “changes of outer garments.”

[45:23]  ²²¹ tn Heb “according to this.”

[45:24]  ²²² tn Heb “do not be stirred up in the way.” The verb means “stir up.” Some understand the Hebrew verb רָגָז (ragaz, “to stir up”) as a reference to quarreling (see Prov 29:9, where it has this connotation), but in Exod 15:14 and other passages it means “to fear.” This might refer to a fear of robbers, but more likely it is an assuring word that they need not be fearful about returning to Egypt. They might have thought that once Jacob was in Egypt, Joseph would take his revenge on them.

[45:25]  ²²³ tn Heb “and they entered the land of Canaan to their father.”

[45:26]  ²²⁴ tn Heb “and his heart was numb.” Jacob was stunned by the unbelievable news and was unable to respond.

[45:27]  ²²⁵ tn Heb “and they spoke to him all the words of Joseph which he had spoke to them.”

[46:1]  ²²⁶ tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.”

[46:1]  ²²⁷ sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10.

[46:2]  ²²⁸ tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity.

[46:3]  ²²⁹ tn Heb “the God.”

[46:4]  ²³⁰ tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”

[46:4]  ²³¹ tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.

[46:5]  ²³² tn Heb “arose.”

[46:6]  ²³³ tn Heb “and they took their livestock and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[46:7]  ²³⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “with him” here. This is omitted in the translation because it is redundant in English style (note the same phrase earlier in the verse).

[46:13]  ²³⁵ tc The MT reads “Puvah” (cf. Num 26:23); the Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac read “Puah” (cf. 1 Chr 7:1).

[46:13]  ²³⁶ tc The MT reads “Iob,” but the Samaritan Pentateuch and some LXX mss read “Jashub” (see Num 26:24; 1 Chr 7:1).

[46:15]  ²³⁷ tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”

[46:16]  ²³⁸ tc The MT reads “Ziphion,” but see Num 26:15, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, all of which read “Zephon.”

[46:20]  ²³⁹ sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[46:21]  ²⁴⁰ sn The sons of Benjamin. It is questionable whether youthful Benjamin had ten sons by the time he went into Egypt, but it is not impossible. If Benjamin was born when Joseph was six or seven, he was ten when Joseph was sold into Egypt, and would have been thirty-two at this point. Some suggest that the list originally served another purpose and included the names of all who were in the immediate family of the sons, whether born in Canaan or later in Egypt.

[46:23]  ²⁴¹ tn This name appears as “Shuham” in Num 26:42. The LXX reads “Hashum” here.

[46:26]  ²⁴² tn Heb “All the people who went with Jacob to Egypt, the ones who came out of his body, apart from the wives of the sons of Jacob, all the people were sixty-six.”

[46:27]  ²⁴³ tn The LXX reads “nine sons,” probably counting the grandsons of Joseph born to Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1 Chr 7:14-20).

[46:27]  ²⁴⁴ tn Heb “And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two people; all the people belonging to the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.”

[46:28]  ²⁴⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[46:28]  ²⁴⁶ tn Heb “to direct before him to Goshen.”

[46:29]  ²⁴⁷ tn Heb “and he appeared to him.”

[46:30]  ²⁴⁸ tn Heb “after my seeing your face that you are still alive.”

[46:31]  ²⁴⁹ tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”

[46:32]  ²⁵⁰ tn Heb “feeders of sheep.”

[46:32]  ²⁵¹ tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.”

[46:34]  ²⁵² tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ²⁵³ sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

[46:34]  ²⁵⁴ tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.

[47:1]  ²⁵⁵ tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.

[47:2]  ²⁵⁶ tn Heb “and from the whole of his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.”

[47:3]  ²⁵⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:3]  ²⁵⁸ tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”

[47:4]  ²⁵⁹ tn Heb “to sojourn.”

[47:4]  ²⁶⁰ tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:6]  ²⁶¹ tn Heb “men of skill.”

[47:6]  ²⁶² tn Heb “make them rulers.”

[47:7]  ²⁶³ tn Heb “caused him to stand.”

[47:7]  ²⁶⁴ sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.

[47:8]  ²⁶⁵ tn Heb “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

[47:9]  ²⁶⁶ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ²⁶⁷ tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.

[47:9]  ²⁶⁸ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ²⁶⁹ tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.

[47:9]  ²⁷⁰ tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”

[47:10]  ²⁷¹ tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”

[47:11]  ²⁷² tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.

[47:11]  ²⁷³ sn The land of Rameses is another designation for the region of Goshen. It is named Rameses because of a city in that region (Exod 1:11; 12:37). The use of this name may represent a modernization of the text for the understanding of the intended readers, substituting a later name for an earlier one. Alternatively, there may have been an earlier Rameses for which the region was named.

[47:13]  ²⁷⁴ tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, la’ah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.

[47:14]  ²⁷⁵ tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:14]  ²⁷⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[47:15]  ²⁷⁷ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

[47:15]  ²⁷⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

[47:16]  ²⁷⁹ tn The word “food” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:16]  ²⁸⁰ tn On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:17]  ²⁸¹ tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.

[47:18]  ²⁸² tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.

[47:19]  ²⁸³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ²⁸⁴ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ²⁸⁵ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ²⁸⁶ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

[47:20]  ²⁸⁷ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:20]  ²⁸⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:21]  ²⁸⁹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:21]  ²⁹⁰ tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”

[47:23]  ²⁹¹ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.

[47:24]  ²⁹² tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:24]  ²⁹³ tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

[47:24]  ²⁹⁴ tn Heb “four parts.”

[47:25]  ²⁹⁵ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[47:25]  ²⁹⁶ sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[47:26]  ²⁹⁷ tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.

[47:26]  ²⁹⁸ tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:28]  ²⁹⁹ tn Heb “the days of the years.”

[47:29]  ³⁰⁰ tn Heb “days.”

[47:29]  ³⁰¹ sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

[47:29]  ³⁰² tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”

[47:30]  ³⁰³ tn Heb “lie down.” Here the expression “lie down” refers to death.

[47:30]  ³⁰⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ³⁰⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ³⁰⁶ tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ³⁰⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ³⁰⁸ tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”

[47:31]  ³⁰⁹ sn The Hebrew verb normally means “bow down,” especially in worship or prayer. Here it might simply mean “bend low,” perhaps from weakness or approaching death. The narrative is ambiguous at this point and remains open to all these interpretations.

[47:31]  ³¹⁰ tc The MT reads מִטָּה (mittah, “bed, couch”). The LXX reads the word as מַטֶּה (matteh, “staff, rod”) and interprets this to mean that Jacob bowed down in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. The LXX reading was used in turn by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:21).

[48:1]  ³¹¹ tn Heb “and one said.” With no expressed subject in the Hebrew text, the verb can be translated with the passive voice.

[48:2]  ³¹² tn Heb “and one told and said.” The verbs have no expressed subject and can be translated with the passive voice.

[48:2]  ³¹³ tn Heb “Look, your son Joseph.”

[48:3]  ³¹⁴ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[48:4]  ³¹⁵ tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.

[48:4]  ³¹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.

[48:4]  ³¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[48:4]  ³¹⁸ tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).

[48:5]  ³¹⁹ sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.

[48:6]  ³²⁰ tn Or “you fathered.”

[48:6]  ³²¹ tn Heb “called” or “named.”

[48:6]  ³²² sn Listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. This means that any subsequent children of Joseph will be incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

[48:7]  ³²³ tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”

[48:7]  ³²⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[48:9]  ³²⁵ tn Heb “my.”

[48:9]  ³²⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:9]  ³²⁷ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the imperative.

[48:10]  ³²⁸ tn Heb “heavy.”

[48:10]  ³²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:10]  ³³⁰ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:10]  ³³¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:11]  ³³² tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּלַל (palal) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.

[48:11]  ³³³ tn Heb “your face.”

[48:11]  ³³⁴ tn Heb “offspring.”

[48:12]  ³³⁵ tn Heb “and Joseph brought them out from with his knees.” The two boys had probably been standing by Israel’s knees when being adopted and blessed. The referent of the pronoun “his” (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:13]  ³³⁶ tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”

[48:13]  ³³⁷ tn Heb “and he brought near to him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” and “him” (Joseph and his father respectively) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:14]  ³³⁸ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.

[48:15]  ³³⁹ tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.

[48:16]  ³⁴⁰ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

[48:16]  ³⁴¹ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

[48:16]  ³⁴² tn Or “be recalled through them.”

[48:17]  ³⁴³ tn Heb “it was bad in his eyes.”

[48:19]  ³⁴⁴ tn Heb “fullness.”

[48:20]  ³⁴⁵ tn The pronoun is singular in the Hebrew text, apparently elevating Ephraim as the more prominent of the two. Note, however, that both are named in the blessing formula that follows.

[48:20]  ³⁴⁶ tn Or “pronounce a blessing.”

[48:20]  ³⁴⁷ sn On the elevation of Ephraim over Manasseh see E. C. Kingsbury, “He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh,” HUCA 38 (1967): 129-36; H. Mowvley, “The Concept and Content of ‘Blessing’ in the Old Testament,” BT 16 (1965): 74-80; and I. Mendelsohn, “On the Preferential Status of the Eldest Son,” BASOR 156 (1959): 38-40.

[48:21]  ³⁴⁸ tn The pronouns translated “you,” “you,” and “your” in this verse are plural in the Hebrew text.

[48:22]  ³⁴⁹ tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.

[48:22]  ³⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew word שְׁכֶם (shÿkhem) could be translated either as “mountain slope” or “shoulder, portion,” or even taken as the proper name “Shechem.” Jacob was giving Joseph either (1) one portion above his brothers, or (2) the mountain ridge he took from the Amorites, or (3) Shechem. The ambiguity actually allows for all three to be the referent. He could be referring to the land in Shechem he bought in Gen 33:18-19, but he mentions here that it was acquired by warfare, suggesting that the events of 34:25-29 are in view (even though at the time he denounced it, 34:30). Joseph was later buried in Shechem (Josh 24:32).

[49:1]  ³⁵¹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[49:1]  ³⁵² tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.

[49:4]  ³⁵³ tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).

[49:4]  ³⁵⁴ tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).

[49:4]  ³⁵⁵ sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).

[49:4]  ³⁵⁶ tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.

[49:5]  ³⁵⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mÿkherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitations”; (2) “merchandise”; (3) “counsels”; (4) “swords”; (5) “wedding feasts.” If it is from the verb כָּרַת (karat) and formed after noun patterns for instruments and tools (maqtil, miqtil form), then it would refer to “knives.” Since the verb is used in Exod 4:25 for circumcision, the idea would be “their circumcision knives,” an allusion to the events of Gen 34 (see M. J. Dahood, “‘MKRTYHM’ in Genesis 49,5,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 54-56). Another explanation also connects the word to the events of Gen 34 as a reference to the intended “wedding feast” for Dinah which could take place only after the men of Shechem were circumcised (see D. W. Young, “A Ghost Word in the Testament of Jacob (Gen 49:5)?” JBL 100 [1981]: 335-422).

[49:6]  ³⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads “my glory,” but it is preferable to repoint the form and read “my liver.” The liver was sometimes viewed as the seat of the emotions and will (see HALOT 456 s.v. II כָּבֵד) for which the heart is the modern equivalent.

[49:7]  ³⁵⁹ sn Divide…scatter. What is predicted here is a division of their tribes. Most commentators see here an anticipation of Levi being in every area but not their own. That may be part of it, but not entirely what the curse intended. These tribes for their ruthless cruelty would be eliminated from the power and prestige of leadership.

[49:8]  ³⁶⁰ sn There is a wordplay here; the name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) sounds in Hebrew like the verb translated praise (יוֹדוּךָ, yodukha). The wordplay serves to draw attention to the statement as having special significance.

[49:10]  ³⁶¹ tn Or perhaps “from his descendants,” taking the expression “from between his feet” as a euphemism referring to the genitals. In this case the phrase refers by metonymy to those who come forth from his genitals, i.e., his descendants.

[49:10]  ³⁶² tn The Hebrew form שִׁילֹה (shiloh) is a major interpretive problem. There are at least four major options (with many variations and less likely alternatives): (1) Some prefer to leave the text as it is, reading “Shiloh” and understanding it as the place where the ark rested for a while in the time of the Judges. (2) By repointing the text others arrive at the translation “until the [or “his”] ruler comes,” a reference to a Davidic ruler or the Messiah. (3) Another possibility that does not require emendation of the consonantal text, but only repointing, is “until tribute is brought to him” (so NEB, JPS, NRSV), which has the advantage of providing good parallelism with the following line, “the nations will obey him.” (4) The interpretation followed in the present translation, “to whom it [belongs]” (so RSV, NIV, REB), is based on the ancient versions. Again, this would refer to the Davidic dynasty or, ultimately, to the Messiah.

[49:10]  ³⁶³ tn “and to him [will be] the obedience of the nations.” For discussion of this verse see J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the Messianic Entry,” JBL 80 (1961): 55-64; and E. M. Good, “The ‘Blessing’ on Judah,” JBL 82 (1963): 427-32.

[49:11]  ³⁶⁴ tn The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, describing coming events as though they have already taken place.

[49:12]  ³⁶⁵ tn Some translate these as comparatives, “darker than wine…whiter than milk,” and so a reference to his appearance (so NEB, NIV, NRSV). But if it is in the age of abundance, symbolized by wine and milk, then the dark (i.e., red or perhaps dull) eyes would be from drinking wine, and the white teeth from drinking milk.

[49:13]  ³⁶⁶ tn The verb שָׁכַן (shakhan) means “to settle,” but not necessarily as a permanent dwelling place. The tribal settlements by the sea would have been temporary and not the tribe’s territory.

[49:13]  ³⁶⁷ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[49:15]  ³⁶⁸ tn The verb forms in this verse (“sees,” “will bend,” and “[will] become”) are preterite; they is used in a rhetorical manner, describing the future as if it had already transpired.

[49:15]  ³⁶⁹ sn The oracle shows that the tribe of Issachar will be willing to trade liberty for the material things of life. Issachar would work (become a slave laborer) for the Canaanites, a reversal of the oracle on Canaan. See C. M. Carmichael, “Some Sayings in Genesis 49,” JBL 88 (1969): 435-44; and S. Gevirtz, “The Issachar Oracle in the Testament of Jacob,” ErIsr 12 (1975): 104-12.

[49:16]  ³⁷⁰ sn The name Dan (דָּן, dan) means “judge” and forms a wordplay with the following verb.

[49:16]  ³⁷¹ tn Or “govern.”

[49:17]  ³⁷² sn The comparison of the tribe of Dan to a venomous serpent is meant to say that Dan, though small, would be potent, gaining victory through its skill and shrewdness. Jewish commentators have linked the image in part with Samson. That link at least illustrates the point: Though a minority tribe, Dan would gain the upper hand over others.

[49:18]  ³⁷³ sn I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. As Jacob sees the conflicts that lie ahead for Dan and Gad (see v. 19), he offers a brief prayer for their security.

