Deuteronomy 5:15

5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. ¹  That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe ²  the Sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 6:21

6:21 you must say to them, ³  “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 7:8-9

7:8 Rather it is because of his ⁵  love ⁶  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ⁷  he solemnly vowed ⁸  to your ancestors ⁹  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ¹⁰  redeeming ¹¹  you from the place of slavery, from the power ¹²  of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, ¹³  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully ¹⁴  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Exodus 6:6

6:6 Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out ¹⁵  from your enslavement to ¹⁶  the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, ¹⁷  and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

Exodus 13:3

13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember ¹⁸  this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, ¹⁹  for the Lord brought you out of there ²⁰  with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. ²¹ 

Exodus 13:1

The Law of the Firstborn

13:1 ²² The Lord spoke ²³  to Moses:

Exodus 5:6

5:6 That same day Pharaoh commanded ²⁴  the slave masters and foremen ²⁵  who were ²⁶  over the people: ²⁷ 

[5:15]  ¹ tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”

[5:15]  ² tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).

[6:21]  ³ tn Heb “to your son.”

[6:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “by a strong hand.” The image is that of a warrior who, with weapon in hand, overcomes his enemies. The Lord is commonly depicted as a divine warrior in the Book of Deuteronomy (cf. 5:15; 7:8; 9:26; 26:8).

[7:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

[7:8]  ⁶ tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

[7:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

[7:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

[7:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

[7:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

[7:8]  ¹¹ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

[7:8]  ¹² tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

[7:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

[7:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).

[6:6]  ¹⁵ sn The verb וְהוֹצֵאתִי (vÿhotse’ti) is a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, and so it receives a future translation – part of God’s promises. The word will be used later to begin the Decalogue and other covenant passages – “I am Yahweh who brought you out….”

[6:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from under the burdens of” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “from under the yoke of.”

[6:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from labor of them.” The antecedent of the pronoun is the Egyptians who have imposed slave labor on the Hebrews.

[13:3]  ¹⁸ tn The form is the infinitive absolute of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”). The use of this form in place of the imperative (also found in the Decalogue with the Sabbath instruction) stresses the basic meaning of the root word, everything involved with remembering (emphatic imperative, according to GKC 346 §113.bb). The verb usually implies that there will be proper action based on what was remembered.

[13:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from a house of slaves.” “House” is obviously not meant to be literal; it indicates a location characterized by slavery, a land of slaves, as if they were in a slave house. Egypt is also called an “iron-smelting furnace” (Deut 4:20).

[13:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from this” [place].

[13:3]  ²¹ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it could be rendered “must not be eaten” in the nuance of the instruction or injunction category, but permission fits this sermonic presentation very well – nothing with yeast may be eaten.

[13:1]  ²² sn This next section seems a little confusing at first glance: vv. 1 and 2 call for the dedication of the firstborn, then vv. 3-10 instruct concerning the ritual of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then vv. 11-16 return to the firstborn. B. Jacob (Exodus, 360) explains that vv. 3-16 contain a sermon, in which Moses “began his speech by reminding the people of the events which had just occurred and how they would be recalled by them in the future,” and then he explained the rulings that went along with it. So the first two verses state the core of the sermon, a new command calling for the redeemed (firstborn) to be sanctified. The second portion stresses that God requires the redeemed to remember their redemption by purifying themselves (3-10). The third section (11-16) develops the theme of dedication to Yahweh. The point is that in view of God’s mighty redemption, the redeemed (represented by the firstborn) must be set apart for Yahweh’s service.

[13:1]  ²³ tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke.”

[5:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and Pharaoh commanded on that day.”

[5:6]  ²⁵ tn The Greek has “scribes” for this word, perhaps thinking of those lesser officials as keeping records of the slaves and the bricks.

[5:6]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “who were” is supplied for clarity.

[5:6]  ²⁷ sn In vv. 6-14 the second section of the chapter describes the severe measures by the king to increase the labor by decreasing the material. The emphasis in this section must be on the harsh treatment of the people and Pharaoh’s reason for it – he accuses them of idleness because they want to go and worship. The real reason, of course, is that he wants to discredit Moses (v. 9) and keep the people as slaves.