Exodus 11:9

11:9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders ¹  may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 18:3

18:3 and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (for Moses ²  had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land”),

Exodus 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ³  or any likeness ⁴  of anything ⁵  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁶ 

Exodus 23:9

23:9 “You must not oppress ⁷  a foreigner, since you know the life ⁸  of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

[11:9]  ¹ sn The thought is essentially the same as in Exod 7:3-4, but the wonders, or portents, here refer to what is yet to be done in Egypt.

[18:3]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity (also in the following verse).

[20:4]  ³ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ⁵ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[23:9]  ⁴ tn The verb means “to crush.” S. R. Driver notes that in this context this would probably mean with an unfair judgment in the courts (Exodus, 239).

[23:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”