[49:19]  ³⁷⁴ tc Heb “heel.” The MT has suffered from misdivision at this point. The initial mem on the first word in the next verse should probably be taken as a plural ending on the word “heel.”

[49:20]  ³⁷⁵ tc Heb “from Asher,” but the initial mem (מ) of the MT should probably be moved to the end of the preceding verse and taken as a plural ending on “heel.”

[49:20]  ³⁷⁶ tn The Hebrew word translated “rich,” when applied to products of the ground, means abundant in quantity and quality.

[49:20]  ³⁷⁷ tn The word translated “delicacies” refers to foods that were delightful, the kind fit for a king.

[49:21]  ³⁷⁸ tn Heb “a doe set free.”

[49:21]  ³⁷⁹ tn Heb “the one who gives words of beauty.” The deer imagery probably does not continue into this line; Naphtali is the likely antecedent of the substantival participle, which is masculine, not feminine, in form. If the animal imagery is retained from the preceding line, the image of a talking deer is preposterous. For this reason some read the second line “the one who bears beautiful fawns,” interpreting אִמְרֵי (’imre) as a reference to young animals, not words (see HALOT 67 s.v. *אִמֵּר).

[49:22]  ³⁸⁰ tn The Hebrew text appears to mean “[is] a son of fruitfulness.” The second word is an active participle, feminine singular, from the verb פָּרָה (parah, “to be fruitful”). The translation “bough” is employed for בֵּן (ben, elsewhere typically “son”) because Joseph is pictured as a healthy and fruitful vine growing by the wall. But there are difficulties with this interpretation. The word “son” nowhere else refers to a plant and the noun translated “branches” (Heb “daughters”) in the third line is a plural form whereas its verb is singular. In the other oracles of Gen 49 an animal is used for comparison and not a plant, leading some to translate the opening phrase בֵּן פָּרָה (ben parah, “fruitful bough”) as “wild donkey” (JPS, NAB). Various other interpretations involving more radical emendation of the text have also been offered.

[49:22]  ³⁸¹ tn Heb “daughters.”

[49:23]  ³⁸² tn The verb forms in vv. 23-24 are used in a rhetorical manner, describing future events as if they had already taken place.

[49:24]  ³⁸³ tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”

[49:24]  ³⁸⁴ tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”

[49:24]  ³⁸⁵ tn Or “Stone.”

[49:25]  ³⁸⁶ tn Heb “and he will help you.”

[49:25]  ³⁸⁷ tn Heb “Shaddai.” See the note on the title “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1. The preposition אֵת (’et) in the Hebrew text should probably be emended to אֵל (’el, “God”).

[49:25]  ³⁸⁸ tn Heb “and he will bless you.”

[49:25]  ³⁸⁹ sn Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings of the breasts and womb) to Joseph and his family.

[49:26]  ³⁹⁰ tn Heb “have prevailed over.”

[49:26]  ³⁹¹ tn One could interpret the phrase הוֹרַי (horay) to mean “my progenitors” (literally, “the ones who conceived me”), but the masculine form argues against this. It is better to emend the text to הַרֲרֵי (harare, “mountains of”) because it forms a better parallel with the next clause. In this case the final yod (י) on the form is a construct plural marker, not a pronominal suffix.

[49:26]  ³⁹² tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.

[49:28]  ³⁹³ tn Heb “All these.”

[49:28]  ³⁹⁴ tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”

[49:29]  ³⁹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “and he said to them,” which is not included in the translation because it is redundant in English.

[49:29]  ³⁹⁶ tn Heb “I am about to be gathered” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.

[49:32]  ³⁹⁷ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[49:33]  ³⁹⁸ tn Heb “was gathered.”

[50:1]  ³⁹⁹ tn Heb “fell on.” The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father.

[50:2]  ⁴⁰⁰ tn Heb “his servants the physicians.”

[50:3]  ⁴⁰¹ tn Heb “and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming.”

[50:3]  ⁴⁰² tn Heb “wept.”

[50:3]  ⁴⁰³ sn Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.

[50:4]  ⁴⁰⁴ tn Heb “weeping.”

[50:4]  ⁴⁰⁵ tn Heb “the house of Pharaoh.”

[50:4]  ⁴⁰⁶ tn Heb “in the ears of Pharaoh.”

[50:5]  ⁴⁰⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[50:5]  ⁴⁰⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.

[50:6]  ⁴⁰⁹ tn Heb “he made you swear on oath.”

[50:7]  ⁴¹⁰ tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”

[50:9]  ⁴¹¹ tn Heb “camp.”

[50:10]  ⁴¹² sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.

[50:10]  ⁴¹³ tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.

[50:11]  ⁴¹⁴ tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”

[50:11]  ⁴¹⁵ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.

[50:11]  ⁴¹⁶ sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”

[50:15]  ⁴¹⁷ tn The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance.

[50:15]  ⁴¹⁸ tn The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, “repay in full.”

[50:15]  ⁴¹⁹ tn Or “evil.”

[50:16]  ⁴²⁰ tn The verb means “command,” but they would hardly be commanding him. It probably means they sent their father’s instructions to Joseph.

[50:17]  ⁴²¹ tn Heb “and Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”

[50:19]  ⁴²² tn Heb “For am I.”

[50:20]  ⁴²³ tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”

[50:20]  ⁴²⁴ tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”

[50:21]  ⁴²⁵ tn Heb “spoke to their heart.”

[50:22]  ⁴²⁶ tn Heb “he and the house of his father.”

[50:23]  ⁴²⁷ tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”

[50:23]  ⁴²⁸ tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.

[50:24]  ⁴²⁹ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”

[50:24]  ⁴³⁰ tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[50:26]  ⁴³¹ tn Heb “son of a hundred and ten years.”

[50:26]  ⁴³² tn Heb “he.”

[1:27]  ⁴³³ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun (הָאָדָם, ha’adam). The article does not distinguish man from woman here (“the man” as opposed to “the woman”), but rather indicates previous reference (see v. 26, where the noun appears without the article). It has the same function as English “the aforementioned.”

[1:27]  ⁴³⁴ tn The third person suffix on the particle אֵת (’et) is singular here, but collective.

[1:27]  ⁴³⁵ sn The distinction of “humankind” as “male” and “female” is another point of separation in God’s creation. There is no possibility that the verse is teaching that humans were first androgynous (having both male and female physical characteristics) and afterward were separated. The mention of male and female prepares for the blessing to follow.

[1:9]  ⁴³⁶ sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.

[1:9]  ⁴³⁷ tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.

[7:1]  ⁴³⁸ tn The word “like” is added for clarity, making explicit the implied comparison in the statement “I have made you God to Pharaoh.” The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is used a few times in the Bible for humans (e.g., Pss 45:6; 82:1), and always clearly in the sense of a subordinate to GOD – they are his representatives on earth. The explanation here goes back to 4:16. If Moses is like God in that Aaron is his prophet, then Moses is certainly like God to Pharaoh. Only Moses, then, is able to speak to Pharaoh with such authority, giving him commands.

[7:1]  ⁴³⁹ tn The word נְבִיאֶךָ (nÿvi’ekha, “your prophet”) recalls 4:16. Moses was to be like God to Aaron, and Aaron was to speak for him. This indicates that the idea of a “prophet” was of one who spoke for God, an idea with which Moses and Aaron and the readers of Exodus are assumed to be familiar.

[7:2]  ⁴⁴⁰ tn The imperfect tense here should have the nuance of instruction or injunction: “you are to speak.” The subject is singular (Moses) and made emphatic by the presence of the personal pronoun “you.”

[7:2]  ⁴⁴¹ tn The phrase translated “everything I command you” is a noun clause serving as the direct object of the verb “speak.” The verb in the clause (אֲצַוֶּךָ, ’atsavvekha) is the Piel imperfect. It could be classified as a future: “everything that I will command you.” A nuance of progressive imperfect also fits well: “everything that I am commanding you.”

[7:2]  ⁴⁴² tn The form is וְשִׁלַּח (vÿshillakh), a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. Following the imperfects of injunction or instruction, this verb continues the sequence. It could be taken as equal to an imperfect expressing future (“and he will release”) or subordinate to express purpose (“to release” = “in order that he may release”).

[7:3]  ⁴⁴³ tn The clause begins with the emphatic use of the pronoun and a disjunctive vav (ו) expressing the contrast “But as for me, I will harden.” They will speak, but God will harden.

[7:3]  ⁴⁴⁴ tn The form beginning the second half of the verse is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, הִרְבֵּיתִי (hirbeti). It could be translated as a simple future in sequence after the imperfect preceding it, but the logical connection is not obvious. Since it carries the force of an imperfect due to the sequence, it may be subordinated as a temporal clause to the next clause that begins in v. 4. That maintains the flow of the argument.

[7:4]  ⁴⁴⁵ tn Heb “and Pharaoh will not listen.”

[7:4]  ⁴⁴⁶ tn Heb “put my hand into.” The expression is a strong anthropomorphism to depict God’s severest judgment on Egypt. The point is that neither the speeches of Moses and Aaron nor the signs that God would do will be effective. Consequently, God would deliver the blow that would destroy.

[7:4]  ⁴⁴⁷ tn See the note on this term in 6:26.

[7:5]  ⁴⁴⁸ tn The emphasis on sequence is clear because the form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive.

[7:5]  ⁴⁴⁹ sn This is another anthropomorphism, parallel to the preceding. If God were to “put” (נָתַן, natan), “extend” (נָטָה, nata), or “reach out” (שָׁלַח, shalakh) his hand against them, they would be destroyed. Contrast Exod 24:11.

[7:8]  ⁴⁵⁰ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[7:8]  ⁴⁵¹ tn Heb “said to Moses and Aaron, saying.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁵² tn The verb is תְּנוּ (tÿnu), literally “give.” The imperative is followed by an ethical dative that strengthens the subject of the imperative: “you give a miracle.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁵³ tn Heb “and throw it.” The direct object, “it,” is implied.

[7:9]  ⁴⁵⁴ tn The form is the jussive יְהִי ( yÿhi). Gesenius notes that frequently in a conditional clause, a sentence with a protasis and apodosis, the jussive will be used. Here it is in the apodosis (GKC 323 §109.h).

[7:10]  ⁴⁵⁵ tn The clause begins with the preterite and the vav (ו) consecutive; it is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause.

[7:10]  ⁴⁵⁶ tn Heb “and Aaron threw.”

[7:10]  ⁴⁵⁷ tn The noun used here is תַּנִּין (tannin), and not the word for “serpent” or “snake” used in chap. 4. This noun refers to a large reptile, in some texts large river or sea creatures (Gen 1:21; Ps 74:13) or land creatures (Deut 32:33). This wonder paralleled Moses’ miracle in 4:3 when he cast his staff down. But this is Aaron’s staff, and a different miracle. The noun could still be rendered “snake” here since the term could be broad enough to include it.

[7:11]  ⁴⁵⁸ sn For information on this Egyptian material, see D. B. Redford, A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (VTSup), 203-4.

[7:11]  ⁴⁵⁹ tn The חַרְטֻּמִּים (kharttummim) seem to have been the keepers of Egypt’s religious and magical texts, the sacred scribes.

[7:11]  ⁴⁶⁰ tn The term בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם (bÿlahatehem) means “by their secret arts”; it is from לוּט (lut, “to enwrap”). The Greek renders the word “by their magic”; Tg. Onq. uses “murmurings” and “whispers,” and other Jewish sources “dazzling display” or “demons” (see further B. Jacob, Exodus, 253-54). They may have done this by clever tricks, manipulation of the animals, or demonic power. Many have suggested that Aaron and the magicians were familiar with an old trick in which they could temporarily paralyze a serpent and then revive it. But here Aaron’s snake swallows up their snakes.

[7:12]  ⁴⁶¹ tn The verb is plural, but the subject is singular, “a man – his staff.” This noun can be given a distributive sense: “each man threw down his staff.”

[7:13]  ⁴⁶² tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[7:14]  ⁴⁶³ sn With the first plague, or blow on Pharaoh, a new section of the book unfolds. Until now the dominant focus has been on preparing the deliverer for the exodus. From here the account will focus on preparing Pharaoh for it. The theological emphasis for exposition of the entire series of plagues may be: The sovereign Lord is fully able to deliver his people from the oppression of the world so that they may worship and serve him alone. The distinct idea of each plague then will contribute to this main idea. It is clear from the outset that God could have delivered his people simply and suddenly. But he chose to draw out the process with the series of plagues. There appear to be several reasons: First, the plagues are designed to judge Egypt. It is justice for slavery. Second, the plagues are designed to inform Israel and Egypt of the ability of Yahweh. Everyone must know that it is Yahweh doing all these things. The Egyptians must know this before they are destroyed. Third, the plagues are designed to deliver Israel. The first plague is the plague of blood: God has absolute power over the sources of life. Here Yahweh strikes the heart of Egyptian life with death and corruption. The lesson is that God can turn the source of life into the prospect of death. Moreover, the Nile was venerated; so by turning it into death Moses was showing the superiority of Yahweh.

[7:14]  ⁴⁶⁴ tn Or “unresponsive” (so HALOT 456 s.v. I כָּבֵד).

[7:14]  ⁴⁶⁵ tn The Piel infinitive construct לְשַׁלַּח (lÿshallakh) serves as the direct object of מֵאֵן (me’en), telling what Pharaoh refuses (characteristic perfect) to do. The whole clause is an explanation (like a metonymy of effect) of the first clause that states that Pharaoh’s heart is hard.

[7:15]  ⁴⁶⁶ tn The clause begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh); here it provides the circumstances for the instruction for Moses – he is going out to the water so go meet him. A temporal clause translation captures the connection between the clauses.

[7:15]  ⁴⁶⁷ tn The instruction to Moses continues with this perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive following the imperative. The verb means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It seems that Pharaoh’s going out to the water was a regular feature of his day and that Moses could be there waiting to meet him.

[7:15]  ⁴⁶⁸ sn The Nile, the source of fertility for the country, was deified by the Egyptians. There were religious festivals held to the god of the Nile, especially when the Nile was flooding. The Talmud suggests that Pharaoh in this passage went out to the Nile to make observations as a magician about its level. Others suggest he went out simply to bathe or to check the water level – but that would not change the view of the Nile that was prevalent in the land.

[7:15]  ⁴⁶⁹ tn The verb תִּקַּח (tiqqakh), the Qal imperfect of לָקַח (laqakh), functions here as the imperfect of instruction, or injunction perhaps, given the word order of the clause.

[7:15]  ⁴⁷⁰ tn The final clause begins with the noun and vav disjunctive, which singles this instruction out for special attention – “now the staff…you are to take.”

[7:16]  ⁴⁷¹ tn The form לֵאמֹר (le’mor) is the Qal infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. It is used so often epexegetically that it has achieved idiomatic status – “saying” (if translated at all). But here it would make better sense to take it as a purpose infinitive. God sent him to say these words.

