Exodus 14:10

14:10 When ¹  Pharaoh got closer, ²  the Israelites looked up, ³  and there were the Egyptians marching after them, ⁴  and they were terrified. ⁵  The Israelites cried out to the Lord, ⁶ 

Exodus 14:2

14:2 “Tell the Israelites that they must turn and camp ⁷  before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you are to camp by the sea before Baal Zephon opposite it. ⁸ 

Exodus 18:1

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ⁹ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ¹⁰  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ¹¹ 

Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ¹² 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ¹³ 

Psalms 91:15

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

Psalms 116:1-2

Psalm 116 ¹⁴ 

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy, ¹⁵ 

116:2 and listened to me. ¹⁶ 

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 130:1-4

Psalm 130 ¹⁸ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁹ 

130:1 From the deep water ²⁰  I cry out to you, O Lord.

130:2 O Lord, listen to me! ²¹ 

Pay attention to ²²  my plea for mercy!

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ²³  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ²⁴ 

130:4 But ²⁵  you are willing to forgive, ²⁶ 

so that you might ²⁷  be honored. ²⁸ 

Jonah 2:1-2

2:1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish 2:2 and said,

“I ²⁹  called out to the Lord from my distress,

and he answered me; ³⁰ 

from the belly of Sheol ³¹  I cried out for help,

and you heard my prayer. ³² 

[14:10]  ¹ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.

[14:10]  ² tn Heb “drew near.”

[14:10]  ³ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking – they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.

[14:10]  ⁴ tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.

[14:10]  ⁵ tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.

[14:10]  ⁶ sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.

[14:2]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).

[18:1]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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).

[50:15]  ¹² tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

[50:15]  ¹³ sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

[116:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 116. The psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him from a life threatening crisis and promises to tell the entire covenant community what God has done for him.

[116:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I love because the Lord heard my voice, my pleas.” It is possible that “the Lord” originally appeared directly after “I love” and was later accidentally misplaced. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls that God heard his cry for help (note the perfect in v. 2a and the narrative in vv. 3-4).

[116:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”

[130:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 130. The psalmist, confident of the Lord’s forgiveness, cries out to the Lord for help in the midst of his suffering and urges Israel to do the same.

[130:1]  ¹⁹ 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.

[130:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “depths,” that is, deep waters (see Ps 69:2, 14; Isa 51:10), a metaphor for the life-threatening danger faced by the psalmist.

[130:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “my voice.”

[130:2]  ²² tn Heb “may your ears be attentive to the voice of.”

[130:3]  ²³ tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ²⁴ tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[130:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “surely.”

[130:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for with you [there is] forgiveness.”

[130:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “consequently you are.”

[130:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “feared.”

[2:2]  ²⁹ sn The eight verses of Jonah’s prayer in Hebrew contain twenty-seven first-person pronominal references to himself. There are fifteen second- or third-person references to the Lord.

[2:2]  ³⁰ tn Tg. Jonah 2:2 renders this interpretively: “and he heard my prayer.”

[2:2]  ³¹ sn Sheol was a name for the place of residence of the dead, the underworld (see Job 7:9-10; Isa 38:17-18). Jonah pictures himself in the belly of Sheol, its very center – in other words he is as good as dead.

[2:2]  ³² tn Heb “voice” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “my cry.” The term קוֹל (qol, “voice”) functions as a metonymy for the content of what is uttered: cry for help in prayer.