Exodus 1:18

1:18 Then the king of Egypt summoned ¹  the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” ² 

Exodus 4:5

4:5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Exodus 5:4

5:4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work? ³  Return to your labor!”

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 ⁴  may go with you.”

Exodus 13:12

13:12 then you must give over ⁵  to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. ⁶  Every firstling ⁷  of a beast that you have ⁸  – the males will be the Lord’s. ⁹ 

Exodus 25:29

25:29 You are to make its plates, ¹⁰  its ladles, ¹¹  its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; ¹²  you are to make them of pure gold.

Exodus 26:9

26:9 You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over ¹³  the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.

Exodus 27:2-3

27:2 You are to make its four horns ¹⁴  on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, ¹⁵  and you are to overlay it with bronze. 27:3 You are to make its pots for the ashes, ¹⁶  its shovels, its tossing bowls, ¹⁷  its meat hooks, and its fire pans – you are to make all ¹⁸  its utensils of bronze.

Exodus 30:3

30:3 You are to overlay it with pure gold – its top, ¹⁹  its four walls, ²⁰  and its horns – and make a surrounding border of gold for it. ²¹ 

[1:18]  ¹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has here the nuance of “summon.” The same construction is used later when Pharaoh summons Moses.

[1:18]  ² tn The second verb in Pharaoh’s speech is a preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. It may indicate a simple sequence: “Why have you done…and (so that you) let live?” It could also indicate that this is a second question, “Why have you done …[why] have you let live?”

[5:4]  ³ sn The clause is a rhetorical question. Pharaoh is not asking them why they do this, but rather is accusing them of doing it. He suspects their request is an attempt to get people time away from their labor. In Pharaoh’s opinion, Moses and Aaron were “removing the restraint” (פָּרַע, para’) of the people in an effort to give them rest. Ironically, under the Law the people would be expected to cease their labor when they went to appear before God. He would give them the rest that Pharaoh refused to give. It should be noted also that it was not Israel who doubted that Yahweh had sent Moses, as Moses had feared – but rather Pharaoh.

[10:24]  ⁵ 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.

[13:12]  ⁷ tn The unusual choice of words in this passage reflects the connection with the deliverance of the firstborn in the exodus when the Lord passed over the Israelites (12:12, 23). Here the Law said, “you will cause to pass over (וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ, vÿha’avarta) to Yahweh.” The Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) provides the main clause after the temporal clauses. Yahweh here claimed the firstborn as his own. The remarkable thing about this is that Yahweh did not keep the firstborn that was dedicated to him, but allowed the child to be redeemed by his father. It was an acknowledgment that the life of the child belonged to God as the one redeemed from death, and that the child represented the family. Thus, the observance referred to the dedication of all the redeemed to God.

[13:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “every opener of a womb,” that is, the firstborn from every womb.

[13:12]  ⁹ tn The descriptive noun שֶׁגֶר (sheger) is related to the verb “drop, cast”; it refers to a newly born animal that is dropped or cast from the womb. The expression then reads, “and all that first open [the womb], the casting of a beast.”

[13:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that is to you.” The preposition expresses possession.

[13:12]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “the males to Yahweh.” It indicates that the Lord must have them, or they belong to the Lord.

[25:29]  ⁹ tn Or “a deep gold dish.” The four nouns in this list are items associated with the table and its use.

[25:29]  ¹⁰ tn Or “cups” (NAB, TEV).

[25:29]  ¹¹ tn The expression “for pouring out offerings” represents Hebrew אֲשֶׁר יֻסַּךְ בָּהֵן (’asher yussakh bahen). This literally says, “which it may be poured out with them,” or “with which [libations] may be poured out.”

[26:9]  ¹¹ sn The text seems to describe this part as being in front of the tabernacle, hanging down to form a valence at the entrance (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 284).

[27:2]  ¹³ sn The horns of the altar were indispensable – they were the most sacred part. Blood was put on them; fugitives could cling to them, and the priests would grab the horns of the little altar when making intercessory prayer. They signified power, as horns on an animal did in the wild (and so the word was used for kings as well). The horns may also represent the sacrificial animals killed on the altar.

[27:2]  ¹⁴ sn The text, as before, uses the prepositional phrase “from it” or “part of it” to say that the horns will be part of the altar – of the same piece as the altar. They were not to be made separately and then attached, but made at the end of the boards used to build the altar (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 363).

[27:3]  ¹⁵ sn The word is literally “its fat,” but sometimes it describes “fatty ashes” (TEV “the greasy ashes”). The fat would run down and mix with the ashes, and this had to be collected and removed.

[27:3]  ¹⁶ sn This was the larger bowl used in tossing the blood at the side of the altar.

[27:3]  ¹⁷ tn The text has “to all its vessels.” This is the lamed (ל) of inclusion according to Gesenius, meaning “all its utensils” (GKC 458 §143.e).

[30:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “roof.”

[30:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “its walls around.”

[30:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and make for it border gold around.” The verb is a consecutive perfect. See Exod 25:11, where the ark also has such a molding.