Exodus 1:14

1:14 They made their lives bitter ¹  by ²  hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service ³  in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. ⁴ 

Exodus 10:8

10:8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?” ⁵ 

Exodus 10:24

10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord – only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families ⁶  may go with you.”

Exodus 14:31

14:31 When Israel saw ⁷  the great power ⁸  that the Lord had exercised ⁹  over the Egyptians, they ¹⁰  feared the Lord, and they believed in ¹¹  the Lord and in his servant Moses. ¹² 

Exodus 21:20

21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she ¹³  dies as a result of the blow, ¹⁴  he will surely be punished. ¹⁵ 

Exodus 21:26

21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, ¹⁶  he will let the servant ¹⁷  go free ¹⁸  as compensation for the eye.

[1:14]  ¹ sn The verb מָרַר (marar) anticipates the introduction of the theme of bitterness in the instructions for the Passover.

[1:14]  ² tn The preposition bet (ב) in this verse has the instrumental use: “by means of” (see GKC 380 §119.o).

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “and in all service.”

[1:14]  ⁴ tn The line could be more literally translated, “All their service in which they served them [was] with rigor.” This takes the referent of בָּהֶם (bahem) to be the Egyptians. The pronoun may also resume the reference to the kinds of service and so not be needed in English: “All their service in which they served [was] with rigor.”

[10:8]  ⁵ tn The question is literally “who and who are the ones going?” (מִי וָמִי הַהֹלְכִים, mi vami haholÿkhim). Pharaoh’s answer to Moses includes this rude question, which was intended to say that Pharaoh would control who went. The participle in this clause, then, refers to the future journey.

[10:24]  ⁹ tn Or “dependents.” The term is often translated “your little ones,” but as mentioned before (10:10), this expression in these passages takes in women and children and other dependents. Pharaoh will now let all the people go, but he intends to detain the cattle to secure their return.

[14:31]  ¹³ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse is making.

[14:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the great hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for work or power. The word play using “hand” contrasts the Lord’s hand/power at work on behalf of the Israelites with the hand/power of Egypt that would have killed them.

[14:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “did, made.”

[14:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the people feared.”

[14:31]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of אָמַן (’aman).

[14:31]  ¹⁸ sn Here the title of “servant” is given to Moses. This is the highest title a mortal can have in the OT – the “servant of Yahweh.” It signifies more than a believer; it describes the individual as acting on behalf of God. For example, when Moses stretched out his hand, God used it as his own (Isa 63:12). Moses was God’s personal representative. The chapter records both a message of salvation and of judgment. Like the earlier account of deliverance at the Passover, this chapter can be a lesson on deliverance from present troubles – if God could do this for Israel, there is no trouble too great for him to overcome. The passage can also be understood as a picture (at least) of the deliverance at the final judgment on the world. But the Israelites used this account for a paradigm of the power of God: namely, God is able to deliver his people from danger because he is the sovereign Lord of creation. His people must learn to trust him, even in desperate situations; they must fear him and not the situation. God can bring any threat to an end by bringing his power to bear in judgment on the wicked.

[21:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “so that he”; the words “or she” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “under his hand.”

[21:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will be avenged” (how is not specified).

[21:26]  ²¹ tn The form וְשִׁחֲתָהּ (vÿshikhatah) is the Piel perfect with the vav (ל) consecutive, rendered “and destroys it.” The verb is a strong one, meaning “to ruin, completely destroy.”

[21:26]  ²² tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:26]  ²³ sn Interestingly, the verb used here for “let him go” is the same verb throughout the first part of the book for “release” of the Israelites from slavery. Here, an Israelite will have to release the injured slave.