Exodus 14:13-14

14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! ¹  Stand firm ²  and see ³  the salvation ⁴  of the Lord that he will provide ⁵  for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. ⁶  14:14 The Lord ⁷  will fight for you, and you can be still.” ⁸ 

Exodus 14:2

14:2 “Tell the Israelites that they must turn and camp ⁹  before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you are to camp by the sea before Baal Zephon opposite it. ¹⁰ 

Exodus 20:17

20:17 “You shall not covet ¹¹  your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” ¹² 

Isaiah 30:7

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ¹³ 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ¹⁴  who is silenced.’” ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 30:15

30:15 For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:

“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; ¹⁶ 

if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, ¹⁷ 

but you are unwilling.

[14:13]  ¹ tn The use of אַל (’al) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than לֹא (lo’) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).

[14:13]  ² tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.

[14:13]  ³ tn The form is an imperative with a vav (ו). It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.

[14:13]  ⁴ tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).

[14:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.

[14:13]  ⁶ tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys consisting of a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and a Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”) – “you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”

[14:14]  ⁷ tn The word order places emphasis on “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”).

[14:14]  ⁸ tn The imperfect tense needs to be interpreted in contrast to all that Yahweh will be doing. It may be given a potential imperfect nuance (as here), or it may be obligatory to follow the command to stand firm: “you must be still.”

[14:2]  ⁹ tn The two imperfects follow the imperative and therefore express purpose. The point in the verses is that Yahweh was giving the orders for the direction of the march and the encampment by the sea.

[14:2]  ¹⁰ sn The places have been tentatively identified. W. C. Kaiser summarizes the suggestions that Pi-Hahiroth as an Egyptian word may mean “temple of the [Syrian god] Hrt” or “The Hir waters of the canal” or “The Dwelling of Hator” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:387; see the literature on these names, including C. DeWit, The Date and Route of the Exodus, 17).

[20:17]  ¹¹ tn The verb חָמַד (khamad) focuses not on an external act but on an internal mental activity behind the act, the motivation for it. The word can be used in a very good sense (Ps 19:10; 68:16), but it has a bad connotation in contexts where the object desired is off limits. This command is aimed at curtailing the greedy desire for something belonging to a neighbor, a desire that leads to the taking of it or the attempt to take it. It was used in the story of the Garden of Eden for the tree that was desired.

[20:17]  ¹² sn See further G. Wittenburg, “The Tenth Commandment in the Old Testament,” Journal for Theology in South Africa 21 (1978): 3-17: and E. W. Nicholson, “The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God,” VT 27 (1977): 422-33.

[30:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

[30:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).

[30:7]  ¹⁵ tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.

[30:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in returning and in quietness you will be delivered.” Many English versions render the last phrase “shall be saved” or something similar (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[30:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in quietness and in trust is your strength” (NASB and NRSV both similar).