Exodus 12:23

12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ¹  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 ²  to enter your houses to strike you. ³ 

Exodus 12:2

12:2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year. ⁴ 

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁵ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁶  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁷  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁸ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁹  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ¹⁰  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 21:15-16

21:15 “Whoever strikes ¹¹  his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ¹²  and sells him, ¹³  or is caught still holding him, ¹⁴  must surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:2

Hebrew Servants

21:2 ¹⁵ “If you buy ¹⁶  a Hebrew servant, ¹⁷  he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free ¹⁸  without paying anything. ¹⁹ 

Exodus 32:21

32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”

Psalms 35:6

35:6 May their path be ²⁰  dark and slippery,

as the Lord’s angel chases them!

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ²¹  struck ²²  Herod ²³  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ²⁴ 

[12:23]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn “you” has been supplied.

[12:2]  ⁴ 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.

[19:1]  ⁵ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “on this day.”

[19:1]  ⁸ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “on this day.”

[21:15]  ¹¹ sn This is the same construction that was used in v. 12, but here there is no mention of the parents’ death. This attack, then, does not lead to their death – if he killed one of them then v. 12 would be the law. S. R. Driver says that the severity of the penalty was in accord with the high view of parents (Exodus, 216).

[21:16]  ¹² tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ¹³ sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ¹⁴ tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.

[21:2]  ¹⁵ sn See H. L. Elleson, “The Hebrew Slave: A Study in Early Israelite Society,” EvQ 45 (1973): 30-35; N. P. Lemche, “The Manumission of Slaves – The Fallow Year – The Sabbatical Year – The Jobel Year,” VT 26 (1976): 38-59, and “The ‘Hebrew Slave,’ Comments on the Slave Law – Ex. 21:2-11,” VT 25 (1975): 129-44.

[21:2]  ¹⁶ tn The verbs in both the conditional clause and the following ruling are imperfect tense: “If you buy…then he will serve.” The second imperfect tense (the ruling) could be taken either as a specific future or an obligatory imperfect. Gesenius explains how the verb works in the conditional clauses here (see GKC 497 §159.bb).

[21:2]  ¹⁷ sn The interpretation of “Hebrew” in this verse is uncertain: (l) a gentilic ending, (2) a fellow Israelite, (3) or a class of mercenaries of the population (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:431). It seems likely that the term describes someone born a Hebrew, as opposed to a foreigner (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 210). The literature on this includes: M. P. Gray, “The Habiru-Hebrew Problem,” HUCA 29 (1958): 135-202.

[21:2]  ¹⁸ sn The word חָפְשִׁי (khofshi) means “free.” It is possible that there is some connection between this word and a technical term used in other cultures for a social class of emancipated slaves who were freemen again (see I. Mendelsohn, “New Light on the Hupsu,” BASOR 139 [1955]: 9-11).

[21:2]  ¹⁹ tn The adverb חִנָּם (hinnam) means “gratis, free”; it is related to the verb “to be gracious, show favor” and the noun “grace.”

[35:6]  ²⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive, indicating this is a prayer.

[12:23]  ²¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ²² sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ²³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ²⁴ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).