[7:16]  ⁴⁷² tn The imperfect tense with the vav (וְיַעַבְדֻנִי, vÿya’avduni) following the imperative is in volitive sequence, showing the purpose – “that they may serve me.” The word “serve” (עָבַד, ’avad) is a general term to include religious observance and obedience.

[7:16]  ⁴⁷³ tn The final עַד־כֹּה (’ad-koh, “until now”) narrows the use of the perfect tense to the present perfect: “you have not listened.” That verb, however, involves more than than mere audition. It has the idea of responding to, hearkening, and in some places obeying; here “you have not complied” might catch the point of what Moses is saying, while “listen” helps to maintain the connection with other uses of the verb.

[7:16]  ⁴⁷⁴ tn Or “complied” (שָׁמַעְתָּ, shama’ta).

[7:17]  ⁴⁷⁵ tn The construction using הִנֵּה (hinneh) before the participle (here the Hiphil participle מַכֶּה, makkeh) introduces a futur instans use of the participle, expressing imminent future, that he is about to do something.

[7:17]  ⁴⁷⁶ sn W. C. Kaiser summarizes a view that has been adopted by many scholars, including a good number of conservatives, that the plagues overlap with natural phenomena in Egypt. Accordingly, the “blood” would not be literal blood, but a reddish contamination in the water. If there was an unusually high inundation of the Nile, the water flowed sluggishly through swamps and was joined with the water from the mountains that washed out the reddish soil. If the flood were high, the water would have a deeper red color. In addition to this discoloration, there is said to be a type of algae which produce a stench and a deadly fluctuation of the oxygen level of the river that is fatal to fish (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:350; he cites Greta Hort, “The Plagues of Egypt,” ZAW 69 [1957]: 84-103; same title, ZAW 70 [1958]: 48-59). While most scholars would agree that the water did not actually become blood (any more than the moon will be turned to literal blood [Joel 2:31]), many are not satisfied with this kind of explanation. If the event was a fairly common feature of the Nile, it would not have been any kind of sign to Pharaoh – and it should still be observable. The features that would have to be safeguarded are that it was understood to be done by the staff of God, that it was unexpected and not a mere coincidence, and that the magnitude of the contamination, color, stench, and death, was unparalleled. God does use natural features in miracles, but to be miraculous signs they cannot simply coincide with natural phenomena.

[7:18]  ⁴⁷⁷ tn The definite article here has the generic use, indicating the class – “fish” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).

[7:18]  ⁴⁷⁸ tn The verb לָאָה (la’a), here in the Niphal perfect with a vav consecutive, means “be weary, impatient.” The Niphal meaning is “make oneself weary” in doing something, or “weary (strenuously exert) oneself.” It seems always to indicate exhausted patience (see BDB 521 s.v.). The term seems to imply that the Egyptians were not able to drink the red, contaminated water, and so would expend all their energy looking for water to drink – in frustration of course.

[7:19]  ⁴⁷⁹ tn Or “irrigation rivers” of the Nile.

[7:19]  ⁴⁸⁰ sn The Hebrew term means “gathering,” i.e., wherever they gathered or collected waters, notably cisterns and reservoirs. This would naturally lead to the inclusion of both wooden and stone vessels – down to the smallest gatherings.

[7:19]  ⁴⁸¹ tn The imperfect tense with vav (ו) after the imperative indicates the purpose or result: “in order that they [the waters] be[come] blood.”

[7:19]  ⁴⁸² tn Or “in all.”

[7:20]  ⁴⁸³ sn Both Moses and Aaron had tasks to perform. Moses, being the “god” to Pharaoh, dealt directly with him and the Nile. He would strike the Nile. But Aaron, “his prophet,” would stretch out the staff over the rest of the waters of Egypt.

[7:20]  ⁴⁸⁴ tn Heb “And he raised”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:20]  ⁴⁸⁵ tn Gesenius calls the preposition on “staff” the בְּ (bet) instrumenti, used to introduce the object (GKC 380-81 §119.q). This construction provides a greater emphasis than an accusative.

[7:20]  ⁴⁸⁶ tn The text could be rendered “in the sight of,” or simply “before,” but the literal idea of “before the eyes of” may stress how obvious the event was and how personally they were witnesses of it.

[7:20]  ⁴⁸⁷ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 98) notes that the striking of the water was not a magical act. It signified two things: (1) the beginning of the sign, which was in accordance with God’s will, as Moses had previously announced, and (2) to symbolize actual “striking,” wherewith the Lord strikes Egypt and its gods (see v. 25).

[7:20]  ⁴⁸⁸ sn There have been various attempts to explain the details of this plague or blow. One possible suggestion is that the plague turned the Nile into “blood,” but that it gradually turned back to its normal color and substance. However, the effects of the “blood” polluted the water so that dead fish and other contamination left it undrinkable. This would explain how the magicians could also do it – they would not have tried if all water was already turned to blood. It also explains why Pharaoh did not ask for the water to be turned back. This view was put forward by B. Schor; it is summarized by B. Jacob (Exodus, 258), who prefers the view of Rashi that the blow affected only water in use.

[7:21]  ⁴⁸⁹ tn The first clause in this verse begins with a vav disjunctive, introducing a circumstantial clause to the statement that the water stank. The vav (ו) consecutive on the next verb shows that the smell was the result of the dead fish in the contaminated water. The result is then expressed with the vav beginning the clause that states that they could not drink it.

[7:21]  ⁴⁹⁰ tn The preterite could be given a simple definite past translation, but an ingressive past would be more likely, as the smell would get worse and worse with the dead fish.

[7:21]  ⁴⁹¹ tn Heb “and there was blood.”

[7:22]  ⁴⁹² tn Heb “thus, so.”

[7:22]  ⁴⁹³ tn The vav consecutive on the preterite introduces the outcome or result of the matter – Pharaoh was hardened.

[7:22]  ⁴⁹⁴ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[7:22]  ⁴⁹⁵ tn Heb “to them”; the referents (Moses and Aaron) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:23]  ⁴⁹⁶ tn The text has וְלֹא־שָׁת לִבּוֹ גַּם־לָזֹאת (vÿlo’-shat libbo gam-lazo’t), which literally says, “and he did not set his heart also to this.” To “set the heart” to something would mean “to consider it.” This Hebrew idiom means that he did not pay attention to it, or take it to heart (cf. 2 Sam 13:20; Ps 48:13; 62:10; Prov 22:17; 24:32). Since Pharaoh had not been affected by this, he did not consider it or its implications further.

[7:24]  ⁴⁹⁷ sn The text stresses that the water in the Nile, and Nile water that had been diverted or collected for use, was polluted and undrinkable. Water underground also was from the Nile, but it had not been contaminated, certainly not with dead fish, and so would be drinkable.

[7:25]  ⁴⁹⁸ sn An attempt to connect this plague with the natural phenomena of Egypt proposes that because of the polluted water due to the high Nile, the frogs abandoned their normal watery homes (seven days after the first plague) and sought cover from the sun in homes wherever there was moisture. Since they had already been exposed to the poisonous water, they died very suddenly. The miracle was in the announcement and the timing, i.e., that Moses would predict this blow, and in the magnitude of it all, which was not natural (Greta Hort, “The Plagues of Egypt,” ZAW 69 [1957]: 95-98). It is also important to note that in parts of Egypt there was a fear of these creatures as embodying spirits capable of great evil. People developed the mentality of bowing to incredibly horrible idols to drive away the bad spirits. Evil spirits are represented in the book of Revelation in the forms of frogs (Rev 16:13). The frogs that the magicians produced could very well have been in the realm of evil spirits. Exactly how the Egyptians thought about this plague is hard to determine, but there is enough evidence to say that the plague would have made them spiritually as well as physically uncomfortable, and that the death of the frogs would have been a “sign” from God about their superstitions and related beliefs. The frog is associated with the god Hapi, and a frog-headed goddess named Heqet was supposed to assist women at childbirth. The plague would have been evidence that Yahweh was controlling their environment and upsetting their beliefs for his own purpose.

[7:25]  ⁴⁹⁹ tn The text literally has “and seven days were filled.” Seven days gave Pharaoh enough time to repent and release Israel. When the week passed, God’s second blow came.

[7:25]  ⁵⁰⁰ tn This is a temporal clause made up of the preposition, the Hiphil infinitive construct of נָכָה (nakhah), הַכּוֹת (hakkot), followed by the subjective genitive YHWH. Here the verb is applied to the true meaning of the plague: Moses struck the water, but the plague was a blow struck by God.

[8:1]  ⁵⁰¹ sn Beginning with 8:1, the verse numbers through 8:32 in English Bibles differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 8:1 ET = 7:26 HT, 8:2 ET = 7:27 HT, 8:3 ET = 7:28 HT, 8:4 ET = 7:29 HT, 8:5 ET = 8:1 HT, etc., through 8:32 ET = 8:28 HT. Thus in English Bibles chapter 8 has 32 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 28 verses, with the four extra verses attached to chapter 7.

[8:2]  ⁵⁰² tn The construction here uses the deictic particle and the participle to convey the imminent future: “I am going to plague/about to plague.” The verb נָגַף (nagaf) means “to strike, to smite,” and its related noun means “a blow, a plague, pestilence” or the like. For Yahweh to say “I am about to plague you” could just as easily mean “I am about to strike you.” That is why these “plagues” can be described as “blows” received from God.

[8:2]  ⁵⁰³ tn Heb “plague all your border with frogs.” The expression “all your border” is figurative for all the territory of Egypt and the people and things that are within the borders (also used in Exod 10:4, 14, 19; 13:7).

[8:3]  ⁵⁰⁴ sn The choice of this verb שָׁרַץ (sharats) recalls its use in the creation account (Gen 1:20). The water would be swarming with frogs in abundance. There is a hint here of this being a creative work of God as well.

[8:3]  ⁵⁰⁵ sn This verse lists places the frogs will go. The first three are for Pharaoh personally – they are going to touch his private life. Then the text mentions the servants and the people. Mention of the ovens and kneading bowls (or troughs) of the people indicates that food would be contaminated and that it would be impossible even to eat a meal in peace.

[8:4]  ⁵⁰⁶ tn Here again is the generic use of the article, designating the class – frogs.

[8:4]  ⁵⁰⁷ sn The word order of the Hebrew text is important because it shows how the plague was pointedly directed at Pharaoh: “and against you, and against your people, and against all your servants frogs will go up.”

[8:5]  ⁵⁰⁸ sn After the instructions for Pharaoh (7:25-8:4), the plague now is brought on by the staff in Aaron’s hand (8:5-7). This will lead to the confrontation (vv. 8-11) and the hardening (vv. 12-15).

[8:6]  ⁵⁰⁹ tn The noun is singular, a collective. B. Jacob notes that this would be the more natural way to refer to the frogs (Exodus, 260).

[8:7]  ⁵¹⁰ tn Heb “thus, so.”

[8:7]  ⁵¹¹ sn In these first two plagues the fact that the Egyptians could and did duplicate them is ironic. By duplicating the experience, they added to the misery of Egypt. One wonders why they did not use their skills to rid the land of the pests instead, and the implication of course is that they could not.

[8:8]  ⁵¹² tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has the meaning “to summon.”

[8:8]  ⁵¹³ tn The verb הַעְתִּירוּ (ha’tiru) is the Hiphil imperative of the verb עָתַר (’atar). It means “to pray, supplicate,” or “make supplication” – always addressed to God. It is often translated “entreat” to reflect that it is a more urgent praying.

[8:8]  ⁵¹⁴ tn This form is the jussive with a sequential vav that provides the purpose of the prayer: pray…that he may turn away the frogs.

[8:8]  ⁵¹⁵ tn The form is the Piel cohortative וַאֲשַׁלְּחָה (va’ashallÿkhah) with the vav (ו) continuing the sequence from the request and its purpose. The cohortative here stresses the resolve of the king: “and (then) I will release.”

[8:8]  ⁵¹⁶ tn Here also the imperfect tense with the vav (ו) shows the purpose of the release: “that they may sacrifice.”

[8:9]  ⁵¹⁷ tn The expression הִתְפָּאֵר עָלַי (hitpa’er ’alay) is problematic. The verb would be simply translated “honor yourself” or “deck yourself with honor.” It can be used in the bad sense of self-exaltation. But here it seems to mean “have the honor or advantage over me” in choosing when to remove the frogs. The LXX has “appoint for me.” Moses is doing more than extending a courtesy to Pharaoh; he is giving him the upper hand in choosing the time. But it is also a test, for if Pharaoh picked the time it would appear less likely that Moses was manipulating things. As U. Cassuto puts it, Moses is saying “my trust in God is so strong you may have the honor of choosing the time” (Exodus, 103).

[8:9]  ⁵¹⁸ tn Or “destroyed”; Heb “to cut off the frogs.”

[8:9]  ⁵¹⁹ tn The phrase “so that” is implied.

[8:9]  ⁵²⁰ tn Or “survive, remain.”

[8:10]  ⁵²¹ tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:10]  ⁵²² tn “It will be” has been supplied.

[8:10]  ⁵²³ tn Heb “according to your word” (so NASB).

[8:12]  ⁵²⁴ 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).

[8:12]  ⁵²⁵ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[8:12]  ⁵²⁶ 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.

[8:13]  ⁵²⁷ tn Heb “according to the word of Moses” (so KJV, NASB). Just as Moses had told Pharaoh “according to your word” (v. 10), now the Lord does “according to the word” of Moses.

[8:13]  ⁵²⁸ tn Heb “and the frogs died.”

[8:14]  ⁵²⁹ tn Heb “and they piled them.” For clarity the translation supplies the referent “the Egyptians” as the ones who were piling the frogs.

[8:14]  ⁵³⁰ tn The word “heaps” is repeated: חֳמָרִם הֳמָרִם (khomarim khomarim). The repetition serves to intensify the idea to the highest degree – “countless heaps” (see GKC 396 §123.e).

[8:15]  ⁵³¹ tn The word רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah) means “respite, relief.” BDB 926 relates it to the verb רָוַח (ravakh, “to be wide, spacious”). There would be relief when there was freedom to move about.

[8:15]  ⁵³² tn וְהַכְבֵּד (vÿhakhbed) is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, functioning as a finite verb. The meaning of the word is “to make heavy,” and so stubborn, sluggish, indifferent. It summarizes his attitude and the outcome, that he refused to keep his promises.

[8:15]  ⁵³³ sn The end of the plague revealed clearly God’s absolute control over Egypt’s life and deities – all at the power of the man who prayed to God. Yahweh had made life unpleasant for the people by sending the plague, but he was also the one who could remove it. The only recourse anyone has in such trouble is to pray to the sovereign Lord God. Everyone should know that there is no one like Yahweh.

[8:16]  ⁵³⁴ sn The third plague is brief and unannounced. Moses and Aaron were simply to strike the dust so that it would become gnats. Not only was this plague unannounced, but also it was not duplicated by the Egyptians.

[8:16]  ⁵³⁵ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, meaning “and it will be.” When הָיָה (hayah) is followed by the lamed (ל) proposition, it means “become.”

