Exodus 2:25

2:25 God saw ¹  the Israelites, and God understood…. ² 

Exodus 2:2

2:2 The woman became pregnant ³  and gave birth to a son. When ⁴  she saw that ⁵  he was a healthy ⁶  child, she hid him for three months.

Exodus 13:1

The Law of the Firstborn

13:1 ⁷ The Lord spoke ⁸  to Moses:

Nehemiah 2:20

2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ⁹  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 89:3

89:3 The Lord said, ¹¹ 

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

Psalms 138:6-7

138:6 Though the Lord is exalted, he takes note of the lowly,

and recognizes the proud from far away.

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ¹²  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ¹³ 

and your right hand delivers me.

Jeremiah 33:3

33:3 ‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious ¹⁴  things which you still do not know about.’

Hebrews 8:9

8:9 “It will not be like the covenant ¹⁵  that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

[2:25]  ¹ tn Heb “and God saw.”

[2:25]  ² tn Heb “and God knew” (יָדַע, yada’). The last clause contains a widely used verb for knowing, but it leaves the object unexpressed within the clause, so as to allow all that vv. 23-24 have described to serve as the compelling content of God’s knowing. (Many modern English versions supply an object for the verb following the LXX, which reads “knew them.”) The idea seems to be that God took personal knowledge of, noticed, or regarded them. In other passages the verb “know” is similar in meaning to “save” or “show pity.” See especially Gen 18:21, Ps 1:6; 31:7, and Amos 3:2. Exodus has already provided an example of the results of not knowing in 1:8 (cf. 5:2).

[2:2]  ³ tn Or “conceived” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:2]  ⁴ tn A preterite form with the vav consecutive can be subordinated to a following clause. What she saw stands as a reason for what she did: “when she saw…she hid him three months.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn After verbs of perceiving or seeing there are frequently two objects, the formal accusative (“she saw him”) and then a noun clause that explains what it was about the child that she perceived (“that he was healthy”). See GKC 365 §117.h.

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Or “fine” (טוֹב, tov). The construction is parallel to phrases in the creation narrative (“and God saw that it was good,” Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 17, 21, 25, 31). B. Jacob says, “She looked upon her child with a joy similar to that of God upon His creation (Gen 1.4ff.)” (Exodus, 25).

[13:1]  ⁷ sn This next section seems a little confusing at first glance: vv. 1 and 2 call for the dedication of the firstborn, then vv. 3-10 instruct concerning the ritual of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then vv. 11-16 return to the firstborn. B. Jacob (Exodus, 360) explains that vv. 3-16 contain a sermon, in which Moses “began his speech by reminding the people of the events which had just occurred and how they would be recalled by them in the future,” and then he explained the rulings that went along with it. So the first two verses state the core of the sermon, a new command calling for the redeemed (firstborn) to be sanctified. The second portion stresses that God requires the redeemed to remember their redemption by purifying themselves (3-10). The third section (11-16) develops the theme of dedication to Yahweh. The point is that in view of God’s mighty redemption, the redeemed (represented by the firstborn) must be set apart for Yahweh’s service.

[13:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke.”

[2:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “portion or right or remembrance.” The expression is probably a hendiatris: The first two nouns retain their full nominal function, while the third noun functions adjectivally (“right or remembrance” = “ancient right”).

[89:3]  ¹¹ tn The words “the Lord said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. It is clear that the words of vv. 3-4 are spoken by the Lord, in contrast to vv. 1-2, which are spoken by the psalmist.

[138:7]  ¹² tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”

[33:3]  ¹⁴ tn This passive participle or adjective is normally used to describe cities or walls as “fortified” or “inaccessible.” All the lexicons, however, agree in seeing it used here metaphorically of “secret” or “mysterious” things, things that Jeremiah could not know apart from the Lord’s revelation. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 170) make the interesting observation that the word is used here in a context in which the fortifications of Jerusalem are about to fall to the Babylonians; the fortified things in God’s secret counsel fall through answer to prayer.

[8:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.