Deuteronomy 5:33

5:33 Walk just as he ¹  has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long ²  in the land you are going to possess.

Exodus 18:20

18:20 warn ³  them of the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk ⁴  and the work they must do. ⁵ 

Exodus 18:1

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ⁶ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ⁷  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ⁸ 

Exodus 12:24

12:24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever.

Exodus 12:2

12:2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year. ⁹ 

Exodus 6:1

6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, ¹⁰  for compelled by my strong hand ¹¹  he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” ¹² 

Psalms 128:1

Psalm 128 ¹³ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁴ 

128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, ¹⁵ 

each one who keeps his commands! ¹⁶ 

Luke 1:6

1:6 They ¹⁷  were both righteous in the sight of God, following ¹⁸  all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. ¹⁹ 

[5:33]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[5:33]  ² tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”

[18:20]  ³ tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) continues the sequence of instruction for Moses. He alone was to be the mediator, to guide them in the religious and moral instruction.

[18:20]  ⁴ tn The verb and its following prepositional phrase form a relative clause, modifying “the way.” The imperfect tense should be given the nuance of obligatory imperfect – it is the way they must walk.

[18:20]  ⁵ tn This last part is parallel to the preceding: “work” is also a direct object of the verb “make known,” and the relative clause that qualifies it also uses an obligatory imperfect.

[18:1]  ⁶ sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.

[18:1]  ⁷ tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.

[18:1]  ⁸ sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).

[12:2]  ⁹ 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.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ sn The expression “I will do to Pharaoh” always refers to the plagues. God would first show his sovereignty over Pharaoh before defeating him.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn The expression “with a strong hand” (וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה, uvÿyad khazaqah) could refer (1) to God’s powerful intervention (“compelled by my strong hand”) or (2) to Pharaoh’s forceful pursuit (“he will forcefully drive them out”). In Exod 3:20 God has summarized what his hand would do in Egypt, and that is probably what is intended here, as he promises that Moses will see what God will do. All Egypt ultimately desired that Israel be released (12:33), and when they were released Pharaoh pursued them to the sea, and so in a sense drove them out – whether that was his intention or not. But ultimately it was God’s power that was the real force behind it all. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 74) considers that it is unlikely that the phrase would be used in the same verse twice with the same meaning. So he thinks that the first “strong hand” is God’s, and the second “strong hand” is Pharaoh’s. It is true that if Pharaoh acted forcefully in any way that contributed to Israel leaving Egypt it was because God was acting forcefully in his life. So in an understated way, God is saying that when forced by God’s strong hand, Pharaoh will indeed release God’s people.”

[6:1]  ¹² tn Or “and he will forcefully drive them out of his land,” if the second occurrence of “strong hand” refers to Pharaoh’s rather than God’s (see the previous note).

[128:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.

[128:1]  ¹⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[128:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “every fearer of the Lord.”

[128:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”

[1:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “walking in” (an idiom for one’s lifestyle).

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn The predicate adjective has the effect of an adverb here (BDF §243).