[8:16]  ⁵³⁶ tn The noun is כִּנִּים (kinnim). The insect has been variously identified as lice, gnats, ticks, flies, fleas, or mosquitoes. “Lice” follows the reading in the Peshitta and Targum (and so Josephus, Ant. 2.14.3 [2.300]). Greek and Latin had “gnats.” By “gnats” many commentators mean “mosquitoes,” which in and around the water of Egypt were abundant (and the translators of the Greek text were familiar with Egypt). Whatever they were they came from the dust and were troublesome to people and animals.

[8:17]  ⁵³⁷ tn Heb “man,” but in the generic sense of “humans” or “people” (also in v. 18).

[8:18]  ⁵³⁸ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the main clause as a temporal clause.

[8:18]  ⁵³⁹ tn Heb “and the magicians did so.”

[8:19]  ⁵⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the magicians said.”

[8:19]  ⁵⁴¹ tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).

[8:19]  ⁵⁴² tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[8:20]  ⁵⁴³ sn The announcement of the fourth plague parallels that of the first plague. Now there will be flies, likely dogflies. Egypt has always suffered from flies, more so in the summer than in the winter. But the flies the plague describes involve something greater than any normal season for flies. The main point that can be stressed in this plague comes by tracing the development of the plagues in their sequence. Now, with the flies, it becomes clear that God can inflict suffering on some people and preserve others – a preview of the coming judgment that will punish Egypt but set Israel free. God is fully able to keep the dog-fly in the land of the Egyptians and save his people from these judgments.

[8:20]  ⁵⁴⁴ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[8:21]  ⁵⁴⁵ tn The construction uses the predicator of nonexistence – אֵין (’en, “there is not”) – with a pronominal suffix prior to the Piel participle. The suffix becomes the subject of the clause. Heb “but if there is not you releasing.”

[8:21]  ⁵⁴⁶ tn Here again is the futur instans use of the participle, now Qal with the meaning “send”: הִנְנִי מַשְׁלִיחַ (hinni mashliakh, “here I am sending”).

[8:21]  ⁵⁴⁷ tn The word עָרֹב (’arov) means “a mix” or “swarm.” It seems that some irritating kind of flying insect is involved. Ps 78:45 says that the Egyptians were eaten or devoured by them. Various suggestions have been made over the years: (1) it could refer to beasts or reptiles; (2) the Greek took it as the dog-fly, a vicious blood-sucking gadfly, more common in the spring than in the fall; (3) the ordinary house fly, which is a symbol of Egypt in Isa 7:18 (Hebrew זְבוּב, zÿvuv); and (4) the beetle, which gnaws and bites plants, animals, and materials. The fly probably fits the details of this passage best; the plague would have greatly intensified a problem with flies that already existed.

[8:21]  ⁵⁴⁸ tn Or perhaps “the land where they are” (cf. NRSV “the land where they live”).

[8:22]  ⁵⁴⁹ tn Or “distinguish.” וְהִפְלֵיתִי (vÿhifleti) is the Hiphil perfect of פָּלָה (palah). The verb in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” God was going to keep the flies away from Goshen – he was setting that apart. The Greek text assumed that the word was from פָּלֵא (pale’), and translated it something like “I will marvelously glorify.”

[8:22]  ⁵⁵⁰ tn The relative clause modifies the land of Goshen as the place “in which my people are dwelling.” But the normal word for “dwelling” is not used here. Instead, עֹמֵד (’omed) is used, which literally means “standing.” The land on which Israel stood was spared the flies and the hail.

[8:22]  ⁵⁵¹ tn Or “of the earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB).

[8:23]  ⁵⁵² tn The word in the text is פְדֻת (pÿdut, “redemption”). This would give the sense of making a distinction by redeeming Israel. The editors wish to read פְלֻת (pÿlut) instead – “a separation, distinction” to match the verb in the preceding verse. For another view, see G. I. Davies, “The Hebrew Text of Exodus VIII 19 [English 23]: An Emendation,” VT 24 (1974): 489-92.

[8:23]  ⁵⁵³ tn Heb “this sign will be tomorrow.”

[8:24]  ⁵⁵⁴ tn Heb “and there came a….”

[8:24]  ⁵⁵⁵ tn Heb “heavy,” or “severe.”

[8:24]  ⁵⁵⁶ tn Here, and in the next phrase, the word “house” has to be taken as an adverbial accusative of termination.

[8:24]  ⁵⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew text has the singular here.

[8:24]  ⁵⁵⁸ tc Concerning the connection of “the land was ruined” with the preceding, S. R. Driver (Exodus, 68) suggests reading with the LXX, Smr, and Peshitta; this would call for adding a conjunction before the last clause to make it read, “into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was…”

[8:25]  ⁵⁵⁹ sn After the plague is inflicted on the land, then Pharaoh makes an appeal. So there is the familiar confrontation (vv. 25-29). Pharaoh’s words to Moses are an advancement on his previous words. Now he uses imperatives: “Go, sacrifice to your God.” But he restricts it to “in the [this] land.” This is a subtle attempt to keep them as a subjugated people and prevent their absolute allegiance to their God. This offered compromise would destroy the point of the exodus – to leave Egypt and find a new allegiance under the Lord.

[8:26]  ⁵⁶⁰ tn The clause is a little unusual in its formation. The form נָכוֹן (nakhon) is the Niphal participle from כּוּן (kun), which usually means “firm, fixed, steadfast,” but here it has a rare meaning of “right, fitting, appropriate.” It functions in the sentence as the predicate adjective, because the infinitive לַעֲשּׂוֹת (la’asot) is the subject – “to do so is not right.”

[8:26]  ⁵⁶¹ tn This translation has been smoothed out to capture the sense. The text literally says, “for the abomination of Egypt we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God.” In other words, the animals that Israel would sacrifice were sacred to Egypt, and sacrificing them would have been abhorrent to the Egyptians.

[8:26]  ⁵⁶² tn An “abomination” is something that is off-limits, something that is tabu. It could be translated “detestable” or “loathsome.”

[8:26]  ⁵⁶³ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 109) says there are two ways to understand “the abomination of the Egyptians.” One is that the sacrifice of the sacred animals would appear an abominable thing in the eyes of the Egyptians, and the other is that the word “abomination” could be a derogatory term for idols – we sacrifice what is an Egyptian idol. So that is why he says if they did this the Egyptians would stone them.

[8:26]  ⁵⁶⁴ tn Heb “if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians [or “of Egypt”] before their eyes.”

[8:26]  ⁵⁶⁵ tn The interrogative clause has no particle to indicate it is a question, but it is connected with the conjunction to the preceding clause, and the meaning of these clauses indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).

[8:27]  ⁵⁶⁶ tn The verb נֵלֵךְ (nelekh) is a Qal imperfect of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). Here it should be given the modal nuance of obligation: “we must go.”

[8:27]  ⁵⁶⁷ tn This clause is placed first in the sentence to stress the distance required. דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) is an adverbial accusative specifying how far they must go. It is in construct, so “three days” modifies it. It is a “journey of three days,” or, “a three day journey.”

[8:27]  ⁵⁶⁸ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive; it follows in the sequence: we must go…and then [must] sacrifice.”

[8:27]  ⁵⁶⁹ tn The form is the imperfect tense. It could be future: “as he will tell us,” but it also could be the progressive imperfect if this is now what God is telling them to do: “as he is telling us.”

[8:28]  ⁵⁷⁰ sn By changing from “the people” to “you” (plural) the speech of Pharaoh was becoming more personal.

[8:28]  ⁵⁷¹ tn This form, a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, is equivalent to the imperfect tense that precedes it. However, it must be subordinate to the preceding verb to express the purpose. He is not saying “I will release…and you will sacrifice,” but rather “I will release…that you may sacrifice” or even “to sacrifice.”

[8:28]  ⁵⁷² tn The construction is very emphatic. First, it uses a verbal hendiadys with a Hiphil imperfect and the Qal infinitive construct: לֹא־תַרְחִיקוּ לָלֶכֶת (lo’ tarkhiqu lalekhet, “you will not make far to go”), meaning “you will not go far.” But this prohibition is then emphasized with the additional infinitive absolute הַרְחֵק (harkheq) – “you will in no wise go too far.” The point is very strong to safeguard the concession.

[8:28]  ⁵⁷³ tn “Do” has been supplied here to convey that this somewhat unexpected command is tacked onto Pharaoh’s instructions as his ultimate concern, which Moses seems to understand as such, since he speaks about it immediately (v. 29).

[8:29]  ⁵⁷⁴ tn The deictic particle with the participle usually indicates the futur instans nuance: “I am about to…,” or “I am going to….” The clause could also be subordinated as a temporal clause.

[8:29]  ⁵⁷⁵ tn The verb תָּלַל (talal) means “to mock, deceive, trifle with.” The construction in this verse forms a verbal hendiadys. The Hiphil jussive אַל־יֹסֵף (’al-yosef, “let not [Pharaoh] add”) is joined with the Hiphil infinitive הָתֵל (hatel, “to deceive”). It means: “Let not Pharaoh deceive again.” Changing to the third person in this warning to Pharaoh is more decisive, more powerful.

[8:29]  ⁵⁷⁶ tn The Piel infinitive construct after lamed (ל) and the negative functions epexegetically, explaining how Pharaoh would deal falsely – “by not releasing.”

[8:31]  ⁵⁷⁷ tn Heb “according to the word of Moses” (so KJV, ASV).

[8:32]  ⁵⁷⁸ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[9:1]  ⁵⁷⁹ sn This plague demonstrates that Yahweh has power over the livestock of Egypt. He is able to strike the animals with disease and death, thus delivering a blow to the economic as well as the religious life of the land. By the former plagues many of the Egyptian religious ceremonies would have been interrupted and objects of veneration defiled or destroyed. Now some of the important deities will be attacked. In Goshen, where the cattle are merely cattle, no disease hits, but in the rest of Egypt it is a different matter. Osiris, the savior, cannot even save the brute in which his own soul is supposed to reside. Apis and Mnevis, the ram of Ammon, the sheep of Sais, and the goat of Mendes, perish together. Hence, Moses reminds Israel afterward, “On their gods also Yahweh executed judgments” (Num 33:4). When Jethro heard of all these events, he said, “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods” (Exod 18:11).

[9:2]  ⁵⁸⁰ tn The object “them” is implied in the context.

[9:2]  ⁵⁸¹ tn עוֹד (’od), an adverb meaning “yet, still,” can be inflected with suffixes and used as a predicator of existence, with the nuance “to still be, yet be” (T. O. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, 171-72, §137). Then, it is joined here with the Hiphil participle מַחֲזִיק (makhaziq) to form the sentence “you are still holding them.”

[9:3]  ⁵⁸² tn The form used here is הוֹיָה (hoyah), the Qal active participle, feminine singular, from the verb “to be.” This is the only place in the OT that this form occurs. Ogden shows that this form is appropriate with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) to stress impending divine action, and that it conforms to the pattern in these narratives where five times the participle is used in the threat to Pharaoh (7:17; 8:2; 9:3, 14; 10:4). See G. S. Ogden, “Notes on the Use of הויה in Exodus IX. 3,” VT 17 (1967): 483-84.

[9:3]  ⁵⁸³ tn The word דֶּבֶר (dever) is usually translated “pestilence” when it applies to diseases for humans. It is used only here and in Ps 78:50 for animals.

[9:3]  ⁵⁸⁴ sn The older view that camels were not domesticated at this time (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 70; W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 96; et. al.) has been corrected by more recently uncovered information (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 160-61).

[9:4]  ⁵⁸⁵ tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 11:7; 33:16.

[9:4]  ⁵⁸⁶ tn There is a wordplay in this section. A pestilence – דֶּבֶר (dever) – will fall on Egypt’s cattle, but no thing – דָּבָר (davar) – belonging to Israel would die. It was perhaps for this reason that the verb was changed in v. 1 from “say” to “speak” (דִּבֶּר, dibber). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 111.

[9:4]  ⁵⁸⁷ tn The lamed preposition indicates possession: “all that was to the Israelites” means “all that the Israelites had.”

[9:5]  ⁵⁸⁸ tn Heb “and Yahweh set.”

[9:5]  ⁵⁸⁹ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁵⁹⁰ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁵⁹¹ tn Heb “on the morrow.”

[9:6]  ⁵⁹² tn The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”

[9:6]  ⁵⁹³ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[9:7]  ⁵⁹⁴ tn Heb “Pharaoh sent.” The phrase “representatives to investigate” is implied in the context.

[9:7]  ⁵⁹⁵ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[9:8]  ⁵⁹⁶ sn This sixth plague, like the third, is unannounced. God instructs his servants to take handfuls of ashes from the Egyptians’ furnaces and sprinkle them heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. These ashes would become little particles of dust that would cause boils on the Egyptians and their animals. Greta Hort, “The Plagues of Egypt,” ZAW 69 [1957]: 101-3, suggests it is skin anthrax (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:359). The lesson of this plague is that Yahweh has absolute control over the physical health of the people. Physical suffering consequent to sin comes to all regardless of their position and status. The Egyptians are helpless in the face of this, as now God begins to touch human life; greater judgments on human wickedness lie ahead.

[9:8]  ⁵⁹⁷ tn This word פִּיחַ (piakh) is a hapax legomenon, meaning “soot”; it seems to be derived from the verb פּוּחַ (puakh, “to breathe, blow”). The “furnace” (כִּבְשָׁן, kivshan) was a special kiln for making pottery or bricks.

[9:8]  ⁵⁹⁸ tn The verb זָרַק (zaraq) means “to throw vigorously, to toss.” If Moses tosses the soot into the air, it will symbolize that the disease is falling from heaven.

[9:8]  ⁵⁹⁹ tn Heb “before the eyes of Pharaoh.”

[9:9]  ⁶⁰⁰ tn The word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin) means “boils.” It may be connected to an Arabic cognate that means “to be hot.” The illness is associated with Job (Job 2:7-8) and Hezekiah (Isa 38:21); it has also been connected with other skin diseases described especially in the Law. The word connected with it is אֲבַעְבֻּעֹת (’ava’bu’ot); this means “blisters, pustules” and is sometimes translated as “festering.” The etymology is debated, whether from a word meaning “to swell up” or “to overflow” (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:359).

[9:12]  ⁶⁰¹ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[9:13]  ⁶⁰² sn With the seventh plague there is more explanation of what God is doing to Pharaoh. This plague begins with an extended lesson (vv. 13-21). Rain was almost unknown in Egypt, and hail and lightning were harmless. The Egyptians were fascinated by all these, though, and looked on them as portentous. Herodotus describes how they studied such things and wrote them down (1.2.c.38). If ordinary rainstorms were ominous, what must fire and hail have been? The Egyptians had denominated fire Hephaistos, considering it to be a mighty deity (cf. Diodorus, 1.1.c.1). Porphry says that at the opening of the temple of Serapis the Egyptians worshiped with water and fire. If these connections were clearly understood, then these elements in the plague were thought to be deities that came down on their own people with death and destruction.

