Exodus 12:13

12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see ¹  the blood I will pass over you, ²  and this plague ³  will not fall on you to destroy you ⁴  when I attack ⁵  the land of Egypt. ⁶ 

Exodus 13:9-10

13:9 ⁷  It ⁸  will be a sign ⁹  for you on your hand and a memorial ¹⁰  on your forehead, ¹¹  so that the law of the Lord may be ¹²  in your mouth, ¹³  for ¹⁴  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 13:10 So you must keep ¹⁵  this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year. ¹⁶ 

Jude 1:17

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ¹⁷  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 20:12

20:12 I also gave them my Sabbaths ¹⁹  as a reminder of our relationship, ²⁰  so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. ²¹ 

Hebrews 2:4

2:4 while God confirmed their witness ²²  with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed ²³  according to his will.

[12:13]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[13:9]  ⁷ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ⁸ tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  ¹² tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ¹³ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ¹⁴ tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[13:10]  ¹⁵ tn The form is a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, functioning as the equivalent of an imperfect of instruction or injunction.

[13:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “every year,” or “year after year.”

[1:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ¹⁸ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[20:12]  ¹⁹ sn Ezekiel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, also stressed the importance of obedience to the Sabbath law (Jer 17).

[20:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to become a sign between me and them.”

[20:12]  ²¹ tn Or “set them apart.” The last phrase of verse 12 appears to be a citation of Exod 31:13.

[2:4]  ²² tn Grk “God bearing witness together” (the phrase “with them” is implied).

[2:4]  ²³ tn Grk “and distributions of the Holy Spirit.”