Exodus 10:10

10:10 He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you ¹  if I release you and your dependents! ²  Watch out! ³  Trouble is right in front of you! ⁴ 

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 ⁵  may go with you.”

Exodus 20:22

The Altar

20:22 ⁶ The Lord said ⁷  to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

Exodus 24:8

24:8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on ⁸  the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant ⁹  that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 24:14

24:14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are ¹⁰  Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute ¹¹  can approach ¹²  them.”

[10:10]  ¹ sn Pharaoh is by no means offering a blessing on them in the name of Yahweh. The meaning of his “wish” is connected to the next clause – as he is releasing them, may God help them. S. R. Driver says that in Pharaoh’s scornful challenge Yahweh is as likely to protect them as Pharaoh is likely to let them go – not at all (Exodus, 80). He is planning to keep the women and children as hostages to force the men to return. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 125) paraphrases it this way: “May the help of your God be as far from you as I am from giving you permission to go forth with your little ones.” The real irony, Cassuto observes, is that in the final analysis he will let them go, and Yahweh will be with them.

[10:10]  ² tn The context of Moses’ list of young and old, sons and daughters, and the contrast with the word for strong “men” in v. 11 indicates that טַפְּכֶם (tappÿkhem), often translated “little ones” or “children,” refers to dependent people, noncombatants in general.

[10:10]  ³ tn Heb “see.”

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “before your face.”

[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.

[20:22]  ⁹ sn Based on the revelation of the holy sovereign God, this pericope instructs Israel on the form of proper worship of such a God. It focuses on the altar, the centerpiece of worship. The point of the section is this: those who worship this holy God must preserve holiness in the way they worship – they worship where he permits, in the manner he prescribes, and with the blessings he promises. This paragraph is said to open the Book of the Covenant, which specifically rules on matters of life and worship.

[20:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[24:8]  ¹³ tn Given the size of the congregation, the preposition might be rendered here “toward the people” rather than on them (all).

[24:8]  ¹⁴ sn The construct relationship “the blood of the covenant” means “the blood by which the covenant is ratified” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 254). The parallel with the inauguration of the new covenant in the blood of Christ is striking (see, e.g., Matt 26:28, 1 Cor 11:25). When Jesus was inaugurating the new covenant, he was bringing to an end the old.

[24:14]  ¹⁷ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh) calls attention to the presence of Aaron and Hur to answer the difficult cases that might come up.

[24:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “issues to resolve.” The term is simply דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, “words, things, matters”).

[24:14]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of potential imperfect. In the absence of Moses and Joshua, Aaron and Hur will be available.