[9:13]  ⁶⁰³ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[9:13]  ⁶⁰⁴ tn Or “take your stand.”

[9:14]  ⁶⁰⁵ tn The expression “all my plagues” points to the rest of the plagues and anticipates the proper outcome. Another view is to take the expression to mean the full brunt of the attack on the Egyptian people.

[9:14]  ⁶⁰⁶ tn Heb “to your heart.” The expression is unusual, but it may be an allusion to the hard heartedness of Pharaoh – his stubbornness and blindness (B. Jacob, Exodus, 274).

[9:15]  ⁶⁰⁷ tn The verb is the Qal perfect שָׁלַחְתִּי (shalakhti), but a past tense, or completed action translation does not fit the context at all. Gesenius lists this reference as an example of the use of the perfect to express actions and facts, whose accomplishment is to be represented not as actual but only as possible. He offers this for Exod 9:15: “I had almost put forth” (GKC 313 §106.p). Also possible is “I should have stretched out my hand.” Others read the potential nuance instead, and render it as “I could have…” as in the present translation.

[9:15]  ⁶⁰⁸ tn The verb כָּחַד (kakhad) means “to hide, efface,” and in the Niphal it has the idea of “be effaced, ruined, destroyed.” Here it will carry the nuance of the result of the preceding verbs: “I could have stretched out my hand…and struck you…and (as a result) you would have been destroyed.”

[9:16]  ⁶⁰⁹ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ⁶¹⁰ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ⁶¹¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ⁶¹² tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[9:17]  ⁶¹³ tn מִסְתּוֹלֵל (mistolel) is a Hitpael participle, from a root that means “raise up, obstruct.” So in the Hitpael it means to “raise oneself up,” “elevate oneself,” or “be an obstructionist.” See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 116.

[9:17]  ⁶¹⁴ tn The infinitive construct with lamed here is epexegetical; it explains how Pharaoh has exalted himself – “by not releasing the people.”

[9:18]  ⁶¹⁵ tn הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר (hinÿni mamtir) is the futur instans construction, giving an imminent future translation: “Here – I am about to cause it to rain.”

[9:18]  ⁶¹⁶ 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.

[9:18]  ⁶¹⁷ tn The form הִוָּסְדָה (hivvasdah) is perhaps a rare Niphal perfect and not an infinitive (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 117).

[9:19]  ⁶¹⁸ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ⁶¹⁹ tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ⁶²⁰ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ⁶²¹ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[9:20]  ⁶²² tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ⁶²³ tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ⁶²⁴ tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ⁶²⁵ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ⁶²⁶ tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”

[9:22]  ⁶²⁷ tn Or “the heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[9:22]  ⁶²⁸ tn The jussive with the conjunction (וִיהִי, vihi) coming after the imperative provides the purpose or result.

[9:22]  ⁶²⁹ tn Heb “on man and on beast.”

[9:22]  ⁶³⁰ tn The noun refers primarily to cultivated grains. But here it seems to be the general heading for anything that grows from the ground, all vegetation and plant life, as opposed to what grows on trees.

[9:23]  ⁶³¹ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next clause in view of the emphasis put on the subject, Yahweh, by the disjunctive word order of that clause.

[9:23]  ⁶³² tn By starting the clause with the subject (an example of disjunctive word order) the text is certainly stressing that Yahweh alone did this.

[9:23]  ⁶³³ tn The expression נָתַן קֹלֹת (natan qolot) literally means “gave voices” (also “voice”). This is a poetic expression for sending the thunder. Ps 29:3 talks about the “voice of Yahweh” – the God of glory thunders!

[9:23]  ⁶³⁴ sn This clause has been variously interpreted. Lightning would ordinarily accompany thunder; in this case the mention of fire could indicate that the lightning was beyond normal and that it was striking in such a way as to start fires on the ground. It could also mean that fire went along the ground from the pounding hail.

[9:24]  ⁶³⁵ tn The verb is the common preterite וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which is normally translated “and there was” if it is translated at all. The verb הָיָה (hayah), however, can mean “be, become, befall, fall, fall out, happen.” Here it could be simply translated “there was hail,” but the active “hail fell” fits the point of the sequence better.

[9:24]  ⁶³⁶ tn The form מִתְלַקַּחַת (mitlaqqakhat) is a Hitpael participle; the clause reads, “and fire taking hold of itself in the midst of the hail.” This probably refers to lightning flashing back and forth. See also Ezek 1:4. God created a great storm with flashing fire connected to it.

[9:24]  ⁶³⁷ tn Heb “very heavy” or “very severe.” The subject “the hail” is implied.

[9:24]  ⁶³⁸ tn A literal reading of the clause would be “which there was not like it in all the land of Egypt.” The relative pronoun must be joined to the resumptive pronoun: “which like it (like which) there had not been.”

[9:25]  ⁶³⁹ tn The exact expression is “from man even to beast.” R. J. Williams lists this as an example of the inclusive use of the preposition מִן (min) to be rendered “both…and” (Hebrew Syntax, 57, §327).

[9:25]  ⁶⁴⁰ tn Heb “all the cultivated grain of.”

[9:27]  ⁶⁴¹ sn Pharaoh now is struck by the judgment and acknowledges that he is at fault. But the context shows that this penitence was short-lived. What exactly he meant by this confession is uncertain. On the surface his words seem to represent a recognition that he was in the wrong and Yahweh right.

[9:27]  ⁶⁴² tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) can mean “ungodly, wicked, guilty, criminal.” Pharaoh here is saying that Yahweh is right, and the Egyptians are not – so they are at fault, guilty. S. R. Driver says the words are used in their forensic sense (in the right or wrong standing legally) and not in the ethical sense of morally right and wrong (Exodus, 75).

[9:28]  ⁶⁴³ sn The text has Heb “the voices of God.” The divine epithet can be used to express the superlative (cf. Jonah 3:3).

[9:28]  ⁶⁴⁴ tn The expression וְרַב מִהְיֹת (vÿrav mihyot, “[the mighty thunder and hail] is much from being”) means essentially “more than enough.” This indicates that the storm was too much, or, as one might say, “It is enough.”

[9:28]  ⁶⁴⁵ tn The last clause uses a verbal hendiadys: “you will not add to stand,” meaning “you will no longer stay.”

[9:29]  ⁶⁴⁶ tn כְּצֵאתִי (kÿtse’ti) is the Qal infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’); it functions here as the temporal clause before the statement about prayer.

[9:29]  ⁶⁴⁷ sn This clause provides the purpose/result of Moses’ intention: he will pray to Yahweh and the storms will cease “that you might know….” It was not enough to pray and have the plague stop. Pharaoh must “know” that Yahweh is the sovereign Lord over the earth. Here was that purpose of knowing through experience. This clause provides the key for the exposition of this plague: God demonstrated his power over the forces of nature to show his sovereignty – the earth is Yahweh’s. He can destroy it. He can preserve it. If people sin by ignoring his word and not fearing him, he can bring judgment on them. If any fear Yahweh and obey his instructions, they will be spared. A positive way to express the expositional point of the chapter is to say that those who fear Yahweh and obey his word will escape the powerful destruction he has prepared for those who sinfully disregard his word.

[9:30]  ⁶⁴⁸ tn The verse begins with the disjunctive vav to mark a strong contrastive clause to what was said before this.

[9:30]  ⁶⁴⁹ tn The adverb טֶרֶם (terem, “before, not yet”) occurs with the imperfect tense to give the sense of the English present tense to the verb negated by it (GKC 314-15 §107.c). Moses is saying that he knew that Pharaoh did not really stand in awe of God, so as to grant Israel’s release, i.e., fear not in the religious sense but “be afraid of” God – fear “before” him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 76).

[9:31]  ⁶⁵⁰ tn A disjunctive vav introduces the two verses that provide parenthetical information to the reader. Gesenius notes that the boldness of such clauses is often indicated by the repetition of nouns at the beginning (see GKC 452 §141.d). Some have concluded that because they have been put here rather than back after v. 25 or 26, they form part of Moses’ speech to Pharaoh, explaining that the crops that were necessary for humans were spared, but those for other things were destroyed. This would also mean that Moses was saying there is more that God can destroy (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 279).

[9:31]  ⁶⁵¹ tn The unusual forms נֻכָּתָה (nukkatah) in v. 31 and נֻכּוּ (nukku) in v. 32 are probably to be taken as old Qal passives. There are no attested Piel uses of the root.

[9:31]  ⁶⁵² tn The words “by the hail” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied from context.

[9:31]  ⁶⁵³ tn Heb “was in the ear” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “had headed.”

[9:31]  ⁶⁵⁴ sn Flax was used for making linen, and the area around Tanis was ideal for producing flax. Barley was used for bread for the poor people, as well as beer and animal feed.

[9:32]  ⁶⁵⁵ tn The word כֻּסֶּמֶת (kussemet) is translated “spelt”; the word occurs only here and in Isa 28:25 and Ezek 4:9. Spelt is a grain closely allied to wheat. Other suggestions have been brought forward from the study of Egyptian crops (see a brief summary in W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363-64).

[9:32]  ⁶⁵⁶ tn Heb “for they are late.”

[9:34]  ⁶⁵⁷ tn The clause beginning with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next, and main clause – that he hardened his heart again.

[9:34]  ⁶⁵⁸ tn The construction is another verbal hendiadys: וַיֹּסֶף לַחֲטֹּא (vayyosef lakhatto’), literally rendered “and he added to sin.” The infinitive construct becomes the main verb, and the Hiphil preterite becomes adverbial. The text is clearly interpreting as sin the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his refusal to release Israel. At the least this means that the plagues are his fault, but the expression probably means more than this – he was disobeying Yahweh God.

[9:34]  ⁶⁵⁹ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[9:35]  ⁶⁶⁰ tn The verb about Pharaoh’s heart in v. 35 is וַיֶּחֱזַק (vayyekhezaq), a Qal preterite: “and it was hardened” or “strengthened to resist.” This forms the summary statement of this stage in the drama. The verb used in v. 34 to report Pharaoh’s response was וַיַּכְבֵּד (vayyakhbed), a Hiphil preterite: “and he hardened [his heart]” or made it stubborn. The use of two descriptions of Pharaoh’s heart in close succession, along with mention of his servants’ heart condition, underscores the growing extent of the problem.

[10:1]  ⁶⁶¹ sn The Egyptians dreaded locusts like every other ancient civilization. They had particular gods to whom they looked for help in such catastrophes. The locust-scaring deities of Greece and Asia were probably looked to in Egypt as well (especially in view of the origins in Egypt of so many of those religious ideas). The announcement of the plague falls into the now-familiar pattern. God tells Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh but reminds Moses that he has hardened his heart. Yahweh explains that he has done this so that he might show his power, so that in turn they might declare his name from generation to generation. This point is stressed so often that it must not be minimized. God was laying the foundation of the faith for Israel – the sovereignty of Yahweh.

[10:1]  ⁶⁶² tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[10:1]  ⁶⁶³ tn The verb is שִׁתִי (shiti, “I have put”); it is used here as a synonym for the verb שִׂים (sim). Yahweh placed the signs in his midst, where they will be obvious.

[10:1]  ⁶⁶⁴ tn Heb “in his midst.”

[10:2]  ⁶⁶⁵ tn The expression is unusual: תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי (tÿsapper bÿ’ozne, “[that] you may declare in the ears of”). The clause explains an additional reason for God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh, namely, so that the Israelites can tell their children of God’s great wonders. The expression is highly poetic and intense – like Ps 44:1, which says, “we have heard with our ears.” The emphasis would be on the clear teaching, orally, from one generation to another.

[10:2]  ⁶⁶⁶ tn The verb הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי (hit’allalti) is a bold anthropomorphism. The word means to occupy oneself at another’s expense, to toy with someone, which may be paraphrased with “mock.” The whole point is that God is shaming and disgracing Egypt, making them look foolish in their arrogance and stubbornness (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:366-67). Some prefer to translate it as “I have dealt ruthlessly” with Egypt (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 123).

[10:2]  ⁶⁶⁷ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[10:2]  ⁶⁶⁸ tn The word “about” is supplied to clarify this as another object of the verb “declare.”

[10:2]  ⁶⁶⁹ tn Heb “put” or “placed.”

[10:2]  ⁶⁷⁰ tn The form is the perfect tense with vav consecutive, וִידַעְתֶּם (vida’tem, “and that you might know”). This provides another purpose for God’s dealings with Egypt in the way that he was doing. The form is equal to the imperfect tense with vav (ו) prefixed; it thus parallels the imperfect that began v. 2 – “that you might tell.”

[10:3]  ⁶⁷¹ tn The verb is מֵאַנְתָּ (me’anta), a Piel perfect. After “how long,” the form may be classified as present perfect (“how long have you refused), for it describes actions begun previously but with the effects continuing. (See GKC 311 §106.g-h). The use of a verb describing a state or condition may also call for a present translation (“how long do you refuse”) that includes past, present, and potentially future, in keeping with the question “how long.”

[10:3]  ⁶⁷² tn The clause is built on the use of the infinitive construct to express the direct object of the verb – it answers the question of what Pharaoh was refusing to do. The Niphal infinitive construct (note the elision of the ה [hey] prefix after the preposition [see GKC 139 §51.l]) is from the verb עָנָה (’anah). The verb in this stem would mean “humble oneself.” The question is somewhat rhetorical, since God was not yet through humbling Pharaoh, who would not humble himself. The issue between Yahweh and Pharaoh is deeper than simply whether or not Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave Egypt.

[10:4]  ⁶⁷³ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the active participle מֵבִיא (mevi’) is the imminent future construction: “I am about to bring” or “I am going to bring” – precisely, “here I am bringing.”

[10:4]  ⁶⁷⁴ tn One of the words for “locusts” in the Bible is אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh), which comes from רָבָה (ravah, “to be much, many”). It was used for locusts because of their immense numbers.

[10:4]  ⁶⁷⁵ tn Heb “within your border.”

[10:5]  ⁶⁷⁶ tn The verbs describing the locusts are singular because it is a swarm or plague of locusts. This verb (וְכִסָּה, vÿkhissah, “cover”) is a Piel perfect with a vav consecutive; it carries the same future nuance as the participle before it.

[10:5]  ⁶⁷⁷ tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 15; Num 22:5, 11).

[10:5]  ⁶⁷⁸ tn The text has לִרְאֹת וְלֹא יוּכַל (vÿlo’ yukhal lir’ot, “and he will not be able to see”). The verb has no expressed subjects. The clause might, therefore, be given a passive translation: “so that [it] cannot be seen.” The whole clause is the result of the previous statement.

[10:5]  ⁶⁷⁹ sn As the next phrase explains “what escaped” refers to what the previous plague did not destroy. The locusts will devour everything, because there will not be much left from the other plagues for them to eat.

[10:5]  ⁶⁸⁰ tn הַנִּשְׁאֶרֶת (hannish’eret) parallels (by apposition) and adds further emphasis to the preceding two words; it is the Niphal participle, meaning “that which is left over.”

