Exodus 9:16

9:16 But ¹  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ²  to show you ³  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ⁴  in all the earth.

Exodus 9:2

9:2 For if you refuse to release them ⁵  and continue holding them, ⁶ 

Exodus 5:1

Opposition to the Plan of God

5:1 ⁷ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, ⁸  the God of Israel, ‘Release ⁹  my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast ¹⁰  to me in the desert.’”

Isaiah 10:15

10:15 Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it,

or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it? ¹¹ 

As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,

or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!

Isaiah 37:26

37:26 ¹² Certainly you must have heard! ¹³ 

Long ago I worked it out,

in ancient times I planned ¹⁴  it,

and now I am bringing it to pass.

The plan is this:

Fortified cities will crash

into heaps of ruins. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 45:1-4

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹⁶  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ¹⁷ 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ¹⁸ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

45:2 “I will go before you

and level mountains. ¹⁹ 

Bronze doors I will shatter

and iron bars ²⁰  I will hack through.

45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, ²¹ 

riches stashed away in secret places,

so you may recognize that I am the Lord,

the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.

45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,

Israel, my chosen one,

I call you by name

and give you a title of respect, even though you do not recognize ²²  me.

Ezekiel 38:16

38:16 You will advance ²³  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ²⁴  through you, O Gog.

Daniel 4:22

4:22 it is you, ²⁵  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.

Daniel 5:18

5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty. ²⁶ 

John 19:11

19:11 Jesus replied, “You would have no authority ²⁷  over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you ²⁸  is guilty of greater sin.” ²⁹ 

[9:16]  ¹ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ² tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ³ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[9:2]  ⁵ tn The object “them” is implied in the context.

[9:2]  ⁶ tn עוֹד (’od), an adverb meaning “yet, still,” can be inflected with suffixes and used as a predicator of existence, with the nuance “to still be, yet be” (T. O. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, 171-72, §137). Then, it is joined here with the Hiphil participle מַחֲזִיק (makhaziq) to form the sentence “you are still holding them.”

[5:1]  ⁷ sn The enthusiasm of the worshipers in the preceding chapter turns sour in this one when Pharaoh refuses to cooperate. The point is clear that when the people of God attempt to devote their full service and allegiance to God, they encounter opposition from the world. Rather than finding instant blessing and peace, they find conflict. This is the theme that will continue through the plague narratives. But what makes chapter 5 especially interesting is how the people reacted to this opposition. The chapter has three sections: first, the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh (vv. 1-5); then the report of the stern opposition of the king (vv. 6-14); and finally, the sad account of the effect of this opposition on the people (vv. 15-21).

[5:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh.”

[5:1]  ⁹ tn The form שַׁלַּח (shallakh), the Piel imperative, has been traditionally translated “let [my people] go.” The Qal would be “send”; so the Piel “send away, release, dismiss, discharge.” B. Jacob observes, “If a person was dismissed through the use of this verb, then he ceased to be within the power or sphere of influence of the individual who had dismissed him. He was completely free and subsequently acted entirely on his own responsibility” (Exodus, 115).

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn The verb חָגַג (khagag) means to hold a feast or to go on a pilgrim feast. The Arabic cognate of the noun form is haj, best known for the pilgrim flight of Mohammed, the hajira. The form in the text (וְיָחֹגּוּ, vÿyakhoggu) is subordinated to the imperative and thus shows the purpose of the imperative.

[10:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the one who pushes it back and forth”; KJV “him that shaketh it”; ASV “him that wieldeth it.”

[37:26]  ¹² tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.

[37:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.

[37:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).

[37:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.

[45:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ¹⁷ sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[45:2]  ¹⁹ tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) makes little, if any, sense here. It is probably a corruption of an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”).

[45:2]  ²⁰ tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”

[45:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”

[45:4]  ²² tn Or “know” (NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT); NIV “acknowledge.”

[38:16]  ²³ tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ²⁴ tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[4:22]  ²⁵ sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.

[5:18]  ²⁶ tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.

[19:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “power.”

[19:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”

[19:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).