Exodus 1:21

1:21 And because the midwives feared God, he made ¹  households ²  for them.

Exodus 2:25

2:25 God saw ³  the Israelites, and God understood…. ⁴ 

Exodus 3:8

3:8 I have come down ⁵  to deliver them ⁶  from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, ⁷  to a land flowing with milk and honey, ⁸  to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁹ 

Exodus 3:18

3:18 “The elders ¹⁰  will listen ¹¹  to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met ¹²  with us. So now, let us go ¹³  three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice ¹⁴  to the Lord our God.’

Exodus 4:29

4:29 Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders. ¹⁵ 

Exodus 8:4

8:4 Frogs ¹⁶  will come up against you, your people, and all your servants.”’” ¹⁷ 

Exodus 8:14

8:14 The Egyptians ¹⁸  piled them in countless heaps, ¹⁹  and the land stank.

Exodus 9:17

9:17 You are still exalting ²⁰  yourself against my people by ²¹  not releasing them.

Exodus 16:32

16:32 Moses said, “This is what ²²  the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept ²³  for generations to come, ²⁴  so that they may see ²⁵  the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 23:11

23:11 But in the seventh year ²⁶  you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field ²⁷  may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Exodus 26:18

26:18 So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side, ²⁸ 

Exodus 28:18

28:18 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald;

Exodus 28:43

28:43 These must be on Aaron and his sons when they enter ²⁹  to the tent of meeting, or when they approach ³⁰  the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they bear no iniquity and die. ³¹  It is to be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants ³²  after him. ³³ 

Exodus 33:5

33:5 For ³⁴  the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, ³⁵  I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, ³⁶  that I may know ³⁷  what I should do to you.’” ³⁸ 

Exodus 34:8

34:8 Moses quickly bowed ³⁹  to the ground and worshiped

Exodus 36:23

36:23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side.

[1:21]  ¹ tn The temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) focuses attention on the causal clause and lays the foundation for the main clause, namely, “God made households for them.” This is the second time the text affirms the reason for their defiance, their fear of God.

[1:21]  ² tn Or “families”; Heb “houses.”

[2:25]  ³ tn Heb “and God saw.”

[2:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “and God knew” (יָדַע, yada’). The last clause contains a widely used verb for knowing, but it leaves the object unexpressed within the clause, so as to allow all that vv. 23-24 have described to serve as the compelling content of God’s knowing. (Many modern English versions supply an object for the verb following the LXX, which reads “knew them.”) The idea seems to be that God took personal knowledge of, noticed, or regarded them. In other passages the verb “know” is similar in meaning to “save” or “show pity.” See especially Gen 18:21, Ps 1:6; 31:7, and Amos 3:2. Exodus has already provided an example of the results of not knowing in 1:8 (cf. 5:2).

[3:8]  ⁵ sn God’s coming down is a frequent anthropomorphism in Genesis and Exodus. It expresses his direct involvement, often in the exercise of judgment.

[3:8]  ⁶ tn The Hiphil infinitive with the suffix is לְהַצִּילוֹ (lÿhatsilo, “to deliver them”). It expresses the purpose of God’s coming down. The verb itself is used for delivering or rescuing in the general sense, and snatching out of danger for the specific.

[3:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “to a land good and large”; NRSV “to a good and broad land.” In the translation the words “that is both” are supplied because in contemporary English “good and” combined with any additional descriptive term can be understood as elative (“good and large” = “very large”; “good and spacious” = “very spacious”; “good and ready” = “very ready”). The point made in the Hebrew text is that the land to which they are going is both good (in terms of quality) and large (in terms of size).

[3:8]  ⁸ tn This vibrant description of the promised land is a familiar one. Gesenius classifies “milk and honey” as epexegetical genitives because they provide more precise description following a verbal adjective in the construct state (GKC 418-19 §128.x). The land is modified by “flowing,” and “flowing” is explained by the genitives “milk and honey.” These two products will be in abundance in the land, and they therefore exemplify what a desirable land it is. The language is hyperbolic, as if the land were streaming with these products.

[3:8]  ⁹ tn Each people group is joined to the preceding by the vav conjunction, “and.” Each also has the definite article, as in other similar lists (3:17; 13:5; 34:11). To repeat the conjunction and article in the translation seems to put more weight on the list in English than is necessary to its function in identifying what land God was giving the Israelites.

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “And they will listen”; the referent (the elders) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ⁸ tn This is the combination of the verb שָׁמַע (shama’) followed by לְקֹלֶךָ (lÿqolekha), an idiomatic formation that means “listen to your voice,” which in turn implies a favorable response.

[3:18]  ⁹ tn The verb נִקְרָה (niqra) has the idea of encountering in a sudden or unexpected way (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 25).