[10:6]  ⁶⁸¹ tn The relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is occasionally used as a comparative conjunction (see GKC 499 §161.b).

[10:6]  ⁶⁸² tn Heb “which your fathers have not seen, nor your fathers’ fathers.”

[10:6]  ⁶⁸³ tn The Hebrew construction מִיּוֹם הֱיוֹתָם (miyyom heyotam, “from the day of their being”). The statement essentially says that no one, even the elderly, could remember seeing a plague of locusts like this. In addition, see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula, ‘Until This Day,’” JBL 82 (1963).

[10:6]  ⁶⁸⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:7]  ⁶⁸⁵ sn The question of Pharaoh’s servants echoes the question of Moses – “How long?” Now the servants of Pharaoh are demanding what Moses demanded – “Release the people.” They know that the land is destroyed, and they speak of it as Moses’ doing. That way they avoid acknowledging Yahweh or blaming Pharaoh.

[10:7]  ⁶⁸⁶ tn Heb “snare” (מוֹקֵשׁ, moqesh), a word used for a trap for catching birds. Here it is a figure for the cause of Egypt’s destruction.

[10:7]  ⁶⁸⁷ tn With the adverb טֶרֶם (terem), the imperfect tense receives a present sense: “Do you not know?” (See GKC 481 §152.r).

[10:8]  ⁶⁸⁸ tn The question is literally “who and who are the ones going?” (מִי וָמִי הַהֹלְכִים, mi vami haholÿkhim). Pharaoh’s answer to Moses includes this rude question, which was intended to say that Pharaoh would control who went. The participle in this clause, then, refers to the future journey.

[10:9]  ⁶⁸⁹ tn Heb “we have a pilgrim feast (חַג, khag) to Yahweh.”

[10:10]  ⁶⁹⁰ sn Pharaoh is by no means offering a blessing on them in the name of Yahweh. The meaning of his “wish” is connected to the next clause – as he is releasing them, may God help them. S. R. Driver says that in Pharaoh’s scornful challenge Yahweh is as likely to protect them as Pharaoh is likely to let them go – not at all (Exodus, 80). He is planning to keep the women and children as hostages to force the men to return. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 125) paraphrases it this way: “May the help of your God be as far from you as I am from giving you permission to go forth with your little ones.” The real irony, Cassuto observes, is that in the final analysis he will let them go, and Yahweh will be with them.

[10:10]  ⁶⁹¹ tn The context of Moses’ list of young and old, sons and daughters, and the contrast with the word for strong “men” in v. 11 indicates that טַפְּכֶם (tappÿkhem), often translated “little ones” or “children,” refers to dependent people, noncombatants in general.

[10:10]  ⁶⁹² tn Heb “see.”

[10:10]  ⁶⁹³ tn Heb “before your face.”

[10:11]  ⁶⁹⁴ tn Heb “not thus.”

[10:11]  ⁶⁹⁵ tn The word is הַגְּבָרִים (haggÿvarim, “the strong men”), a word different from the more general one that Pharaoh’s servants used (v. 7). Pharaoh appears to be conceding, but he is holding hostages. The word “only” has been supplied in the translation to indicate this.

[10:11]  ⁶⁹⁶ tn The suffix on the sign of the accusative refers in a general sense to the idea contained in the preceding clause (see GKC 440-41 §135.p).

[10:11]  ⁶⁹⁷ tn Heb “you are seeking.”

[10:11]  ⁶⁹⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Moses and Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:11]  ⁶⁹⁹ tn The verb is the Piel preterite, third person masculine singular, meaning “and he drove them out.” But “Pharaoh” cannot be the subject of the sentence, for “Pharaoh” is the object of the preposition. The subject is not specified, and so the verb can be treated as passive.

[10:12]  ⁷⁰⁰ tn The preposition בְּ (bet) is unexpected here. BDB 91 s.v. (the note at the end of the entry) says that in this case it can only be read as “with the locusts,” meaning that the locusts were thought to be implicit in Moses’ lifting up of his hand. However, BDB prefers to change the preposition to לְ (lamed).

[10:12]  ⁷⁰¹ tn The noun עֵשֶּׂב (’esev) normally would indicate cultivated grains, but in this context seems to indicate plants in general.

[10:13]  ⁷⁰² tn The clause begins וַיהוָה (va’adonay [vayhvah], “Now Yahweh….”). In contrast to a normal sequence, this beginning focuses attention on Yahweh as the subject of the verb.

[10:13]  ⁷⁰³ tn The verb נָהַג (nahag) means “drive, conduct.” It is elsewhere used for driving sheep, leading armies, or leading in processions.

[10:13]  ⁷⁰⁴ tn Heb “and all the night.”

[10:13]  ⁷⁰⁵ tn The text does not here use ordinary circumstantial clause constructions; rather, Heb “the morning was, and the east wind carried the locusts.” It clearly means “when it was morning,” but the style chosen gives a more abrupt beginning to the plague, as if the reader is in the experience – and at morning, the locusts are there!

[10:13]  ⁷⁰⁶ tn The verb here is a past perfect, indicting that the locusts had arrived before the day came.

[10:14]  ⁷⁰⁷ tn Heb “border.”

[10:14]  ⁷⁰⁸ tn This is an interpretive translation. The clause simply has כָּבֵד מְאֹד (kaved mÿ’od), the stative verb with the adverb – “it was very heavy.” The description prepares for the following statement about the uniqueness of this locust infestation.

[10:14]  ⁷⁰⁹ tn Heb “after them.”

[10:15]  ⁷¹⁰ tn Heb “and they covered.”

[10:15]  ⁷¹¹ tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 5; Num 22:5, 11).

[10:15]  ⁷¹² tn The verb is וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ (vattekhshakh, “and it became dark”). The idea is that the ground had the color of the swarms of locusts that covered it.

[10:16]  ⁷¹³ sn The third part of the passage now begins, the confrontation that resulted from the onslaught of the plague. Pharaoh goes a step further here – he confesses he has sinned and adds a request for forgiveness. But his acknowledgment does not go far enough, for this is not genuine confession. Since his heart was not yet submissive, his confession was vain.

[10:16]  ⁷¹⁴ tn The Piel preterite וַיְמַהֵר (vaymaher) could be translated “and he hastened,” but here it is joined with the following infinitive construct to form the hendiadys. “He hurried to summon” means “He summoned quickly.”

[10:16]  ⁷¹⁵ sn The severity of the plague prompted Pharaoh to confess his sin against Yahweh and them, now in much stronger terms than before. He also wants forgiveness – but in all probability what he wants is relief from the consequences of his sin. He pretended to convey to Moses that this was it, that he was through sinning, so he asked for forgiveness “only this time.”

[10:17]  ⁷¹⁶ sn Pharaoh’s double emphasis on “only” uses two different words and was meant to deceive. He was trying to give Moses the impression that he had finally come to his senses, and that he would let the people go. But he had no intention of letting them out.

[10:17]  ⁷¹⁷ sn “Death” is a metonymy that names the effect for the cause. If the locusts are left in the land it will be death to everything that grows.

[10:18]  ⁷¹⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:18]  ⁷¹⁹ tn Heb “and he went out.”

[10:19]  ⁷²⁰ tn Or perhaps “sea wind,” i.e., a wind off the Mediterranean.

[10:19]  ⁷²¹ tn The Hebrew name here is יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf), sometimes rendered “Reed Sea” or “Sea of Reeds.” The word סוּף is a collective noun that may have derived from an Egyptian name for papyrus reeds. Many English versions have used “Red Sea,” which translates the name that ancient Greeks used: ejruqrav qalavssa (eruqra qalassa).

[10:21]  ⁷²² sn The ninth plague is that darkness fell on all the land – except on Israel. This plague is comparable to the silence in heaven, just prior to the last and terrible plague (Rev 8:1). Here Yahweh is attacking a core Egyptian religious belief as well as portraying what lay before the Egyptians. Throughout the Bible darkness is the symbol of evil, chaos, and judgment. Blindness is one of its manifestations (see Deut 28:27-29). But the plague here is not blindness, or even spiritual blindness, but an awesome darkness from outside (see Joel 2:2; Zeph 1:15). It is particularly significant in that Egypt’s high god was the Sun God. Lord Sun was now being shut down by Lord Yahweh. If Egypt would not let Israel go to worship their God, then Egypt’s god would be darkness. The structure is familiar: the plague, now unannounced (21-23), and then the confrontation with Pharaoh (24-27).

[10:21]  ⁷²³ tn Or “the sky” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[10:21]  ⁷²⁴ sn The verb form is the jussive with the sequential vav – וִיהִי חֹשֶׁךְ (vihi khoshekh). B. Jacob (Exodus, 286) notes this as the only instance where Scripture says, “Let there be darkness” (although it is subordinated as a purpose clause; cf. Gen 1:3). Isa 45:7 alluded to this by saying, “who created light and darkness.”

[10:21]  ⁷²⁵ tn The Hebrew term מוּשׁ (mush) means “to feel.” The literal rendering would be “so that one may feel darkness.” The image portrays an oppressive darkness; it was sufficiently thick to possess the appearance of substance, although it was just air (B. Jacob, Exodus, 286).

[10:22]  ⁷²⁶ tn The construction is a variation of the superlative genitive: a substantive in the construct state is connected to a noun with the same meaning (see GKC 431 §133.i).

[10:22]  ⁷²⁷ sn S. R. Driver says, “The darkness was no doubt occasioned really by a sand-storm, produced by the hot electrical wind…which blows in intermittently…” (Exodus, 82, 83). This is another application of the antisupernatural approach to these texts. The text, however, is probably describing something that was not a seasonal wind, or Pharaoh would not have been intimidated. If it coincided with that season, then what is described here is so different and so powerful that the Egyptians would have known the difference easily. Pharaoh here would have had to have been impressed that this was something very abnormal, and that his god was powerless. Besides, there was light in all the dwellings of the Israelites.

[10:23]  ⁷²⁸ tn Heb “a man…his brother.”

[10:23]  ⁷²⁹ tn The perfect tense in this context requires the somewhat rare classification of a potential perfect.

[10:24]  ⁷³⁰ tn Or “dependents.” The term is often translated “your little ones,” but as mentioned before (10:10), this expression in these passages takes in women and children and other dependents. Pharaoh will now let all the people go, but he intends to detain the cattle to secure their return.

[10:25]  ⁷³¹ tn B. Jacob (Exodus, 287) shows that the intent of Moses in using גַּם (gam) is to make an emphatic rhetorical question. He cites other samples of the usage in Num 22:33; 1 Sam 17:36; 2 Sam 12:14, and others. The point is that if Pharaoh told them to go and serve Yahweh, they had to have animals to sacrifice. If Pharaoh was holding the animals back, he would have to make some provision.

[10:25]  ⁷³² tn Heb “give into our hand.”

[10:25]  ⁷³³ tn The form here is וְעָשִּׂינוּ (vÿ’asinu), the Qal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive – “and we will do.” But the verb means “do” in the sacrificial sense – prepare them, offer them. The verb form is to be subordinated here to form a purpose or result clause.

[10:26]  ⁷³⁴ tn This is the obligatory imperfect nuance. They were obliged to take the animals if they were going to sacrifice, but more than that, since they were not coming back, they had to take everything.

[10:26]  ⁷³⁵ tn The same modal nuance applies to this verb.

[10:26]  ⁷³⁶ tn Heb “from it,” referring collectively to the livestock.

[10:26]  ⁷³⁷ sn Moses gives an angry but firm reply to Pharaoh’s attempt to control Israel; he makes it clear that he has no intention of leaving any pledge with Pharaoh. When they leave, they will take everything that belongs to them.

[10:28]  ⁷³⁸ tn The expression is לֵךְ מֵעָלָי (lekh me’alay, “go from on me”) with the adversative use of the preposition, meaning from being a trouble or a burden to me (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 84; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 51, §288).

[10:28]  ⁷³⁹ tn Heb “add to see my face.” The construction uses a verbal hendiadys: “do not add to see” (אַל־תֹּסֶף רְאוֹת, ’al-toseph rÿ’ot), meaning “do not see again.” The phrase “see my face” means “come before me” or “appear before me.”

[10:28]  ⁷⁴⁰ tn The construction is בְּיוֹם רְאֹתְךָ (bÿyom rÿ’otÿkha), an adverbial clause of time made up of the prepositional phrase, the infinitive construct, and the suffixed subjective genitive. “In the day of your seeing” is “when you see.”

[10:29]  ⁷⁴¹ tn Heb “Thus you have spoken.”

[10:29]  ⁷⁴² tn This is a verbal hendiadys construction: “I will not add again [to] see.”

[11:1]  ⁷⁴³ sn The last plague is the most severe; it is that for which all the others were preliminary warnings. Up to this point Yahweh had been showing his power to destroy Pharaoh, and now he would begin to do so by bringing death to the Egyptians, a death that would fulfill the warning of talionic judgment – “let my son go, or I will kill your son.” The passage records the announcement of the judgment first to Moses and then through Moses to Pharaoh. The first two verses record the word of God to Moses. This is followed by a parenthetical note about how God had elevated Moses and Israel in the eyes of Egypt (v. 3). Then there is the announcement to Pharaoh (vv. 4-8). This is followed by a parenthetical note on how God had hardened Pharaoh so that Yahweh would be elevated over him. It is somewhat problematic here that Moses is told not to see Pharaoh’s face again. On the one hand, given the nature of Pharaoh to blow hot and cold and to change his mind, it is not impossible for another meeting to have occurred. But Moses said he would not do it (v. 29). One solution some take is to say that the warning in 10:28 originally stood after chapter 11. A change like that is unwarranted, and without support. It may be that vv. 1-3 are parenthetical, so that the announcement in v. 4 follows closely after 10:29 in the chronology. The instruction to Moses in 11:1 might then have been given before he left Pharaoh or even before the interview in 10:24-29 took place. Another possibility, supported by usage in Akkadian, is that the expression “see my face” (and in v. 29 “see your face”) has to do with seeking to have an official royal audience (W. H. C. Propp, Exodus 1–18 [AB], 342). Pharaoh thinks that he is finished with Moses, but as 11:8 describes, Moses expects that in fact Moses will soon be the one in a position like that of royalty granting an audience to Egyptians.

[11:1]  ⁷⁴⁴ tn The expression כְּשַּׂלְּחוֹ כָּלָה (kÿsallÿkho kalah) is difficult. It seems to say, “as/when he releases [you] altogether.” The LXX has “and when he sends you forth with everything.” Tg. Onq. and modern translators make kala adverbial, “completely” or “altogether.” B. S. Childs follows an emendation to read, “as one sends away a bride” (Exodus [OTL], 130). W. C. Kaiser prefers the view of Yaron that would render it “in the manner of one’s sending away a kallah [a slave purchased to be one’s daughter-in-law]” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:370). The last two readings call for revising the vocalization and introducing a rare word into the narrative. The simplest approach is to follow a meaning “when he releases [you] altogether,” i.e., with all your people and your livestock.

