Exodus 1:1

Blessing during Bondage in Egypt

1:1 ¹ These ²  are the names ³  of the sons of Israel ⁴  who entered Egypt – each man with his household ⁵  entered with Jacob:

Exodus 2:12

2:12 He looked this way and that ⁶  and saw that no one was there, ⁷  and then he attacked ⁸  the Egyptian and concealed the body ⁹  in the sand.

Exodus 2:21

2:21 Moses agreed ¹⁰  to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. ¹¹ 

Exodus 5:9

5:9 Make the work harder ¹²  for the men so they will keep at it ¹³  and pay no attention to lying words!” ¹⁴ 

Exodus 7:12

7:12 Each man ¹⁵  threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

Exodus 12:44

12:44 But everyone’s servant who is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it.

Exodus 16:18-19

16:18 When ¹⁶  they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

16:19 Moses said to them, “No one ¹⁷  is to keep any of it ¹⁸  until morning.”

Exodus 16:21

16:21 So they gathered it each morning, ¹⁹  each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt. ²⁰ 

Exodus 21:7

21:7 “If a man sells his daughter ²¹  as a female servant, ²²  she will not go out as the male servants do.

Exodus 21:14

21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ²³  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Exodus 30:33

30:33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts any of it on someone not a priest ²⁴  will be cut off ²⁵  from his people.’”

Exodus 33:4

33:4 When the people heard this troubling word ²⁶  they mourned; ²⁷  no one put on his ornaments.

[1:1]  ¹ sn Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the Lord God, but calling for faith every step of the way. See also D. W. Wicke, “The Literary Structure of Exodus 1:2–2:10,” JSOT 24 (1982): 99-107.

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “now these” or “and these.” The vav (ו) disjunctive marks a new beginning in the narrative begun in Genesis.

[1:1]  ³ sn The name of the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is שְׁמוֹת (shÿmot), the word for “Names,” drawn from the beginning of the book. The inclusion of the names at this point forms a literary connection to the book of Genesis. It indicates that the Israelites living in bondage had retained a knowledge of their ancestry, and with it, a knowledge of God’s promise.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn The expression בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man and his house.” Since this serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[2:12]  ⁶ tn The text literally says, “and he turned thus and thus” (וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה, vayyifen koh vakhoh). It may indicate that he turned his gaze in all directions to ascertain that no one would observe what he did. Or, as B. Jacob argues, it may mean that he saw that there was no one to do justice and so he did it himself (Exodus, 37-38, citing Isa 59:15-16).

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “he saw that there was no man.”

[2:12]  ⁸ sn The verb וַיַּךְ (vayyakh) is from the root נָכָה (nakhah, “to smite, attack”) which is used in v. 11. This new attack is fatal. The repetition of the verb, especially in Exodus, anticipates the idea of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” The problem is, however, that Moses was not authorized to take this matter into his own hands in this way. The question the next day was appropriate: “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” The answer? No one – yet.

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “him”; for stylistic reasons the referent has been specified as “the body.”

[2:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “and Moses was willing” to stay with Reuel. The Talmud understood this to mean that he swore, and so when it came time to leave he had to have a word from God and permission from his father-in-law (Exod 4:18-19).

[2:21]  ¹² tn The words “in marriage” are implied, and have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let the work be heavy.”

[5:9]  ¹⁷ tn The text has וְיַעֲשׂוּ־בָהּ (vÿya’asu-vah, “and let them work in it”) or the like. The jussive forms part of the king’s decree that the men not only be required to work harder but be doing it: “Let them be occupied in it.”

[5:9]  ¹⁸ sn The words of Moses are here called “lying words” (דִבְרֵי־שָׁקֶר, divre-shaqer). Here is the main reason, then, for Pharaoh’s new policy. He wanted to discredit Moses. So the words that Moses spoke Pharaoh calls false and lying words. The world was saying that God’s words were vain and deceptive because they were calling people to a higher order. In a short time God would reveal that they were true words.

[7:12]  ²¹ tn The verb is plural, but the subject is singular, “a man – his staff.” This noun can be given a distributive sense: “each man threw down his staff.”

[16:18]  ²⁶ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is subordinated here as a temporal clause.

[16:19]  ³¹ tn The address now is for “man” (אִישׁ, ’ish), “each one”; here the instruction seems to be focused on the individual heads of the households.

[16:19]  ³² tn Or “some of it,” “from it.”

[16:21]  ³⁶ tn Heb “morning by morning.” This is an example of the repetition of words to express the distributive sense; here the meaning is “every morning” (see GKC 388 §121.c).

[16:21]  ³⁷ tn The perfect tenses here with vav (ו) consecutives have the frequentative sense; they function in a protasis-apodosis relationship (GKC 494 §159.g).

[21:7]  ⁴¹ sn This paragraph is troubling to modern readers, but given the way that marriages were contracted and the way people lived in the ancient world, it was a good provision for people who might want to find a better life for their daughter. On the subject in general for this chapter, see W. M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women, 31-64.

[21:7]  ⁴² tn The word אָמָה (’amah) refers to a female servant who would eventually become a concubine or wife; the sale price included the amount for the service as well as the bride price (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 621). The arrangement recognized her honor as an Israelite woman, one who could be a wife, even though she entered the household in service. The marriage was not automatic, as the conditions show, but her treatment was safeguarded come what may. The law was a way, then, for a poor man to provide a better life for a daughter.

[21:14]  ⁴⁶ tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.

[30:33]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “a stranger,” meaning someone not ordained a priest.

[30:33]  ⁵² sn The rabbinic interpretation of this is that it is a penalty imposed by heaven, that the life will be cut short and the person could die childless.

[33:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “bad news” (NAB, NCV).

[33:4]  ⁵⁷ sn The people would rather have risked divine discipline than to go without Yahweh in their midst. So they mourned, and they took off the ornaments. Such had been used in making the golden calf, and so because of their association with all of that they were to be removed as a sign of remorse.