Exodus 1:16

1:16 ¹  “When you assist ²  the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: ³  If it is a son, kill him, ⁴  but if it is a daughter, she may live.” ⁵ 

Exodus 3:5

3:5 God ⁶  said, “Do not approach any closer! ⁷  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ⁸  ground.” ⁹ 

Exodus 6:26-27

6:26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.” ¹⁰  6:27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 8:19

8:19 The magicians said ¹¹  to Pharaoh, “It is the finger ¹²  of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ¹³  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Exodus 9:34

9:34 When Pharaoh saw ¹⁴  that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: ¹⁵  both he and his servants hardened ¹⁶  their hearts.

Exodus 12:11

12:11 This is how you are to eat it – dressed to travel, ¹⁷  your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. ¹⁸ 

Exodus 13:2

13:2 “Set apart ¹⁹  to me every firstborn male – the first offspring of every womb ²⁰  among the Israelites, whether human or animal; it is mine.” ²¹ 

Exodus 18:5

18:5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ ²²  sons and his wife, came to Moses in the desert where he was camping by ²³  the mountain of God. ²⁴ 

Exodus 29:14

29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up ²⁵  outside the camp. ²⁶  It is the purification offering. ²⁷ 

Exodus 29:25

29:25 Then you are to take them from their hands and burn ²⁸  them ²⁹  on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

Exodus 29:34

29:34 If any of the meat from the consecration offerings ³⁰  or any of the bread is left over ³¹  until morning, then you are to burn up ³²  what is left over. It must not be eaten, ³³  because it is holy.

Exodus 30:10

30:10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; ³⁴  once in the year ³⁵  he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” ³⁶ 

Exodus 30:32

30:32 It must not be applied ³⁷  to people’s bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.

Exodus 32:9

32:9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. ³⁸  Look ³⁹  what a stiff-necked people they are! ⁴⁰ 

Exodus 32:22

32:22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; ⁴¹  you know these people, that they tend to evil. ⁴² 

[1:16]  ¹ tn The verse starts with the verb that began the last verse; to read it again seems redundant. Some versions render it “spoke” in v. 15 and “said” in v. 16. In effect, Pharaoh has been delayed from speaking while the midwives are named.

[1:16]  ² tn The form is the Piel infinitive construct serving in an adverbial clause of time. This clause lays the foundation for the next verb, the Qal perfect with a vav consecutive: “when you assist…then you will observe.” The latter carries an instructional nuance (= the imperfect of instruction), “you are to observe.”

[1:16]  ³ tn Heb “at the birthstool” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV), but since this particular item is not especially well known today, the present translation simply states “at the delivery.” Cf. NIV “delivery stool.”

[1:16]  ⁴ sn The instructions must have been temporary or selective, otherwise the decree from the king would have ended the slave population of Hebrews. It is also possible that the king did not think through this, but simply took steps to limit the population growth. The narrative is not interested in supplying details, only in portraying the king as a wicked fool bent on destroying Israel.

[1:16]  ⁵ tn The last form וָחָיָה (vakhaya) in the verse is unusual; rather than behaving as a III-Hey form, it is written as a geminate but without the daghesh forte in pause (GKC 218 §76.i). In the conditional clause, following the parallel instruction (“kill him”), this form should be rendered “she may live” or “let her live.”

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “And he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:5]  ⁷ sn Even though the Lord was drawing near to Moses, Moses could not casually approach him. There still was a barrier between God and human, and God had to remind Moses of this with instructions. The removal of sandals was, and still is in the East, a sign of humility and reverence in the presence of the Holy One. It was a way of excluding the dust and dirt of the world. But it also took away personal comfort and convenience and brought the person more closely in contact with the earth.

[3:5]  ⁸ sn The word קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) indicates “set apart, distinct, unique.” What made a mountain or other place holy was the fact that God chose that place to reveal himself or to reside among his people. Because God was in this place, the ground was different – it was holy.

[3:5]  ⁹ tn The causal clause includes within it a typical relative clause, which is made up of the relative pronoun, then the independent personal pronoun with the participle, and then the preposition with the resumptive pronoun. It would literally be “which you are standing on it,” but the relative pronoun and the resumptive pronoun are combined and rendered, “on which you are standing.”

[6:26]  ¹¹ tn Or “by their hosts” or “by their armies.” Often translated “hosts” (ASV, NASB) or “armies” (KJV), צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) is a military term that portrays the people of God in battle array. In contemporary English, “regiment” is perhaps more easily understood as a force for battle than “company” (cf. NAB, NRSV) or “division” (NIV, NCV, NLT), both of which can have commercial associations. The term also implies an orderly departure.

[8:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the magicians said.”

[8:19]  ¹⁷ tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).

[8:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[9:34]  ²¹ tn The clause beginning with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next, and main clause – that he hardened his heart again.