[11:1]  ⁷⁴⁵ tn The words are emphatic: גָּרֵשׁ יְגָרֵשׁ (garesh yÿgaresh). The Piel verb means “to drive out, expel.” With the infinitive absolute it says that Pharaoh “will drive you out vigorously.” He will be glad to be rid of you – it will be a total expulsion.

[11:2]  ⁷⁴⁶ tn Heb “Speak now in the ears of the people.” The expression is emphatic; it seeks to ensure that the Israelites hear the instruction.

[11:2]  ⁷⁴⁷ tn The verb translated “request” is וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ (vÿyish’alu), the Qal jussive: “let them ask.” This is the point introduced in Exod 3:22. The meaning of the verb might be stronger than simply “ask”; it might have something of the idea of “implore” (see also its use in the naming of Samuel, who was “asked” from Yahweh [1 Sam 1:20]).

[11:2]  ⁷⁴⁸ tn “each man is to request from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor.”

[11:2]  ⁷⁴⁹ sn See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[11:3]  ⁷⁵⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[11:3]  ⁷⁵¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh and in the eyes of the people.” In the translation the word “Egyptian” has been supplied to clarify that the Egyptians and not the Israelites are meant here.

[11:4]  ⁷⁵² tn Heb “about the middle of the night.”

[11:4]  ⁷⁵³ tn Heb “I will go out in the midst of Egypt.”

[11:5]  ⁷⁵⁴ sn The firstborn in Egyptian and Israelite cultures was significant, but the firstborn of Pharaoh was most important. Pharaoh was considered a god, the son of Re, the sun god, for the specific purpose of ruling over Re’s chief concern, the land of Egypt. For the purpose of re-creation, the supreme god assumed the form of the living king and gave seed which was to become the next king and the next “son of Re.” Moreover, the Pharaoh was the incarnation of the god Horus, a falcon god whose province was the heavens. Horus represented the living king who succeeded the dead king Osiris. Every living king was Horus, every dead king Osiris (see J. A. Wilson, “Egypt,” Before Philosophy, 83-84). To strike any firstborn was to destroy the heir, who embodied the hopes and aspirations of the Egyptians, but to strike the firstborn son of Pharaoh was to destroy this cardinal doctrine of the divine kingship of Egypt. Such a blow would be enough for Pharaoh, for then he would drive the Israelites out.

[11:6]  ⁷⁵⁵ tn Heb “which like it there has never been.”

[11:6]  ⁷⁵⁶ tn Heb “and like it it will not add.”

[11:7]  ⁷⁵⁷ tn Or perhaps “growl”; Heb “not a dog will sharpen his tongue.” The expression is unusual, but it must indicate that not only would no harm come to the Israelites, but that no unfriendly threat would come against them either – not even so much as a dog barking. It is possible this is to be related to the watchdog (see F. C. Fensham, “Remarks on Keret 114^b – 136^a,” JNSL 11 [1983]: 75).

[11:7]  ⁷⁵⁸ tn Heb “against man or beast.”

[11:7]  ⁷⁵⁹ tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 9:4; 33:16.

[11:8]  ⁷⁶⁰ sn Moses’ anger is expressed forcefully. “He had appeared before Pharaoh a dozen times either as God’s emissary or when summoned by Pharaoh, but he would not come again; now they would have to search him out if they needed help” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 289-90).

[11:8]  ⁷⁶¹ tn Heb “that are at your feet.”

[11:8]  ⁷⁶² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:9]  ⁷⁶³ sn The thought is essentially the same as in Exod 7:3-4, but the wonders, or portents, here refer to what is yet to be done in Egypt.

[12:1]  ⁷⁶⁴ sn Chapter 12 details the culmination of the ten plagues on Egypt and the beginning of the actual deliverance from bondage. Moreover, the celebration of this festival of Passover was to become a central part of the holy calendar of Israel. The contents of this chapter have significance for NT studies as well, since the Passover was a type of the death of Jesus. The structure of this section before the crossing of the sea is as follows: the institution of the Passover (12:1-28), the night of farewell and departure (12:29-42), slaves and strangers (12:43-51), and the laws of the firstborn (13:1-16). In this immediate section there is the institution of the Passover itself (12:1-13), then the Unleavened Bread (12:14-20), and then the report of the response of the people (12:21-28).

[12:1]  ⁷⁶⁵ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[12:1]  ⁷⁶⁶ tn Heb “saying.”

[12:2]  ⁷⁶⁷ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 294-95) shows that the intent of the passage was not to make this month in the spring the New Year – that was in the autumn. Rather, when counting months this was supposed to be remembered first, for it was the great festival of freedom from Egypt. He observes how some scholars have unnecessarily tried to date one New Year earlier than the other.

[12:3]  ⁷⁶⁸ tn Heb “and they will take for them a man a lamb.” This is clearly a distributive, or individualizing, use of “man.”

[12:3]  ⁷⁶⁹ tn The שֶּׂה (seh) is a single head from the flock, or smaller cattle, which would include both sheep and goats.

[12:3]  ⁷⁷⁰ tn Heb “according to the house of their fathers.” The expression “house of the father” is a common expression for a family.

[12:3]  ⁷⁷¹ tn Heb “house” (also at the beginning of the following verse).

[12:4]  ⁷⁷² sn Later Judaism ruled that “too small” meant fewer than ten (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 88).

[12:4]  ⁷⁷³ tn The clause uses the comparative min (מִן) construction: יִמְעַט הַבַּיִת מִהְיֹת מִשֶּׂה (yim’at habbayit mihyot miseh, “the house is small from being from a lamb,” or “too small for a lamb”). It clearly means that if there were not enough people in the household to have a lamb by themselves, they should join with another family. For the use of the comparative, see GKC 430 §133.c.

[12:4]  ⁷⁷⁴ tn Heb “he and his neighbor”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:4]  ⁷⁷⁵ tn Heb “who is near to his house.”

[12:4]  ⁷⁷⁶ tn The construction uses a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive after a conditional clause: “if the household is too small…then he and his neighbor will take.”

[12:4]  ⁷⁷⁷ tn Heb “[every] man according to his eating.”

[12:5]  ⁷⁷⁸ tn The construction has: “[The] lamb…will be to you.” This may be interpreted as a possessive use of the lamed, meaning, “[the] lamb…you have” (your lamb) for the Passover. In the context instructing the people to take an animal for this festival, the idea is that the one they select, their animal, must meet these qualifications.

[12:5]  ⁷⁷⁹ tn The Hebrew word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect” or “whole” or “complete” in the sense of not having blemishes and diseases – no physical defects. The rules for sacrificial animals applied here (see Lev 22:19-21; Deut 17:1).

[12:5]  ⁷⁸⁰ tn The idiom says “a son of a year” (בֶּן־שָׁנָה, ben shanah), meaning a “yearling” or “one year old” (see GKC 418 §128.v).

[12:5]  ⁷⁸¹ tn Because a choice is being given in this last clause, the imperfect tense nuance of permission should be used. They must have a perfect animal, but it may be a sheep or a goat. The verb’s object “it” is supplied from the context.

[12:6]  ⁷⁸² tn The text has וְהָיָה לָכֶם לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת (vÿhaya lakem lÿmishmeret, “and it will be for you for a keeping”). This noun stresses the activity of watching over or caring for something, probably to keep it in its proper condition for its designated use (see 16:23, 32-34).

[12:6]  ⁷⁸³ tn Heb “all the assembly of the community.” This expression is a pleonasm. The verse means that everyone will kill the lamb, i.e., each family unit among the Israelites will kill its animal.

[12:6]  ⁷⁸⁴ tn Heb “between the two evenings” or “between the two settings” (בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם, ben ha’arbayim). This expression has had a good deal of discussion. (1) Tg. Onq. says “between the two suns,” which the Talmud explains as the time between the sunset and the time the stars become visible. More technically, the first “evening” would be the time between sunset and the appearance of the crescent moon, and the second “evening” the next hour, or from the appearance of the crescent moon to full darkness (see Deut 16:6 – “at the going down of the sun”). (2) Saadia, Rashi, and Kimchi say the first evening is when the sun begins to decline in the west and cast its shadows, and the second evening is the beginning of night. (3) The view adopted by the Pharisees and the Talmudists (b. Pesahim 61a) is that the first evening is when the heat of the sun begins to decrease, and the second evening begins at sunset, or, roughly from 3-5 p.m. The Mishnah (m. Pesahim 5:1) indicates the lamb was killed about 2:30 p.m. – anything before noon was not valid. S. R. Driver concludes from this survey that the first view is probably the best, although the last view was the traditionally accepted one (Exodus, 89-90). Late afternoon or early evening seems to be intended, the time of twilight perhaps.

[12:8]  ⁷⁸⁵ tn Heb “this night.”

[12:8]  ⁷⁸⁶ sn Bread made without yeast could be baked quickly, not requiring time for the use of a leavening ingredient to make the dough rise. In Deut 16:3 the unleavened cakes are called “the bread of affliction,” which alludes to the alarm and haste of the Israelites. In later Judaism and in the writings of Paul, leaven came to be a symbol of evil or corruption, and so “unleavened bread” – bread made without yeast – was interpreted to be a picture of purity or freedom from corruption or defilement (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 90-91).

[12:9]  ⁷⁸⁷ sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.

[12:11]  ⁷⁸⁸ tn Heb “your loins girded.”

[12:11]  ⁷⁸⁹ tn The meaning of פֶּסַח (pesakh) is debated. (1) Some have tried to connect it to the Hebrew verb with the same radicals that means “to halt, leap, limp, stumble.” See 1 Kgs 18:26 where the word describes the priests of Baal hopping around the altar; also the crippled child in 2 Sam 4:4. (2) Others connect it to the Akkadian passahu, which means “to appease, make soft, placate”; or (3) an Egyptian word to commemorate the harvest (see J. B. Segal, The Hebrew Passover, 95-100). The verb occurs in Isa 31:5 with the connotation of “to protect”; B. S. Childs suggests that this was already influenced by the exodus tradition (Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 11). Whatever links there may or may not have been that show an etymology, in Exod 12 it is describing Yahweh’s passing over or through.

[12:12]  ⁷⁹⁰ tn The verb וְעָבַרְתִּי (vÿ’avarti) is a Qal perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, announcing the future action of God in bringing judgment on the land. The word means “pass over, across, through.” This verb provides a contextual motive for the name “Passover.”

[12:12]  ⁷⁹¹ tn Heb “this night.”

[12:12]  ⁷⁹² tn The verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to strike, smite, attack”; it does not always mean “to kill,” but that is obviously its outcome in this context. This is also its use in 2:12, describing how Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

[12:12]  ⁷⁹³ tn Heb “from man and to beast.”

[12:12]  ⁷⁹⁴ tn The phrase אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים (’e’eseh shÿfatim) is “I will do judgments.” The statement clearly includes what had begun in Exod 6:1. But the statement that God would judge the gods of Egypt is appropriately introduced here (see also Num 33:4) because with the judgment on Pharaoh and the deliverance from bondage, Yahweh would truly show himself to be the one true God. Thus, “I am Yahweh” is fitting here (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 312).

[12:13]  ⁷⁹⁵ tn Both of the verbs for seeing and passing over are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives: וּפָסַחְתִּי…וְרָאִיתִי (vÿra’iti...ufasakhti); the first of these parallel verb forms is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause. See Gesenius’s description of perfect consecutives in the protasis and apodosis (GKC 494 §159.g).

[12:13]  ⁷⁹⁶ tn The meaning of the verb is supplied in part from the near context of seeing the sign and omitting to destroy, as well as the verb at the start of verse 12 “pass through, by, over.” Isa 31:5 says, “Just as birds hover over a nest, so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over he will rescue it.” The word does not occur enough times to enable one to delineate a clear meaning. It is probably not the same word as “to limp” found in 1 Kgs 18:21, 26, unless there is a highly developed category of meaning there.

[12:13]  ⁷⁹⁷ tn The word “plague” (נֶגֶף, negef) is literally “a blow” or “a striking.” It usually describes a calamity or affliction given to those who have aroused God’s anger, as in Exod 30:12; Num 8:19; 16:46, 47; Josh 22:17 (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 92-93).

[12:13]  ⁷⁹⁸ tn Heb “for destruction.” The form מַשְׁחִית (mashkhit) is the Hiphil participle of שָׁחַת (shakhat). The word itself is a harsh term; it was used to describe Yahweh’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 13:10).

[12:13]  ⁷⁹⁹ tn בְּהַכֹּתִי (bÿhakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah), with a preposition prefixed and a pronominal suffix added to serve as the subjective genitive – the subject of this temporal clause. It is also used in 12:12.

[12:13]  ⁸⁰⁰ sn For additional discussions, see W. H. Elder, “The Passover,” RevExp 74 (1977): 511-22; E. Nutz, “The Passover,” BV 12 (1978): 23-28; H. M. Kamsler, “The Blood Covenant in the Bible,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 94-98; A. Rodriguez, Substitution in the Hebrew Cultus; B. Ramm, “The Theology of the Book of Exodus: A Reflection on Exodus 12:12,” SwJT 20 (1977): 59-68; and M. Gilula, “The Smiting of the First-Born: An Egyptian Myth?” TA 4 (1977): 94-85.

[12:14]  ⁸⁰¹ tn Heb “and this day will be.”

[12:14]  ⁸⁰² tn The expression “will be for a memorial” means “will become a memorial.”

[12:14]  ⁸⁰³ tn The verb וְחַגֹּתֶם (vÿkhaggotem), a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive to continue the instruction, is followed by the cognate accusative חַג (khag), for emphasis. As the wording implies and the later legislation required, this would involve a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Yahweh.

[12:14]  ⁸⁰⁴ tn Two expressions show that this celebration was to be kept perpetually: the line has “for your generations, [as] a statute forever.” “Generations” means successive generations (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, perpetual” – no end in sight.

[12:15]  ⁸⁰⁵ tn This expression is an adverbial accusative of time. The feast was to last from the 15th to the 21st of the month.

[12:15]  ⁸⁰⁶ tn Or “you will eat.” The statement stresses their obligation – they must eat unleavened bread and avoid all leaven.

[12:15]  ⁸⁰⁷ tn The etymology of מַצּוֹת (matsot, “unleavened bread,” i.e., “bread made without yeast”) is uncertain. Suggested connections to known verbs include “to squeeze, press,” “to depart, go out,” “to ransom,” or to an Egyptian word “food, cake, evening meal.” For a more detailed study of “unleavened bread” and related matters such as “yeast” or “leaven,” see A. P. Ross, NIDOTTE 4:448-53.

[12:15]  ⁸⁰⁸ tn The particle serves to emphasize, not restrict here (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 15).

