Exodus 10:22-23

10:22 So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness ¹  throughout the land of Egypt for three days. ²  10:23 No one ³  could see ⁴  another person, and no one could rise from his place for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

Exodus 12:19

12:19 For seven days ⁵  yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person ⁶  will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner ⁷  or one born in the land.

Exodus 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ⁸ Then Moses led Israel to journey ⁹  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ¹⁰  into the desert, and found no water.

Exodus 22:30

22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Exodus 23:12

23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help ¹¹  may refresh themselves. ¹² 

Exodus 24:16

24:16 The glory of the Lord resided ¹³  on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. ¹⁴  On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.

Exodus 29:30

29:30 The priest who succeeds him ¹⁵  from his sons, when he first comes ¹⁶  to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for seven days. ¹⁷ 

Exodus 29:37

29:37 For seven days ¹⁸  you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. ¹⁹  Anything that touches the altar will be holy. ²⁰ 

Exodus 31:15

31:15 Six days ²¹  work may be done, ²²  but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, ²³  holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

Exodus 34:18

34:18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days ²⁴  you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this ²⁵  at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

Exodus 35:2

35:2 In six days ²⁶  work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ²⁷  for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ²⁸  Anyone who does work on it will be put to death.

[10:22]  ¹ tn The construction is a variation of the superlative genitive: a substantive in the construct state is connected to a noun with the same meaning (see GKC 431 §133.i).

[10:22]  ² sn S. R. Driver says, “The darkness was no doubt occasioned really by a sand-storm, produced by the hot electrical wind…which blows in intermittently…” (Exodus, 82, 83). This is another application of the antisupernatural approach to these texts. The text, however, is probably describing something that was not a seasonal wind, or Pharaoh would not have been intimidated. If it coincided with that season, then what is described here is so different and so powerful that the Egyptians would have known the difference easily. Pharaoh here would have had to have been impressed that this was something very abnormal, and that his god was powerless. Besides, there was light in all the dwellings of the Israelites.

[10:23]  ³ tn Heb “a man…his brother.”

[10:23]  ⁴ tn The perfect tense in this context requires the somewhat rare classification of a potential perfect.

[12:19]  ⁵ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).

[12:19]  ⁶ tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”

[12:19]  ⁷ tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”

[15:22]  ⁷ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ⁸ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ⁹ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[23:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “alien,” or “resident foreigner.” Such an individual would have traveled out of need and depended on the goodwill of the people around him. The rendering “hired help” assumes that the foreigner is mentioned in this context because he is working for an Israelite and will benefit from the Sabbath rest, along with his employer.

[23:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is וְיִּנָּפֵשׁ (vÿyyinnafesh); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”

[24:16]  ¹¹ sn The verb is וַיִּשְׁכֹּן (vayyishkon, “and dwelt, abode”). From this is derived the epithet “the Shekinah Glory,” the dwelling or abiding glory. The “glory of Yahweh” was a display visible at a distance, clearly in view of the Israelites. To them it was like a consuming fire in the midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. That fire indicated that Yahweh wished to accept their sacrifice, as if it were a pleasant aroma to him, as Leviticus would say. This “appearance” indicated that the phenomena represented a shimmer of the likeness of his glory (B. Jacob, Exodus, 749). The verb, according to U. Cassuto (Exodus, 316), also gives an inkling of the next section of the book, the building of the “tabernacle,” the dwelling place, the מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan). The vision of the glory of Yahweh confirmed the authority of the revelation of the Law given to Israel. This chapter is the climax of God’s bringing people into covenant with himself, the completion of his revelation to them, a completion that is authenticated with the miraculous. It ends with the mediator going up in the clouds to be with God, and the people down below eagerly awaiting his return. The message of the whole chapter could be worded this way: Those whom God sanctifies by the blood of the covenant and instructs by the book of the covenant may enjoy fellowship with him and anticipate a far more glorious fellowship. So too in the NT the commandments and teachings of Jesus are confirmed by his miraculous deeds and by his glorious manifestation on the Mount of the Transfiguration, where a few who represented the disciples would see his glory and be able to teach others. The people of the new covenant have been brought into fellowship with God through the blood of the covenant; they wait eagerly for his return from heaven in the clouds.

[24:16]  ¹² tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[29:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “after him”; NCV, NLT “after Aaron.”

[29:30]  ¹⁴ tn The text just has the relative pronoun and the imperfect tense. It could be translated “who comes/enters.” But the context seems to indicate that this would be when he first comes to the tent to begin his tenure as High Priest, and so a temporal clause makes this clear. “First” has been supplied.

[29:30]  ¹⁵ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time. The ritual of ordination is to be repeated for seven days, and so they are to remain there in the court in full dress.

[29:37]  ¹⁵ tn Once again this is an adverbial accusative of time. Each day for seven days the ritual at the altar is to be followed.

[29:37]  ¹⁶ tn The construction is the superlative genitive: “holy of holies,” or “most holy.”

[29:37]  ¹⁷ sn This line states an unusual principle, meant to preserve the sanctity of the altar. S. R. Driver explains it this way (Exodus, 325): If anything comes in contact with the altar, it becomes holy and must remain in the sanctuary for Yahweh’s use. If a person touches the altar, he likewise becomes holy and cannot return to the profane regions. He will be given over to God to be dealt with as God pleases. Anyone who was not qualified to touch the altar did not dare approach it, for contact would have meant that he was no longer free to leave but was God’s holy possession – and might pay for it with his life (see Exod 30:29; Lev 6:18b, 27; and Ezek 46:20).

[31:15]  ¹⁷ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time, indicating that work may be done for six days out of the week.

[31:15]  ¹⁸ tn The form is a Niphal imperfect; it has the nuance of permission in this sentence, for the sentence is simply saying that the six days are work days – that is when work may be done.

[31:15]  ¹⁹ tn The expression is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton), “a Sabbath of entire rest,” or better, “a sabbath of complete desisting” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 404). The second noun, the modifying genitive, is an abstract noun. The repetition provides the superlative idea that complete rest is the order of the day.

[34:18]  ¹⁹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[34:18]  ²⁰ tn The words “do this” have been supplied.

[35:2]  ²¹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[35:2]  ²² tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”

[35:2]  ²³ sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.