[9:34]  ²² tn The construction is another verbal hendiadys: וַיֹּסֶף לַחֲטֹּא (vayyosef lakhatto’), literally rendered “and he added to sin.” The infinitive construct becomes the main verb, and the Hiphil preterite becomes adverbial. The text is clearly interpreting as sin the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his refusal to release Israel. At the least this means that the plagues are his fault, but the expression probably means more than this – he was disobeying Yahweh God.

[9:34]  ²³ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[12:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your loins girded.”

[12:11]  ²⁷ tn The meaning of פֶּסַח (pesakh) is debated. (1) Some have tried to connect it to the Hebrew verb with the same radicals that means “to halt, leap, limp, stumble.” See 1 Kgs 18:26 where the word describes the priests of Baal hopping around the altar; also the crippled child in 2 Sam 4:4. (2) Others connect it to the Akkadian passahu, which means “to appease, make soft, placate”; or (3) an Egyptian word to commemorate the harvest (see J. B. Segal, The Hebrew Passover, 95-100). The verb occurs in Isa 31:5 with the connotation of “to protect”; B. S. Childs suggests that this was already influenced by the exodus tradition (Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 11). Whatever links there may or may not have been that show an etymology, in Exod 12 it is describing Yahweh’s passing over or through.

[13:2]  ³¹ tn The verb “sanctify” is the Piel imperative of קָדַשׁ (qadash). In the Qal stem it means “be holy, be set apart, be distinct,” and in this stem “sanctify, set apart.”

[13:2]  ³² tn The word פֶּטֶּר (petter) means “that which opens”; this construction literally says, “that which opens every womb,” which means “the first offspring of every womb.” Verses 12 and 15 further indicate male offspring.

[13:2]  ³³ tn Heb “to me it.” The preposition here expresses possession; the construction is simply “it [is, belongs] to me.”

[18:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:5]  ³⁷ tn This is an adverbial accusative that defines the place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).

[18:5]  ³⁸ sn The mountain of God is Horeb, and so the desert here must be the Sinai desert by it. But chap. 19 suggests that they left Rephidim to go the 24 miles to Sinai. It may be that this chapter fits in chronologically after the move to Sinai, but was placed here thematically. W. C. Kaiser defends the present location of the story by responding to other reasons for the change given by Lightfoot, but does not deal with the travel locations (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:411).

[29:14]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:14]  ⁴² sn This is to be done because there is no priesthood yet. Once they are installed, then the sin/purification offering is to be eaten by the officiating priests as a sign that the offering was received. But priests could not consume their own sin offering.

[29:14]  ⁴³ sn There were two kinds of “purification offering,” those made with confession for sin and those made without. The title needs to cover both of them, and if it is called in the traditional way “the sin offering,” that will convey that when people offered it for skin diseases, menstruation, or having babies, they had sinned. That was not the case. Moreover, it is usual to translate the names of the sacrifices by what they do more than what they cover – so peace offering, reparation offering, and purification offering.

[29:25]  ⁴⁶ tn “turn to sweet smoke.”

[29:25]  ⁴⁷ tn “them” has been supplied.

[29:34]  ⁵¹ tn Or “ordination offerings” (Heb “fillings”).

[29:34]  ⁵² tn The verb in the conditional clause is a Niphal imperfect of יָתַר (yatar); this verb is repeated in the next clause (as a Niphal participle) as the direct object of the verb “you will burn” (a Qal perfect with a vav [ו] consecutive to form the instruction).

[29:34]  ⁵³ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:34]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect negated. It expresses the prohibition against eating this, but in the passive voice: “it will not be eaten,” or stronger, “it must not be eaten.”

[30:10]  ⁵⁶ tn The word “atonements” (plural in Hebrew) is a genitive showing the result or product of the sacrifice made.

[30:10]  ⁵⁷ sn This ruling presupposes that the instruction for the Day of Atonement has been given, or at the very least, is to be given shortly. That is the one day of the year that all sin and all ritual impurity would be removed.

[30:10]  ⁵⁸ sn The phrase “most holy to the Lord” means that the altar cannot be used for any other purpose than what is stated here.

[30:32]  ⁶¹ tn Without an expressed subject, the verb may be treated as a passive. Any common use, as in personal hygiene, would be a complete desecration.

[32:9]  ⁶⁶ sn This is a bold anthropomorphism; it is as if God has now had a chance to get to know these people and has discovered how rebellious they are. The point of the figure is that there has been discernible evidence of their nature.

[32:9]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and behold” or “and look.” The expression directs attention in order to persuade the hearer.

[32:9]  ⁶⁸ sn B. Jacob says the image is that of the people walking before God, and when he called to them the directions, they would not bend their neck to listen; they were resolute in doing what they intended to do (Exodus, 943). The figure describes them as refusing to submit, but resisting in pride.

[32:22]  ⁷¹ sn “My lord” refers to Moses.

[32:22]  ⁷² tn Heb “that on evil it is.”