[12:15]  ⁸⁰⁹ tn Heb “every eater of leavened bread.” The participial phrase stands at the beginning of the clause as a casus pendens, that is, it stands grammatically separate from the sentence. It names a condition, the contingent occurrences of which involve a further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[12:15]  ⁸¹⁰ tn The verb וְנִכְרְתָה (vÿnikhrÿtah) is the Niphal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it is a common formula in the Law for divine punishment. Here, in sequence to the idea that someone might eat bread made with yeast, the result would be that “that soul [the verb is feminine] will be cut off.” The verb is the equivalent of the imperfect tense due to the consecutive; a translation with a nuance of the imperfect of possibility (“may be cut off”) fits better perhaps than a specific future. There is the real danger of being cut off, for while the punishment might include excommunication from the community, the greater danger was in the possibility of divine intervention to root out the evildoer (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). Gesenius lists this as the use of a perfect with a vav consecutive after a participle (a casus pendens) to introduce the apodosis (GKC 337 §112.mm).

[12:16]  ⁸¹¹ sn This refers to an assembly of the people at the sanctuary for religious purposes. The word “convocation” implies that the people were called together, and Num 10:2 indicates they were called together by trumpets.

[12:16]  ⁸¹² tn Heb “all/every work will not be done.” The word refers primarily to the work of one’s occupation. B. Jacob (Exodus, 322) explains that since this comes prior to the fuller description of laws for Sabbaths and festivals, the passage simply restricts all work except for the preparation of food. Once the laws are added, this qualification is no longer needed. Gesenius translates this as “no manner of work shall be done” (GKC 478-79 §152.b).

[12:17]  ⁸¹³ tn Heb “on the bone of this day.” The expression means “the substance of the day,” the day itself, the very day (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 95).

[12:17]  ⁸¹⁴ tn The word is “armies” or “divisions” (see Exod 6:26 and the note there; cf. also 7:4). The narrative will continue to portray Israel as a mighty army, marching forth in its divisions.

[12:17]  ⁸¹⁵ tn See Exod 12:14.

[12:18]  ⁸¹⁶ tn “month” has been supplied.

[12:19]  ⁸¹⁷ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).

[12:19]  ⁸¹⁸ tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”

[12:19]  ⁸¹⁹ tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”

[12:21]  ⁸²⁰ tn Heb “draw out and take.” The verb has in view the need “to draw out” a lamb or goat selected from among the rest of the flock.

[12:21]  ⁸²¹ tn The Hebrew noun is singular and can refer to either a lamb or a goat. Since English has no common word for both, the phrase “a lamb or young goat” is used in the translation.

[12:21]  ⁸²² tn The word “animals” is added to avoid giving the impression in English that the Passover festival itself is the object of “kill.”

[12:22]  ⁸²³ sn The hyssop is a small bush that grows throughout the Sinai, probably the aromatic herb Origanum Maru L., or Origanum Aegyptiacum. The plant also grew out of the walls in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 4:33). See L. Baldensperger and G. M. Crowfoot, “Hyssop,” PEQ 63 (1931): 89-98. A piece of hyssop was also useful to the priests because it worked well for sprinkling.

[12:22]  ⁸²⁴ tn The Greek and the Vulgate translate סַף (saf, “basin”) as “threshold.” W. C. Kaiser reports how early traditions grew up about the killing of the lamb on the threshold (“Exodus,” EBC 2:376).

[12:22]  ⁸²⁵ tn Heb “and you, you shall not go out, a man from the door of his house.” This construction puts stress on prohibiting absolutely everyone from going out.

[12:23]  ⁸²⁶ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ⁸²⁷ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ⁸²⁸ tn “you” has been supplied.

[12:25]  ⁸²⁹ tn The verb used here and at the beginning of v. 24 is שָׁמַר (shamar); it can be translated “watch, keep, protect,” but in this context the point is to “observe” the religious customs and practices set forth in these instructions.

[12:26]  ⁸³⁰ tn Heb “what is this service to you?”

[12:27]  ⁸³¹ sn This expression “the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover” occurs only here. The word זֶבַח (zevakh) means “slaughtering” and so a blood sacrifice. The fact that this word is used in Lev 3 for the peace offering has linked the Passover as a kind of peace offering, and both the Passover and the peace offerings were eaten as communal meals.

[12:27]  ⁸³² tn The verb means “to strike, smite, plague”; it is the same verb that has been used throughout this section (נָגַף, nagaf). Here the construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause.

[12:27]  ⁸³³ tn The two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “and the people bowed down and they worshiped.” The words are synonymous, and so one is taken as the adverb for the other.

[12:28]  ⁸³⁴ tn Heb “went away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” The final phrase “so they did,” which is somewhat redundant in English, has been represented in the translation by the adverb “exactly.”

[12:29]  ⁸³⁵ sn The next section records the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and so becomes the turning point of the book. Verses 28 and 29 could be included in the exposition of the previous section as the culmination of that part. The message might highlight God’s requirement for deliverance from bondage through the application of the blood of the sacrifice, God’s instruction for the memorial of deliverance through the purging of corruption, and the compliance of those who believed the message. But these verses also form the beginning of this next section (and so could be used transitionally). This unit includes the judgment on Egypt (29-30), the exodus from Egypt (31-39) and the historical summation and report (40-42).

[12:29]  ⁸³⁶ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), often translated “and it came to pass.” Here it could be left untranslated: “In the middle of the night Yahweh attacked.” The word order of the next and main clause furthers the emphasis by means of the vav disjunctive on the divine name preceding the verb. The combination of these initial and disjunctive elements helps to convey the suddenness of the attack, while its thoroughness is stressed by the repetition of “firstborn” in the rest of the verse, the merism (“from the firstborn of Pharaoh…to the firstborn of the captive”), and the mention of cattle.

[12:30]  ⁸³⁷ tn Heb “arose,” the verb קוּם (qum) in this context certainly must describe a less ceremonial act. The entire country woke up in terror because of the deaths.

[12:30]  ⁸³⁸ tn The noun is an adverbial accusative of time – “in the night” or “at night.”

[12:30]  ⁸³⁹ sn Or so it seemed. One need not push this description to complete literalness. The reference would be limited to houses that actually had firstborn people or animals. In a society in which households might include more than one generation of humans and animals, however, the presence of a firstborn human or animal would be the rule rather than the exception.

[12:31]  ⁸⁴⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:31]  ⁸⁴¹ tn The urgency in Pharaoh’s words is caught by the abrupt use of the imperatives – “get up, go” (קוּמוּ צְּאוּ, qumu tsÿ’u), and “go, serve” (וּלְכוּ עִבְדוּ, ulÿkhu ’ivdu) and “take” and “leave/go” (וָלֵכוּ…קְחוּ, qÿkhu...valekhu).

[12:31]  ⁸⁴² tn Heb “as you have said.” The same phrase also occurs in the following verse.

[12:32]  ⁸⁴³ tn The form is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive (וּבֵרַכְתֶּם, uverakhtem); coming in the sequence of imperatives this perfect tense would be volitional – probably a request rather than a command.

[12:33]  ⁸⁴⁴ tn The verb used here (חָזַק, khazaq) is the same verb used for Pharaoh’s heart being hardened. It conveys the idea of their being resolved or insistent in this – they were not going to change.

[12:33]  ⁸⁴⁵ tn The phrase uses two construct infinitives in a hendiadys, the first infinitive becoming the modifier.

[12:34]  ⁸⁴⁶ tn The imperfect tense after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem) is to be treated as a preterite: “before it was leavened,” or “before the yeast was added.” See GKC 314-15 §107.c.

[12:35]  ⁸⁴⁷ tn The verbs “had done” and then “had asked” were accomplished prior to the present narrative (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 99). The verse begins with disjunctive word order to introduce the reminder of earlier background information.

[12:35]  ⁸⁴⁸ tn Heb “from Egypt.” Here the Hebrew text uses the name of the country to represent the inhabitants (a figure known as metonymy).

[12:36]  ⁸⁴⁹ tn The holy name (“Yahweh,” represented as “the Lord” in the translation) has the vav disjunctive with it. It may have the force: “Now it was Yahweh who gave the people favor….”

[12:36]  ⁸⁵⁰ sn God was destroying the tyrant and his nobles and the land’s economy because of their stubborn refusal. But God established friendly, peaceful relations between his people and the Egyptians. The phrase is used outside Exod only in Gen 39:21, referring to Joseph.

[12:36]  ⁸⁵¹ tn The verb וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם (vayyash’ilum) is a Hiphil form that has the root שָׁאַל (sha’al), used earlier in Qal with the meaning “requested” (12:35). The verb here is frequently translated “and they lent them,” but lending does not fit the point. What they gave the Israelites were farewell gifts sought by demanding or asking for them. This may exemplify a “permissive” use of the Hiphil stem, in which “the Hiphil designates an action that is agreeable to the object and allowed by the subject” (B. T. Arnold and J. H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 52).

[12:36]  ⁸⁵² sn See B. Jacob, “The Gifts of the Egyptians; A Critical Commentary,” Journal of Reformed Judaism 27 (1980): 59-69.

[12:37]  ⁸⁵³ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel journeyed.”

[12:37]  ⁸⁵⁴ sn The wilderness itinerary begins here. W. C. Kaiser records the identification of these two places as follows: The name Rameses probably refers to Qantir rather than Tanis, which is more remote, because Qantir was by the water; Sukkoth is identified as Tell el Maskhuta in the Wadi Tumilat near modern Ismailia – or the region around the city (“Exodus,” EBC 2:379). Of the extensive bibliography, see G. W. Coats, “The Wilderness Itinerary,” CBQ 34 (1972): 135-52; G. I. Davies, “The Wilderness Itineraries: A Comparative Study,” TynBul 25 (1974): 46-81; and J. T. Walsh, “From Egypt to Moab. A Source Critical Analysis of the Wilderness Itinerary,” CBQ 39 (1977): 20-33.

[12:37]  ⁸⁵⁵ tn The word for “men” (הַגְּבָרִים, haggÿvarim) stresses their hardiness and capability – strong men, potential soldiers – in contrast with the word that follows and designates noncombatants.

[12:37]  ⁸⁵⁶ tn For more on this word see 10:10 and 24.

[12:38]  ⁸⁵⁷ tn The “mixed multitude” (עֵרֶב רַב, ’erev rav) refers to a great “swarm” (see a possible cognate in 8:21[17]) of folk who joined the Israelites, people who were impressed by the defeat of Egypt, who came to faith, or who just wanted to escape Egypt (maybe slaves or descendants of the Hyksos). The expression prepares for later references to riffraff who came along.

[12:38]  ⁸⁵⁸ tn Heb “and very much cattle.”

[12:39]  ⁸⁵⁹ sn For the use of this word in developing the motif, see Exod 2:17, 22; 6:1; and 11:1.

[12:39]  ⁸⁶⁰ tn Heb “and also.”

[12:39]  ⁸⁶¹ tn The verb is עָשׂוּ (’asu, “they made”); here, with a potential nuance, it is rendered “they could [not] prepare.”

[12:40]  ⁸⁶² sn Here as well some scholars work with the number 430 to try to reduce the stay in Egypt for the bondage. Some argue that if the number included the time in Canaan, that would reduce the bondage by half. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 102) notes that P thought Moses was the fourth generation from Jacob (6:16-27), if those genealogies are not selective. Exodus 6 has Levi – Kohath – Amram – Moses. This would require a period of about 100 years, and that is unusual. There is evidence, however, that the list is selective. In 1 Chr 2:3-20 the text has Bezalel (see Exod 31:2-5) a contemporary of Moses and yet the seventh from Judah. Elishama, a leader of the Ephraimites (Num 10:22), was in the ninth generation from Jacob (1 Chr 7:22-26). Joshua, Moses’ assistant, was the eleventh from Jacob (1 Chr 7:27). So the “four generations” leading up to Moses are not necessarily complete. With regard to Exod 6, K. A. Kitchen has argued that the four names do not indicate successive generations, but tribe (Levi), clan (Kohath), family (Amram), and individual (Moses; K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, 54-55). For a detailed discussion of the length of the sojourn, see E. H. Merrill, A Kingdom of Priests, 75-79.

[12:41]  ⁸⁶³ sn This military term is used elsewhere in Exodus (e.g., 6:26; 7:4; 12:17, 50), but here the Israelites are called “the regiments of the Lord.”

[12:42]  ⁸⁶⁴ tn There is some ambiguity in לֵיל שִׁמֻּרִים הוּא לַיהוָה (lel shimmurim hu’ la’adonay [layhveh]). It is likely that this first clause means that Yahweh was on watch for Israel to bring them out, as the next clause says. He was protecting his people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 102). Then, the night of vigil will be transferred to Israel, who now must keep it “to” him.

[12:42]  ⁸⁶⁵ tn “and so” has been supplied.

[12:42]  ⁸⁶⁶ tn Heb “this night is for Yahweh a vigil for all Israelites for their generations.”

[12:43]  ⁸⁶⁷ sn The section that concludes the chapter contains regulations pertaining to the Passover. The section begins at v. 43, but vv. 40-42 form a good setting for it. In this unit vv. 43-45 belong together because they stress that a stranger and foreigner cannot eat. Verse 46 stands by itself, ruling that the meal must be eaten at home. Verse 47 instructs that the whole nation was to eat it. Verses 48-49 make provision for foreigners who may wish to participate. And vv. 50-51 record the obedience of Israel.

[12:43]  ⁸⁶⁸ tn This taken in the modal nuance of permission, reading that no foreigner is permitted to share in it (apart from being a member of the household as a circumcised slave [v. 44] or obeying v. 48, if a free individual).

[12:43]  ⁸⁶⁹ tn This is the partitive use of the bet (ב) preposition, expressing that the action extends to something and includes the idea of participation in it (GKC 380 §119.m).

[12:48]  ⁸⁷⁰ tn Both the participle “foreigner” and the verb “lives” are from the verb גּוּר (gur), which means “to sojourn, to dwell as an alien.” This reference is to a foreigner who settles in the land. He is the protected foreigner; when he comes to another area where he does not have his clan to protect him, he must come under the protection of the Law, or the people. If the “resident alien” is circumcised, he may participate in the Passover (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 104).

[12:48]  ⁸⁷¹ tn The infinitive absolute functions as the finite verb here, and “every male” could be either the object or the subject (see GKC 347 §113.gg and 387 §121.a).

[12:48]  ⁸⁷² tn אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh) refers to the native-born individual, the native Israelite as opposed to the “stranger, alien” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 104); see also W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 127, 210.

[12:49]  ⁸⁷³ tn Heb “one law will be to.”

[12:50]  ⁸⁷⁴ tn Heb “did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” The final phrase “so they did,” which is somewhat redundant in English, has been represented in the translation by the adverb “exactly.”

[4:34]  ⁸⁷⁵ tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).

[4:34]  ⁸⁷⁶ tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”

[4:34]  ⁸⁷⁷ tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).

[4:34]  ⁸⁷⁸ tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”

[6:22]  ⁸⁷⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.

[6:22]  ⁸⁸⁰ tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.

[9:10]  ⁸⁸¹ tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”

[9:10]  ⁸⁸² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ⁸⁸³ tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”