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 4:8

4:8 “If ⁶  they do not believe you or pay attention to ⁷  the former sign, then they may ⁸  believe the latter sign. ⁹ 

Exodus 12:9

12:9 Do not eat it raw ¹⁰  or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails.

Exodus 18:23

18:23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, ¹¹  then you will be able ¹²  to endure, ¹³  and all these people ¹⁴  will be able to go ¹⁵  home ¹⁶  satisfied.” ¹⁷ 

Exodus 19:5

19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me ¹⁸  and keep ¹⁹  my covenant, then you will be my ²⁰  special possession ²¹  out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine,

Exodus 21:4

21:4 If his master gave ²²  him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.

Exodus 21:8

21:8 If she does not please ²³  her master, who has designated her ²⁴  for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. ²⁵  He has no right ²⁶  to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully ²⁷  with her.

Exodus 21:19

21:19 and then ²⁸  if he gets up and walks about ²⁹  outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay ³⁰  for the injured person’s ³¹  loss of time ³²  and see to it that he is fully healed.

Exodus 21:32

21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner ³³  must pay thirty shekels of silver, ³⁴  and the ox must be stoned. ³⁵ 

Exodus 22:4

22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found ³⁶  alive in his possession, ³⁷  whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. ³⁸ 

Exodus 22:7

22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles ³⁹  for safekeeping, ⁴⁰  and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, ⁴¹  he must repay double.

Exodus 22:11

22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord ⁴²  between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.

Exodus 22:25

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ⁴³  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ⁴⁴  to him; do not charge ⁴⁵  him interest. ⁴⁶ 

Exodus 23:22

23:22 But if you diligently obey him ⁴⁷  and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries.

[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.”

[4:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and it will be if.”

[4:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “listen to the voice of,” meaning listen so as to respond appropriately.

[4:8]  ⁸ tn The nuance of this perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive will be equal to the imperfect of possibility – “they may believe.”

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “believe the voice of the latter sign,” so as to understand and accept the meaning of the event.

[12:9]  ¹¹ sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.

[18:23]  ¹⁶ tn The form is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the same nuance as the preceding imperfect in the conditional clause.

[18:23]  ¹⁷ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive now appears in the apodosis of the conditional sentence – “if you do this…then you will be able.”

[18:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to stand.” B. Jacob (Exodus, 501) suggests that there might be a humorous side to this: “you could even do this standing up.”

[18:23]  ¹⁹ tn Literally “this people.”

[18:23]  ²⁰ tn The verb is the simple imperfect, “will go,” but given the sense of the passage a potential nuance seems in order.

[18:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “his place.”

[18:23]  ²² tn Heb “in peace.”

[19:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiom “listen to the voice of” implies obedience, not just mental awareness of sound.

[19:5]  ²² tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: “and [if you will] keep.”

[19:5]  ²³ tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”

[19:5]  ²⁴ tn The noun is סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah), which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, “Hebrew sÿgulla: Akkadian sikiltu,” JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.

[21:4]  ²⁶ sn The slave would not have the right or the means to acquire a wife. Thus, the idea of the master’s “giving” him a wife is clear – the master would have to pay the bride price and make the provision. In this case, the wife and the children are actually the possession of the master unless the slave were to pay the bride price – but he is a slave because he got into debt. The law assumes that the master was better able to provide for this woman than the freed slave and that it was most important to keep the children with the mother.

[21:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “and if unpleasant (רָעָה, ra’ah) in the eyes of her master.”

[21:8]  ³² tn The verb יָעַד (ya’ad) does not mean “betroth, espouse” as some of the earlier translations had it, but “to designate.” When he bought the girl, he designated her for himself, giving her and her family certain expectations.

[21:8]  ³³ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect with vav (ו) consecutive from פָדָה (padah, “to redeem”). Here in the apodosis the form is equivalent to an imperfect: “let someone redeem her” – perhaps her father if he can, or another. U. Cassuto says it can also mean she can redeem herself and dissolve the relationship (Exodus, 268).

[21:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he has no authority/power,” for the verb means “rule, have dominion.”

[21:8]  ³⁵ sn The deceit is in not making her his wife or concubine as the arrangement had stipulated.

[21:19]  ³⁶ tn “and then” has been supplied.

[21:19]  ³⁷ tn The verb is a Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the sequence of the imperfect before it – “if he gets up and walks about.” This is proof of recovery.

[21:19]  ³⁸ tn The imperfect tense carries a nuance of obligatory imperfect because this is binding on the one who hit him.

[21:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the injured person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ⁴⁰ tn The word appears to be the infinitive from the verb “to sit” with a meaning of “his sitting down”; some suggest it is from the verb “to rest” with a meaning “cease.” In either case the point in the context must mean compensation is due for the time he was down.

[21:32]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32]  ⁴² sn A shekel was a unit for measure by means of a scale. Both the weight and the value of a shekel of silver are hard to determine. “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181). Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 shekels. The free Israelite citizen was worth about 50 shekels (Lev 27:3f.).

[21:32]  ⁴³ sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21,28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.

[22:4]  ⁴⁶ tn The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:4]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “in his hand.”

[22:4]  ⁴⁸ sn He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.

[22:7]  ⁵¹ tn The word usually means “vessels” but can have the sense of household goods and articles. It could be anything from jewels and ornaments to weapons or pottery.

[22:7]  ⁵² tn Heb “to keep.” Here “safekeeping,” that is, to keep something secure on behalf of a third party, is intended.

[22:7]  ⁵³ tn Heb “found.”

[22:11]  ⁵⁶ tn The construct relationship שְׁבֻעַת יְהוָה (shÿvu’at yÿhvah, “the oath of Yahweh”) would require a genitive of indirect object, “an oath [to] Yahweh.” U. Cassuto suggests that it means “an oath by Yahweh” (Exodus, 287). The person to whom the animal was entrusted would take a solemn oath to Yahweh that he did not appropriate the animal for himself, and then his word would be accepted.

[22:25]  ⁶¹ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ⁶² sn The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”

[22:25]  ⁶³ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ⁶⁴ sn In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” JNES 30 [1971]: 127-34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 161-70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” HUCA 26 [1955]: 355-412).

[23:22]  ⁶⁶ tn The infinitive absolute here does not add as great an emphasis as normal, but emphasizes the condition that is being set forth (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).