[3:18]  ¹⁰ tn The form used here is the cohortative of הָלַךְ (halakh). It could be a resolve, but more likely before Pharaoh it is a request.

[3:18]  ¹¹ tn Here a cohortative with a vav (ו) follows a cohortative; the second one expresses purpose or result: “let us go…in order that we may.”

[4:29]  ⁹ sn These are the leaders of the tribes who represented all the people. Later, after the exodus, Moses will select the most capable of them and others to be rulers in a judicial sense (Exod 18:21).

[8:4]  ¹¹ tn Here again is the generic use of the article, designating the class – frogs.

[8:4]  ¹² sn The word order of the Hebrew text is important because it shows how the plague was pointedly directed at Pharaoh: “and against you, and against your people, and against all your servants frogs will go up.”

[8:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they piled them.” For clarity the translation supplies the referent “the Egyptians” as the ones who were piling the frogs.

[8:14]  ¹⁴ tn The word “heaps” is repeated: חֳמָרִם הֳמָרִם (khomarim khomarim). The repetition serves to intensify the idea to the highest degree – “countless heaps” (see GKC 396 §123.e).

[9:17]  ¹⁵ tn מִסְתּוֹלֵל (mistolel) is a Hitpael participle, from a root that means “raise up, obstruct.” So in the Hitpael it means to “raise oneself up,” “elevate oneself,” or “be an obstructionist.” See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 116.

[9:17]  ¹⁶ tn The infinitive construct with lamed here is epexegetical; it explains how Pharaoh has exalted himself – “by not releasing the people.”

[16:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “This is the thing that.”

[16:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for keeping.”

[16:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).

[16:32]  ²⁰ tn In this construction after the particle expressing purpose or result, the imperfect tense has the nuance of final imperfect, equal to a subjunctive in the classical languages.

[23:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the seventh year”; an adverbial accusative with a disjunctive vav (ו).

[23:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “living thing/creature/beast of the field.” A general term for animals, usually wild animals, including predators (cf. v. 29; Gen 2:19-20; Lev 26:22; Deut 7:22; 1 Sam 17:46; Job 5:22-23; Ezek 29:5; 34:5).

[26:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “on the south side southward.”

[28:43]  ²³ tn The construction for this temporal clause is the infinitive construct with the temporal preposition bet (ב) and the suffixed subjective genitive.

[28:43]  ²⁴ tn This construction is also the temporal clause with the infinitive construct and the temporal preposition bet (ב) and the suffixed subjective genitive.

[28:43]  ²⁵ tn The text has וְלאֹ־יִשְׂאוּ עָוֹן וָמֵתוּ (vÿlo’-yis’u ’avon vametu). The imperfect tense here introduces a final clause, yielding a purpose or result translation (“in order that” or “so that”). The last verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive, and so it too is equal to a final imperfect – but it would show the result of bearing the iniquity. The idea is that if they approached the holy things with a lack of modesty, perhaps like the pagans who have nakedness and sexuality as part of the religious ritual, they would pollute the holy things, and it would be reckoned to them for iniquity and they would die.

[28:43]  ²⁶ tn Heb “seed.”

[28:43]  ²⁷ sn So the priests were to make intercession for the people, give decisions from God’s revealed will, enter his presence in purity, and represent holiness to Yahweh. The clothing of the priests provided for these functions, but in a way that brought honor and dignity. A priest was, therefore, to serve in purity, holiness, and fear (Malachi). There is much that can be derived from this chapter to form principles of spiritual leadership, but the overall point can be worded this way: Those whom God selects to minister to the congregation through intercessory prayer, divine counsel, and sacrificial worship, must always represent the holiness of Yahweh in their activities and demeanor.

[33:5]  ²⁵ tn The verse simply begins “And Yahweh said.” But it is clearly meant to be explanatory for the preceding action of the people.

[33:5]  ²⁶ tn The construction is formed with a simple imperfect in the first half and a perfect tense with vav (ו) in the second half. Heb “[in] one moment I will go up in your midst and I will destroy you.” The verse is certainly not intended to say that God was about to destroy them. That, plus the fact that he has announced he will not go in their midst, leads most commentators to take this as a conditional clause: “If I were to do such and such, then….”

[33:5]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text also has “from on you.”

[33:5]  ²⁸ tn The form is the cohortative with a vav (ו) following the imperative; it therefore expresses the purpose or result: “strip off…that I may know.” The call to remove the ornaments must have been perceived as a call to show true repentance for what had happened. If they repented, then God would know how to deal with them.

[33:5]  ²⁹ tn This last clause begins with the interrogative “what,” but it is used here as an indirect interrogative. It introduces a noun clause, the object of the verb “know.”

[34:8]  ²⁷ tn The first two verbs form a hendiadys: “he hurried…he bowed,” meaning “he quickly bowed down.”