Exodus 3:7-8

3:7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen ¹  the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ²  3:8 I have come down ³  to deliver them ⁴  from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, ⁵  to a land flowing with milk and honey, ⁶  to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁷ 

Exodus 14:14

14:14 The Lord ⁸  will fight for you, and you can be still.” ⁹ 

Exodus 20:2

20:2 “I, ¹⁰  the Lord, am your God, ¹¹  who brought you ¹²  from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 4:34

4:34 Or has God ¹⁴  ever before tried to deliver ¹⁵  a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, ¹⁶  signs, wonders, war, strength, power, ¹⁷  and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Psalms 78:51-53

78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power ¹⁸  in the tents of Ham.

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

78:53 He guided them safely along,

while the sea covered their enemies.

Psalms 105:36-38

105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power. ¹⁹ 

105:37 He brought his people ²⁰  out enriched ²¹  with silver and gold;

none of his tribes stumbled.

105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,

for they were afraid of them. ²² 

[3:7]  ¹ tn The use of the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense intensifies the statement: I have surely seen – there is no doubt that I have seen and will do something about it.

[3:7]  ² sn Two new words are introduced now to the report of suffering: “affliction” and “pain/suffering.” These add to the dimension of the oppression of God’s people.

[3:8]  ³ sn God’s coming down is a frequent anthropomorphism in Genesis and Exodus. It expresses his direct involvement, often in the exercise of judgment.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitive with the suffix is לְהַצִּילוֹ (lÿhatsilo, “to deliver them”). It expresses the purpose of God’s coming down. The verb itself is used for delivering or rescuing in the general sense, and snatching out of danger for the specific.

[3:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to a land good and large”; NRSV “to a good and broad land.” In the translation the words “that is both” are supplied because in contemporary English “good and” combined with any additional descriptive term can be understood as elative (“good and large” = “very large”; “good and spacious” = “very spacious”; “good and ready” = “very ready”). The point made in the Hebrew text is that the land to which they are going is both good (in terms of quality) and large (in terms of size).

[3:8]  ⁶ tn This vibrant description of the promised land is a familiar one. Gesenius classifies “milk and honey” as epexegetical genitives because they provide more precise description following a verbal adjective in the construct state (GKC 418-19 §128.x). The land is modified by “flowing,” and “flowing” is explained by the genitives “milk and honey.” These two products will be in abundance in the land, and they therefore exemplify what a desirable land it is. The language is hyperbolic, as if the land were streaming with these products.

[3:8]  ⁷ tn Each people group is joined to the preceding by the vav conjunction, “and.” Each also has the definite article, as in other similar lists (3:17; 13:5; 34:11). To repeat the conjunction and article in the translation seems to put more weight on the list in English than is necessary to its function in identifying what land God was giving the Israelites.

[14:14]  ⁸ tn The word order places emphasis on “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”).

[14:14]  ⁹ 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.”

[20:2]  ¹⁰ sn The revelation of Yahweh here begins with the personal pronoun. “I” – a person, a living personality, not an object or a mere thought. This enabled him to address “you” – Israel, and all his people, making the binding stipulations for them to conform to his will (B. Jacob, Exodus, 544).

[20:2]  ¹¹ tn Most English translations have “I am Yahweh your God.” But the preceding chapters have again and again demonstrated how he made himself known to them. Now, the emphasis is on “I am your God” – and what that would mean in their lives.

[20:2]  ¹² tn The suffix on the verb is second masculine singular. It is this person that will be used throughout the commandments for the whole nation. God addresses them all as his people, but he addresses them individually for their obedience. The masculine form is not, thereby, intended to exclude women.

[20:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the house of slaves” meaning “the land of slavery.”

[4:34]  ¹⁴ tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).

[4:34]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”

[4:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).

[4:34]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”

[78:51]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).

[105:36]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).

[105:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[105:37]  ²¹ tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[105:38]  ²² tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”